Switchfoot, a Grammy-winning band based in San Diego, CA, have released twelve studio albums. “Hometown Christmas,” which also features the rock band Needtobreathe, is the final track on the group’s first Christmas record, This is Our Christmas Album, which was released last month. The tune begins in C, modulates up to D at 1:59, and returns to C at 2:44.
Category: Henry
Michael Bolton | When a Man Loves a Woman
Written by Calvin Lewis and Andrew Wright, “When a Man Loves a Woman” was originally recorded by singer R&B singer Percy Sledge in 1966 and became his biggest hit. Michael Bolton included a cover of the tune on his 1991 album Time, Love & Tenderness, winning a Grammy for the track and making it the seventh tune reach the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 as recorded by multiple artists.
The song begins in Db and directly modulates up a half step to D at 2:04.
Caro Emerald | Coming Back As a Man
“Coming Back As a Man” is featured on Dutch singer Caro Emerald’s 2013 album The Shocking Miss Emerald. “Caro is certainly the sort of performer who you could imagine giving a knowing wink in between a cheeky lyric or two and the voice has a twirl that makes you smile,” said critic Stephen Unwin in his review of the album for The Daily Express. The record debuted at #1 in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts, selling over 600,000 copies.
The track begins in G# minor and modulates up a half step to A minor at 2:43.
Adele | Don’t You Remember
“Don’t You Remember” is the fourth track on Adele’s 2011 album 21, which traces her grief after a break-up. This track marks a shift from anger and defensiveness to reflection and heartbreak. “”You know when you forget why you loved someone?” Adele said in an interview with The Sun discussing the song’s meaning. “I was just thinking about how my entire body would just shiver if my ex touched me to say hello. It’s sad when you can’t remember why you loved someone.” The album was the best-selling record of the 2010s decade.
The track begins in Eb and briefly shifts up to F near the end at 3:16.
Voctave (feat. Mariachi Cobre) | Remember Me
“They say repetition is key to retention,” said Jon Burlingame, writing for Variety. “And in Disney/Pixar’s animated feature “Coco,” the song “Remember Me” is the tie that binds multiple generations in the shared love of music. It is central to the story about a young boy named Miguel who is pulled by the song from the land of the living to the land of the dead, gradually discovering the origins of the composition and awakening his own inner showmanship. Also part of the plotline are recollections of the distant past – hence, the song’s title — and of beloved long gone family members.”
The song won the Academy Award for Best Song in 2018, and was nominated for a Golden Globe and Grammy as well. This cover, by the a cappella group Voctave, features the instrumental group Mariachi Cobre, which regularly performs at Disney and also tours. Two modulations sprinkled in at 0:41 and 1:12.
Aaron Carter | I’m All About You
“I’m All About You” is featured on American singer Aaron Carter’s third studio album, Oh Aaron, released in 2001. The track was the third and final single released for the record, which reached the #7 spot on the Billboard 20o and was certified Platinum. Carter, who was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and appeared on Broadway in Seussical, passed away last week at age 34.
The track begins in C major and modulates up to D following the bridge at 2:37.
Jonas Brothers | Poison Ivy
“Poison Ivy” is featured on the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. The track, which features a horn section, was partially inspired by the English indie rock band The Zutons. “We were really inspired by the Zutons,” Joe Jonas said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “We heard their new record, You Can Do Anything, when we were in Europe last year and got everyone around us hooked on it.”
The song begins in G and modulates down to Eb at 3:06.
What Say You Meg? (from “The Last Ship”)
The Last Ship opened on Broadway in October 2014 and played for 3 months. The score, written by Sting, was nominated for a Tony Award. Sting also briefly stepped into the lead role in New York for the final few weeks of the run.
The story, while original, is inspired by memories from Sting’s childhood in Wallsend, England. “I did everything in my power to escape Wallsend… I became successful, but I owe a debt to that community,” Sting said in an interview on public radio. “This play is me trying to honour that community, trying to pay back what they gave me — a sense of self but also the engine that allowed me to escape. That’s the strange paradox. I love where I come from, I’m glad I escaped, at the same time I need to tell that story as a sort of ‘soul debt’.”
Writing the show also helped Sting emerge from a long period of writer’s block. ““I was writing songs for other characters than me, other sensibilities than mine, a different viewpoint,” he told the New York Times. “And so all of that pent-up stuff, all of those crafts I’d developed as a songwriter, I was suddenly free to explore without much thinking, actually. It just kind of came out as a kind of Tourette’s, a kind of projectile vomiting. It just came out, very quickly.”
“What Say You Meg?” is performed here by Sting. Modulation from E up to F# at 2:49.
Sanna Nielsen | Undo
“Undo,” written by Fredrik Kempe, David Kreuger, and Hamed “K-One” Pirouzpanah, was recorded by Swedish singer Sanna Nielsen and selected as Sweden’s entry in the 2014 Eurovision Song Contest. Nielsen later included the track on an EP, also released in 2014.
The song begins in Eb minor and shifts up a half step at 2:21.
Wick (from “The Secret Garden”)
Based on Frances Hodgson Burnett’s 1911 book of the same name, The Secret Garden premiered on Broadway in 1991. The Tony-nominated score, written by Marsha Norman (lyrics) and Lucy Simon (music), is one of the most lush and operatic ever written for the musical theater stage. Simon passed away last week at the age of 82.
“Wick,” which comes in Act II, is sung by Martha and her brother Dickon and reflects his delight at teaching her about nature. The song begins in Bb and emerges into C at 1:36. It then modulates up briefly to E for Martha’s verse at 2:00 before returning to C at 2:19. It then shifts to E at 3:31, where it remains till the end.
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