Category: Henry

Big Mountain | Baby, I Love Your Way

Peter Frampton‘s “Baby, I Love Your Way” was originally released in 1975 as a single, and when it didn’t gain any traction he included it on his live album Frampton Comes Alive the following year, helping the album become a huge hit. The track also appeared in the 2000 movie High Fidelity, performed by Lisa Bonet. The cover featured here, performed by the American reggae/pop band Big Mountain, reached #6 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and #2 on the UK Singles Chart. Key change at 3:16.

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables (from “Les Miserables”)

From Schönberg and Boubil’s musical Les Misérables, “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” (2014) is performed here by Ramin Karimloo, who has appeared in productions of the show on both the West End and Broadway in multiple roles. Key change at 2:14.

Elvis Presley | If I Can Dream

Written by W. Earl Brown and originally performed by Elvis Presley in 1968 just a few months after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination, “If I Can Dream” frequently quotes Dr. King directly in its lyric.

The song marked the rebirth of Elvis’ career after he had spent most of the 1960s recording mainly soundtracks to the movies he was appearing in. This was the final song he sang on Elvis, his 1968 NBC comeback special in the USA which was his first live performance in seven years. Key change at 2:02.

Tori Kelly | You’re Never Alone

Tori Kelly‘s “You’re Never Alone” won the 2019 Grammy for Best Gospel Performance/Song, and features legendary performer, choir director, and 15-time Grammy winner Kirk Franklin. The key change is at 2:52.

Some background on the song’s inception courtesy of Songfacts: “The track finds Kelly singing about the reassurance of not being alone during times of struggle since God is with her. She recalled to NewReleaseToday how the morning before her first writing session with Kirk Franklin she got anxious. She was going to write songs about God for the first time in her life and started whether she had the ability to do it. ‘I’ve always loved God,’ Kelly explained, ‘but could I articulate this in a song?’ On top of this, Kelly was in a new city, missing her friends and family back home, and just feeling lonely.

At that moment God ‘dropped a little reminder’ into her heart, in which he said, ‘remember I told you I’d never leave you? I’ve already gone before you and I am in control. Just trust me.’ Kelly immediately felt God’s peace and emboldened she grabbed her phone and typed out the phrase ‘I’m never alone.’ Later that day she sat down with Kirk Franklin to write their first ever song together. They started talking and she read the note to him from her phone. ‘Let’s start with this,’ she said, ‘I am never alone.’ Around that simple phrase their first song together was built.”

Wheels of a Dream (from “Ragtime”)

“Wheels of a Dream” is from the 1996 musical “Ragtime,” based on the classic E.L. Doctorow novel, and with an epic score by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. Performed here by original cast members Brian Stokes Mitchell and Audra McDonald, the number features key changes at 1:33, 1:50, 1:59, 2:07, 2:20, and the big one at 2:30.

Once More I Can See (from “Wonderland”)

“Once More I Can See” is from Frank Wildhorn‘s 2011 Broadway musical Wonderland, a contemporary setting of Lewis Carroll‘s “Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland” and “Through the Looking-Glass.” Performed here by Janet Dacal, the song features a key change at 2:05.

Can’t Help Falling In Love With You (from “All Shook Up”)

“Can’t Help Falling In Love With You” is featured in the 2005 Elvis jukebox musical All Shook Up. Most every cover of this song (and the original, released in 1961) includes a key change or two, but this one at 1:42 is particularly dramatic.