“Once Upon a Time” is from the 2004 Broadway musical Brooklyn by Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson. The story follows a group of five homeless musicians in New York City who put on a play about a singer named Brooklyn under the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. The original production ran for 284 performances.
The track, which features Eden Espinosa in the lead role, begins in Bb and shifts up a half step to B at 2:14.
Eric Carmen’s 1975 song “All By Myself” was made famous by the Canadian singer Celine Dion, who included her cover on the 1996 album Falling Into You. Producer David Foster also added a modulation to the song, which has become one of the most iconic key changes in pop music (it is at 2:48.) The track reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and became one of Dion’s biggest hits.
In December 2023, Dion announced she had been diagnosed with stiff-person syndrome, a rare neurological condition that has made it difficult to sing. A documentary, I Am: Celine Dion, tracing Dion’s journey with the disease, was released on Prime Video last month.
Will Reynolds’ song “If The World Looked Like You” is performed here by Jeremy Jordan at a “Songs You Should Know” concert, presented at the Laurie Beechman Theater in New York City in 2012. The song begins in A, briefly passes through C at 1:38, and modulates to Db at 1:47.
“Whoops” is the third track on American singer Meghan Trainor’s fifth studio album, Timeless, which was released last month. Trainor has cited the influence of doo-wop in her work, which you can hear in this song. It begins in F and modulates up a half step to Gb at 1:54
Country singers (and husband and wife at the time) Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert performed “America the Beautiful” at Super Bowl XLVI in 2012. The track is in G and briefly modulates up to A near the end at 2:02.
Nicholas Sparks’ 1996 novel The Notebook was adapted into a film in 2004, and a musical based on the book, with a score by Ingrid Michaelson, opened on Broadway earlier this year. “If This Is Love” comes in Act 1 of the show, and modulates from Gb up to Ab at 2:00.
MotD favorite Randy Rainbow’s latest parody is a cover of the Dolly Parton classic “9 to 5,” which garnered her an Academy Award nomination and four Grammy nominations. The track begins in A and modulates up a half step to Bb at 2:54.
The singing competition reality series American Idol wrapped up its 22nd season last weekend. Maine native Julia Gagnon finished in the Top 7, and performed Harold Arlen’s classic “Over the Rainbow” in her final week on the show. The song begins in Bb and modulates up to C at 1:34.
“Mi Mancherai,” (which translates to “I’ll miss you”) is from the critically acclaimed 1994 Italian movie The Postman. Composer Luis Bacalov won the Academy Award for Best Original Score, and the film was also nominated for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Screenplay.
Italian singer Andrea Bocelli included the song on his 2015 album Cinema, which features classic film soundtracks and scores. The track starts in D and modulates briefly to Bb at 1:51 before returning to D at 2:28. After an instrumental interlude, the vocal returns at 2:56 again in Bb. There is a final modulation to Eb at 3:30.
“While You Loved Me” was the third single released from the country group Rascal Flatts’ 2001 debut album. It peaked at #7 on the Billboard Hot Country Songs chart, and reached #60 on the Hot 100.
The track begins in F and modulates up to F# for the last chorus at 2:47.
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