Many thanks for this contribution from Jeux_d_Oh, a denizen of Reddit’s r/musictheory community: “Waarom Nou Jij” by Marco Borsato.
IMDB reports on Borsato, who was born in the Netherlands and later moved to Italy, ” … where Marco’s father owned a restaurant at Lake Garda. Marco thus speaks fluent Italian. Upon returning to the Netherlands, Marco tried to gain fame as a singer, singing mainly Italian songs … He released three albums, all three in Italian … In 1993, his record company advised him to release some songs in Dutch because he still hadn’t had his big break. Finally, in 1994, he released the song ‘Dromen zijn Bedrog,’ originally an Italian song which was translated into Dutch. The song shot to number one and remained there for 12 weeks.”
Jeux_d_Oh elaborates on Borsato’s success with translated lyrics: “‘Waarom Nou Jij’ was a big hit in The Netherlands in the ’90s, and apparently an adaptation of a different Italian song called ‘Quando Finisce un Amore’. The meaning of the Dutch title ‘Waarom Nou Jij’ translates roughly to ‘why did it have to be you.’ This song is absolutely jam-packed with modulations … try to count them all! Just in the first 1:15, there are four of them. Later there are a few more still. Towards the end of the song, there is a build-up to a great climax/vamp — a part where many slightly tipsy Dutch people will loudly sing along!”
The tune modulates upwards over and over again, generally by a minor third each time. Although the instrumental break at 2:12 gives Borsato a chance to take a break and then drop the vocal by an octave, by the tune’s end the tonality has traveled from Bb major to E major an octave and a half above.
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