Bobby Darin | Beyond The Sea

“Beyond The Sea,” with music adopted from the 1945 song “La Mer,” by French composer/singer Charles Trenet and lyrics adapted by Jack Lawrence, was made famous with Bobby Darin’s cover in 1959. Originally envisioned by Trenet as an homage and ode to the changing moods of the sea, Lawrence added “beyond” to the title and re-fashioned it into a love song. Darin’s version reached the #6 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart; other notable artists who have covered the tune include Benny Goodman, Django Reinhardt, George Benson, Rod Stewart and Barry Manilow. The tune, written in AABA form, stays in F through the A sections and passes through A (0:53, 1:57) and C (1:04, 2:08) in the B section.

Camille Saint-Saëns | Mazurka #1, Op. 21 (Geoffrey Burleson)

From Naxos’ liner notes for its release Camille Saint-Saëns Complete Piano Music 4: Dances and Souvenirs:

“There is a long history of composers writing instrumental dances that were and are intended as ‘concert’ works, initially flourishing in the Baroque era. By the late 18th century, the allemandes, courantes and gigues that were once all the rage were all but outmoded, save for the minuet, which appears copiously in works of Haydn, Mozart and in Beethoven’s early period. By the mid-19th century the fast triple metre of the waltz prevailed, along with the wealth of musical variety and contrast composers brought to its manifestations. Chopin codified the waltz as a stand-alone solo piano genre, as well as the much more vernacular, and resolutely Polish mazurkas and polonaises.

Camille Saint-Saëns (1835–1921) inhabited all of these eras as a composer of concert music in dance genres, even though his first works didn’t see the light of day until the mid-19th century. Among his many formidable musical feats was as a pioneering editor and advocate for French Baroque music, especially works of Lully and Rameau, spearheading the revival of this music in the late 19th century. More famously to the 19th century public, Saint-Saëns was one of the greatest keyboard prodigies of the past 200 years. When he made his piano recital debut at the age of 10 … he announced to the audience that he would be pleased to perform any of Beethoven’s 32 sonatas as an encore. A good deal later, Liszt referred to him as the greatest organist on earth.”

1892’s Mazurka No. 1, Op. 21 starts in G minor. The “B” section (first heard here at 1:02) is in the parallel major. The French composer’s trademark chromaticism softens the lines between these two primary keys throughout. The pianist featured on this recording is Geoffrey Burleson.

The Hold Steady | Massive Nights

The Hold Steady is “an acclaimed and respected Minneapolis-bred indie rockers who boast a melodic, contemporary take on mid-’70s classic rock,” reports AllMusic. “Craig Finn and Tad Kubler — two N.Y.C. transplants from Minneapolis — decided to blend their punk roots with album-oriented classicism and a frenetic literary sense, winding up with a careening, open-hearted rock & roll that seemed to exist just outside of time.”

The AV Club reviews 2006’s “Massive Nights” as “a hard-partying prom theme … one of The Hold Steady’s fastest and most celebratory-sounding songs … Both in the studio and in concert, that chorus gets an extra reprise with a frenzied key change in the final stretch … though the key changes generally aren’t go-to moves in The Hold Steady’s arsenal … a key change is basically the only thing it can do to kick itself into higher gear before its three minutes are up.”

Careen is exactly what this uptempo 12/8 rocker does, propelled by backing vocals that sound like a hyped-up live crowd proclaiming the hook — even on the studio track. A whole-step key change hits at 2:24.

Todd Rundgren | Hope I’m Around

“In 1970, singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist Todd Rundgren, fresh off of a successful stint as a co-songwriter and guitarist for rock outfit The Nazz, began experimenting with the additional roles of vocalist and producer. The album Runt, released in 1970 when Rundgren was 22, was perhaps understandably somewhat spare and tentative compared to his later output. AllMusic reports that “such isolationism lends Runt its unique atmosphere — it is the insular work of a fiercely talented artist finally given the opportunity to pursue his off-kilter musical vision … it’s apparent that Rundgren could never have made Runt with the Nazz — and that’s before the introspective ballads or the willfully strange stuff kicks in. Throughout the record, Rundgren reveals himself as a gifted synthesist, blending all manners of musical styles and quirks into a distinctive signature sound …”

That the word finally can be justly applied to Rundgren at 22 gives some idea of his early-career impact. Runt hinted at much of what was to come in Rundgren’s future career (50 years and counting) — not least a sustained refusal of a formulaic approach to songwriting subject matter. “Hope I’m Around” wasn’t included on the initial pressing of the album, but was added to later versions. Hardly a throwaway track, it focuses on the messy/long goodbye phase of an apparently rocky relationship.

Starting in C major, the choruses throughout make ample use of a distinctive bVII – IV – I progression for the title line. That same bVII chord is the substrate for most of the bridge (2:56 – 3:09), ringing out on nearly every beat — oddly static in comparison with the balance of the tune. The piano-driven contemporary pop harmonies are clearly influenced by Rundgren’s Philly-centric youthful listening, as well as his newfound focus on the work of iconic singer / songwriter / pianist Laura Nyro. The country-tinged traditional ballad waltz feel provides an unexpected contrast to the broad harmonic vocabulary. 4:13 brings a vivid transition, lofting us all the way up into A major at 4:17 on our way to the closing measures.

Maria Rita | A História de Lily Braun

Brazilian vocalist Maria Rita began performing at the age of 24. According to her own website, the singer has said “’Finding yourself in the world is a very difficult task.'” The daughter of iconic Brazilian chanteuse Elis Regina and pianist/arranger/composer César Camargo Mariano, Maria Rita was told from early in life that she had “a duty to sing, but resisted for some time. ‘I see life as a big process built by small processes along the way. I always wanted to sing. But the question was not wanting, it was why.'” Shortly after launching her career, she won the 2002 APCA Award for Revelation of the Year from the Associação Paulista de Críticos de Arte (São Paulo Association of Art Critics).

AllMusic details that for the 2011 album Elo, of which “A História de Lily Braun” is a part, Rita “re-creates the intimate setting of her appearances at Sao Paolo’s Tom Jazz club in 2010, as she is joined only by the trio of pianist Tiago Costa, bassist Sylvinho Mazzuca, and drummer Cuca Teixeira … To put it succinctly, this is a Brazilian nightclub chanteuse album in which Maria Rita offers her take on well-known songs by the likes of Djavan, Chico Buarque, Caetano Veloso, and Rita Lee.” The spare trio accompaniment certainly couldn’t center the vocal an inch more than it does.

Starting in Bb minor, this sultry, funk-inflected acoustic bossa track transitions to C minor with the help of a short instrumental hinge between 1:55 – 2:00.

The Fiery Furnaces | Even In the Rain

Jack White’s Third Man Records provides an overview of The Fiery Furnaces, a duo comprised of siblings Eleanor and Matthew Friedberger. Forming in New York City in 2000, “their debut album Gallowsbird’s Bark was released to critical acclaim in 2003. In the following seven years, they released eight more albums and toured extensively throughout North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.” The band was active during the 2000s, ceased operations during the 2010s, but apparently is staging a 2020 comeback. AllMusic describes the band’s focus as a “sprawling sound that draws on influences from indie rock to musical theater.” Read the entire AllMusic band bio — it definitely shatters the “quirky” meter!

Describing the sprawl is The AV Club‘s review of the 2009 track “Even In the Rain”: “The Fiery Furnaces’ albums are generally littered with idiosyncratic flourishes that sometimes seem directly designed to alienate the band’s less-patient listeners: backward tracking, tempo shifts, extended keyboard noise solos, and key changes, among others … on stretches of ‘Even In The Rain,’ the song sounds like a relatively straightforward ballad with a strong keyboard hook. But the chorus, which consists only of the words “even in the rain,” slides the song between keys several times, lending a lot of unpredictability to such a short, simple phrase.”

The key changes are unconventional and are wielded casually; the first one hits at 0:26, just before the vocal enters. There’s little sense of directionality or catharsis to the modulations; instead, each one is a page in a short and vivid animation flipbook which seems to advance or reverse the plotline at random.

Luther Vandross | Dance With My Father

Considered by Vandross to be his “career song,” “Dance With My Father” is a tribute and remembrance of his father based on childhood memories Vandross held of his parents dancing together. “I played it over and over, and I cried and cried,” his mother, Mary Ida, said of the song. “I was amazed at how well Luther remembered his father, how we used to dance and sing in the house. I was so surprised that at 7 1/2 years of age, he could remember what a happy household we had.”

The track quickly become one of Vandross’s most requested songs, and won Song of the Year and Best R&B Male Vocal Performance at the 2004 Grammy Awards. Key change at 3:18.

Strangers Like Me (from “Tarzan”)

“Strangers Like Me,” by English drummer and songwriter Phil Collins (best known for his work with the rock band Genesis), was originally featured in the 1999 Disney animated film Tarzan, and later included in a Broadway musical adaptation. Also popular as a pop song, the track reached the #10 spot on the US Billboard Hot Adult Contemporary Tracks chart. Straight-forward half-step modulation at 3:06.