Tag: 1990s

Opening Sequence (from “Songs From a New World”)

Here’s the opening number from Songs For a New World by Jason Robert Brown. From The Guide to Musical Theatre‘s synopsis: “The theme is the moment of decision, the point at which you transition from the old to the new. The change may be geographical, emotional, professional or marital but things are different than they were before. The result is neither musical play nor revue; it is closer to a theatrical song cycle, a very theatrical song cycle.”

There are modulations at 2:20, 3:45, 4:12, and 4:39.

Thomas Dolby | Cruel

Thomas Dolby is best known for his early-80s New Wave megahit “She Blinded Me with Science.” The UK artist’s 1992 release Astronauts & Heretics featured “Cruel,” a track built around some very mysterious harmonies and Matthew Seligman‘s enigmatic fretless bass.

The main melodic fragment is stated with the first verse, by 0:06 (“Cruel … what a thing to do…”). Later, a beautifully syncopated contrasting passage by guest vocalist Eddi Reader, essentially a chorus, starts at 0:31. By 1:04, we’re at the second verse, but one-half step lower than the first. Eddi’s section, as it repeats (1:35), is also a half-step lower this time. The tune ends on a sustained Dmin7, a full step below where it began. Throughout, the largely stepwise melodies rest on a bed of off-kilter progressions and unusual inversions. It’s as if the modulations were written so that they wouldn’t stand out.

Any theory wonks care to chart this one out?

UPDATE, 6/14/21:

Dolby responded today to a post I made awhile back on a thread about this tune, featured on a Facebook group which he and his staff run. Fascinating!

James Taylor | Enough To Be On Your Way

Far removed in time from his early hits, 1997’s Hourglass was a James Taylor album home to wonderfully woven stories, increasingly complex harmonies, and multi-layered textures. The artist described the collection as “spirituals for agnostics.”

“Enough to Be On Your Way,” reported to have been written in the wake of the death of Taylor’s brother Alex, is quietly stunning even before the modulation — but JT adds a key change to the mix at 4:35. The track features cello by Yo-Yo Ma.

Paula Cole feat. Peter Gabriel | Hush, Hush, Hush

“Hush, Hush, Hush,” a supporting track on Paula Cole‘s breakout 1996 album This Fire (the single was something about cowboys), guest features the singer/songwriter’s mentor, Peter Gabriel as well as some gorgeous and unusual instrumental features. Starting in a minor key, a transition to a major-key bridge starts at 2:01; at 2:33, we return to the original key. An unexpected 4-chord repeating harmonic progression loops from 2:50 to the end.

Deborah Cox | Nobody’s Supposed To Be Here

R&B chanteuse Deborah Cox released “Nobody’s Supposed to Be Here,” the track for which she’s perhaps best known, in 1998.

“‘The song crossed my path in early ’98. I had taken a little time off — I got married in Jamaica — and was really searching for a direction for the second album,” (Billboard). “When Anthony ‘Shep’ Crawford and Montell Jordan (the co-writers) played it for me, I immediately knew the song was a smash. I just remember hearing it and going, ‘Oh my God, this speaks to me!’ I had just gone through the same thing: I was caught off guard with the love of my life, so it really resonated.”

This gospel-infused ballad builds to a big modulation at 3:00.

Duncan Sheik | Barely Breathing

Duncan Sheik‘s tunes are full of quirks — harmonic and otherwise — but fewer full modulations. His best-known hit, 1996’s “Barely Breathing,” sticks to fairly straightforward territory through the first two verses and choruses. But then the bridge (2:40) presents several short but compelling key-of-the-moment segments (I major / V minor pairs) that don’t closely relate to the rest of the tune — but then, that’s often true of a good bridge. By 3:09, we’re ready to dive back into the familiarity (and relative simplicity) of the chorus as it reverts to the original key.