Tag: 2000s

I See The Light (from “Tangled”)

“I See The Light,” written by composer Alan Menken and lyricist Glenn Slater for the 2010 animated Disney film Tangled, was nominated for Best Original Song at the Golden Globe and Academy Awards, and won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media.

The film is based on the Brothers Grimm Rapunzel fairy tale, which served as inspiration for Menken to venture into a folk rock idiom for the score. “I wanted folk rock on this,” he said in an interview with Collider. “I thought about her long hair and the freedom she wanted. I immediately thought about Joni Mitchell’s ‘Chelsea Morning’ and all that folk music that I love. Cat Stevens and that energy. I just felt like that would be, on a gut level, a fresh palette to bring to this. So, that was really our way into the score.”

The track, performed by Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi, begins in C and modulates up to Eb for Levi’s verse at 1:39.

Lauren Kennedy | And I Will Follow

“And I Will Follow” is a stand-alone song by musical theater composer Jason Robert Brown. It is the lead track on singer Lauren Kennedy’s 2003 album The Songs of Jason Robert Brown (JRB subtly lends his voice as back-up as well.) The song, which fuses musical theatre, folk and country characteristics, begins in D and modulates up a whole step to E coming out of the bridge at 3:30.

BoA 보아 | Milky Way

“BoA (보아) is a South Korean singer, songwriter, record producer and actress,” (KPopping). She’s been “recognized as one of the most successful and influential Korean entertainers throughout her career, and is therefore commonly credited as the ‘Queen of K-pop.'”

The giant Korean music conglomerate SM Entertainment discovered BoA, then partnered with her in releasing 20 studio albums since her debut in 2000, including ten in Korean, nine in Japanese, and one in English. “BoA’s multilingual skills (she speaks Japanese and English along with native Korean and has recorded songs in Mandarin) have contributed to her commercial success throughout Asia outside of South Korea, such as China, Japan, Singapore, and Taiwan.”

Her 2003 release “Milky Way” starts in Eb major, knocks us off balance a little with some fast-moving harmonic magic during the bridge (2:22 – 2:31), and lands in E major at 2:32.

Many thanks to our regular contributor Ziyad for this submission!

Josh Groban | L’Ultima Notte

“L’Ultima Notte,” written by Marco Marinangeli, is featured on Josh Groban’s 2006 album Awake, which was the third top-selling classical album of the 2000s. The lyrics reflect the singer’s anguish about spending the last night with his lover: I remain alone with the memories; tomorrow everything will end; but now stay here; here with me because it will be the last night with you

The song has many modulations throughout. After alternating between G# minor for the first two verses and C minor for the choruses, a common-tone shift to B minor occurs at 2:40. This is followed by a brief transitory passage at 2:57, which sets up the final key change up to C# minor at 3:13.

Destiny’s Child | Do You Hear What I Hear

*This is the fifth and final installment of our weeklong series on “Do You Hear What I Hear”

American R&B group Destiny’s Child released their only Christmas album, 8 Days of Christmas, in 2001. The album peaked at 34 on the Billboard 200, and was certified platinum in 2020. “Do You Hear What I Hear” is the sixth track, and modulates from Bb to B at 0:57.

LeAnn Rimes | Can’t Fight the Moonlight

Written by Dianne Warren and recorded by LeAnn Rimes, “Can’t Fight The Moonight” was originally featured in the 2000 film Coyote Ugly, and subsequently appeared on Rimes’s 2002 compilation album I Need You as well as various greatest hits/best-of releases. The track cracked the top 10 in 19 European countries, and hit the #11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US. Billboard’s review called the song “[Rimes’s] most compelling pop offering yet–and one of the more intriguing compositions of late from songwriter superwoman Diane Warren.”

Warren herself claimed she had never written a song with so many key changes, and it does indeed bounce around. Following an intro that deceptively appears to set up C minor, the first two verses are instead set in B minor, and alternate with the C-minor chorus at 0:52. A bridge-like interlude begins at 2:25 that passes through both keys before modulating to C# minor for the final chorus at 2:25.

See What I Wanna See (from “See What I Wanna See”)

“See What I Wanna See” is the title song from the 2005 Off-Broadway musical by composer Michael John LaChiusa. Based on three short stories by Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, the show has had an extensive life in university and regional productions, and a second NYC production was mounted in 2013. Idina Menzel performs the track featured here, which modulates up a half step from A to Bb at 2:04.

Will Young | Evergreen

Will Young was the first winner, in 2002, of the British music competition television series Pop Idol. “Evergreen” was one of two tracks slated to be released by the winner, and Young’s cover of the tune (originally recorded by the Irish boy band Westlife) went on to become the fastest-selling debut single in the UK. The song modulates from C to D at 2:53.

Josh Groban | Per Te

Featured on Groban’s 2003 album Closer, “Per Te” was written by Walter Afanasieff and Groban with lyrics by Marco Marinangeli, and was recorded in Italian. The album was the top selling classical record of the 2000s and reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart.

There are modulations scattered throughout the song: The first two verses are set in C minor, alternating with choruses that modulate down to B minor at 1:46 and 2:10. A dramatic common tone modulation to Bb minor occurs at 2:52, followed by shift to C# minor at 3:16, which is maintained until the end.

Boyz II Men | The Color of Love

“The Color of Love” was the lead single released from the 2002 Boyz II Men album Full Circle. For the music video, each band member filmed their segment in a different country to capture the color and spirit of different people. “Boyz II Men have always maintained a certain mood with their music,” said Antonio “L.A.” Reid, the president of Arista Records which produced the album. “And that couldn’t be better reflected than with the theme of this clip–unity and brotherhood, a multi-cultural celebration in these difficult times. There is no better group to pull it off than these four guys.”

The track has a traditional half-step modulation from D to Eb at 2:45.