Vocalist Shayne Ward was the winner of the second season of the British reality music competition The X Factor, and “That’s My Goal” was his debut single after his victory in 2005. The track sold over 300,000 copies in the two days after its initial release, making it the fastest- selling song of 2005, and ultimately the third fastest-selling song of all time in the UK. Key change at 2:48.
Tag: 2000s
Tommy Emmanuel | I Have Always Thought of You
Australian solo acoustic fingerstyle guitarist Tommy Emmanuel has made a global career for himself over the years, covering melody, bassline, and accompaniment alike. The readers of Guitar Player magazine have twice voted him “Best Acoustic Guitarist” (2008 and 2010).
The Las Vegas Review/Journal quotes Emmanuel as saying “Chet Atkins actually said something in an interview about me that struck a chord with me. He said, ‘This guy’s the most fearless musician I’ve ever seen. I’ve never seen another player who can go jam with a jazz band and then play Django (Reinhardt) tunes and then play Spanish music and then play all of my stuff.’ I don’t know whether it’s my ignorance or my innocence, but I’ve always felt that if I understood anything at all (about a certain style of music), I’d be ready to jump in and you can throw me a solo and I’ll have a go at it.”
According to Emmanuel’s website, the respect was mutual from the moment Emmanuel, at age six, heard Atkins playing on the radio. “…Like Dylan, who made a pilgrimage from the Midwest to New York to meet his idol, Woody Guthrie, Tommy always knew he had to get to Chet. To let Chet hear his music, which had been so shaped by his years listening, and absorbing, Chet’s genius. When he finally made that trek around the globe to meet the man himself, in Nashville, their bond was immediate, and like their music, existed beyond words. Chet picked up his guitar, and the two men jammed joyously for hours. It started a lifelong friendship which shaped Tommy’s music forever.”
2000’s “I Have Always Thought of You” starts in D major but modulates to C# minor from 1:22 – 1:44 and again from 2:17 – 2:38.
The Feeling | Love It When You Call
“Love It When You Call” was featured on Twelve Steps and Home, the 2006 debut album of the English rock band The Feeling. The track peaked at #18 on the UK Singles Chart, and was also performed at a live concert in 2006 produced by the BBC’s charity Children in Need, which supports disadvantaged children in the UK. Key change at 2:53, then back to the original key at 3:11.
Robbie Williams | Something Beautiful
“Something Beautiful” was released as the third single from English singer Robbie Williams‘ fifth studio album, Escapology (2002). The tune, written by Williams and Guy Chambers, reached number 3 on the UK Singles chart, and peaked within the top 10 in Denmark, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and Romania as well. Key change at 3:21.
Nickelback | Far Away
Nickelback, one of the most commercially successful Canadian rock bands, makes their MotD debut with their 2006 single “Far Away.” Featured originally in their fifth studio album, All The Right Reasons, the track has been described as the group’s “only real love long” by lead guitarist Chad Kroeger, and was included on the 2010 compilation album Now That’s What I Call Love with other love ballads from the previous decade. Beginning in B major, the tune modulates up a step to Db Major for the final chorus at 2:52.
Jonathan Coulton | Shop Vac
For years, Jonathan Coulton has flown under the radar for many listeners while becoming required listening for the tech set. Online tech commons Slashdot praises Coulton:
“If you haven’t heard the news, Jonathan Coulton can do anything. In 2005 he quit his job in software and became an “internet rock star and former code monkey,” eventually opening for music legends like Aimee Mann and They Might Be Giants … Coulton’s work was eventually featured in three different Valve videogames … In 2017 he was even nominated for a Tony for his work on Broadway’s SpongeBob Musical, and while co-writing some songs for Aimee Mann, he was also creating his own concept album about our tech-saturated society. Oh, and Coulton also released a crowdfunded album of 1970s soft rock covers ‘that sound exactly like the originals‘ — because he can.”
Coulton’s 2005 album Thing a Week One featured “Shop Vac,” a jaunty tribute to the banality of stereotypical suburban life. This video version, featuring wall-to-wall typography of popular brand logos, couldn’t be more fitting. The bridge at 1:59 features a modulation, followed next by a guitar solo with a beautifully animated graphic transcription. At 2:30, there’s a return to the original key.
Robin Thicke | Brand New Jones
American-Canadian singer/songwriter Robin Thicke makes his MotD debut with “Brand New Jones” from his 2002 debut studio album A Beautiful World. Thicke has collaborated with Usher, Christina Aguilera, Mary J. Blige and Jennifer Hudson among others, and currently serves as a judge on the Fox reality singing competition show The Masked Singer. Key change at 3:12.
Gnarls Barkley | Going On
Gnarls Barkley’s smash debut hit “Crazy” was considered by many to be 2006’s global song of the summer. Last.FM reports that it was “the first #1 UK single to be obtained solely through Internet downloads.” The band, a duo comprised of producer/multi-instrumentalist Brian “Danger Mouse” Burton and funk/soul vocalist Cee Lo Green, continued to crank out unpredictable tunes until 2010, straddling multiple genres of psychedelia-tinged hiphop, soul, neo-soul, and funk.
Playing up the psychedelic aspect, the video for “Going On,” filmed in Jamaica, centers around “a group of people celebrating the discovery of a door that leads to another dimension,” according to MTV.com. The song garnered a 2009 Grammy Award nomination for Best Pop Performance; in 2011, Time Magazine listed the lo-fi, dance-centric video among its 30 All-Time Best Music Videos, calling it a “sucker punch of joy …(a) three-minute piece of percussive pop perfection.”
Featured on the duo’s second album, The Odd Couple (2008), “Going On” alternates between an uptuned Eb minor and F minor throughout. The tune features an intro in Eb minor, verse one in F minor (0:18), chorus in Eb minor (0:47), etc.
Avril Lavigne | Sk8er Boi
Released as the second single from Avril Lavigne‘s debut 2002 album Let Go, “Sk8er Boi” has been featured in every concert and tour Lavigne has performed. The lyrics depict a snobby girl who rejects the skateboarder who has a crush on her, even though she in fact secretly harbors romantic feelings for him as well. The track was nominated for Best Female Rock Vocal Performance at the 2003 Grammy Awards, and charted in the top 10 in more than ten countries including Australia, the UK, and the United States.
The verses, set in D major (with the Bb adding an altered Phrygian vibe), contrast with the choruses, set in F major. The bridge, at 2:12, modulates to D minor, before seamlessly returning to D major for the subsequent verse at 2:38.
Destiny’s Child | Brown Eyes
“Brown Eyes” was included on Survivor, the third studio album released by the R&B group Destiny’s Child. The album debuted at #1 on the Billboard 200 chart in May of 2001, received three Grammy nominations (including Best R&B album), and was ranked at #70 by Billboard of their 200 Best Albums of the Decade. Straight-forward direct modulation from F to Gb at 3:33.
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