This holiday classic, written by Frank Lesser in 1947, was originally recorded by Margaret Whiting and has been covered by dozens of artists since. American singer/songwriter Ledisi included the song on her 2008 album It’s Christmas. It modulates coming out of the guitar solo from Db up to D at 2:16
Tag: 2000s
Taylor Swift | Mr. Perfectly Fine
“Taylor Swift is that rarest of pop phenomena: a superstar who managed to completely cross over from country to the mainstream,” (AllMusic). “Others have performed similar moves — notably, Dolly Parton and Willie Nelson both became enduring pop culture icons based on their 1970s work — but Swift shed her country roots like they were a second skin; it was a necessary molting to reveal she was perhaps the sharpest, savviest populist singer/songwriter of her generation, one who could harness the zeitgeist, make it personal and, just as impressively, perform the reverse.”
Originally released in 2008 on the album Fearless, “Mr. Perfectly Fine” is just one of the many tunes which Swift has re-recorded recently. After her original masters were sold in a way she deeply disagreed with, she decided to re-record and re-release her earlier material: “If she couldn’t own the rights to the recordings that made her one of the most successful musical artists of all time, at least she could undercut their value and present her loyal fan base with a way to enjoy that music without benefitting her nemeses,” (Stereogum). Billboard‘s ranking of the 50 best songs of 2021 included the tune as #46: “vintage Taylor Swift that still feels fresh in 2021.”
“Mr. Perfectly Fine” features a short instrumental interlude at 2:43; a bridge follows at 2:56 which tapers off to the point where the groove drops out altogether. The full texture returns with a bang at 3:45, along with a full-step modulation. Many thanks to our regular contributor Ziyad for sending in this song!
Aaron Carter | I’m All About You
“I’m All About You” is featured on American singer Aaron Carter’s third studio album, Oh Aaron, released in 2001. The track was the third and final single released for the record, which reached the #7 spot on the Billboard 20o and was certified Platinum. Carter, who was a contestant on Dancing With The Stars and appeared on Broadway in Seussical, passed away last week at age 34.
The track begins in C major and modulates up to D following the bridge at 2:37.
Jonas Brothers | Poison Ivy
“Poison Ivy” is featured on the Jonas Brothers’ 2009 album Lines, Vines and Trying Times. The track, which features a horn section, was partially inspired by the English indie rock band The Zutons. “We were really inspired by the Zutons,” Joe Jonas said in an interview with Rolling Stone. “We heard their new record, You Can Do Anything, when we were in Europe last year and got everyone around us hooked on it.”
The song begins in G and modulates down to Eb at 3:06.
Backstreet Boys | Everyone
Written by Swedish producer/songwriters Kristian Lundin and Andreas Carlsson, “Everyone” was featured on the Backstreet Boy’s 2000 album Black & Blue. Rolling Stone critic Barry Walters described the song as “a celebration of the [group] and the power of their audience.” The album was hugely successful, selling over 5 million copies in its first week of sales.
The tune remains in C minor until shifting up a step to D minor for the final chorus at 2:33.
Dakota Moon | Looking For a Place to Land
“Dakota Moon is an unusual urban R&B group, one that’s equally influenced by Boyz II Men and ’70s soft rock, such as Eric Clapton and James Taylor … The quartet met at a recording session in Los Angeles for producers Andrew Logan and Mike More. The musicians had such a chemistry that they decided to form a band,” (AllMusic). ” … Before they made their debut album, they toured as Tina Turner’s opening act in 1997. By the end of the year, they had recorded their debut … the resulting record, entitled Dakota Moon, was released in April 1998.”
A Place to Land (2002), the band’s second release, features a “somewhat uncanny synthesis of early-2000s urban pop and ’70s soft rock. The album-opening title track (sounds) like half Backstreet Boys and half Eagles.”
“Looking For a Place to Land” certainly does inhabit territory somewhere between pop, rock, and r&b — with even a few brief country touches thrown into the mix. The verses feature several singers taking turns on lead; the choruses are a mix of vocalists combining for richly stacked vocal harmonies. A short drum break hits the re-set button before a half-step modulation kicks in at 2:49.
Jonatha Brooke | Steady Pull
“Jonatha Brooke first earned kudos during the mid-’90s as a member of the folk/rock duo The Story.” (Billboard) “Her reputation as a tunesmith of poetic proportions heightened when she went solo, issuing two deservedly revered discs on Refuge/MCA. The projects, largely folk/pop in tone, amassed an active cult following.”
“… Steady Pull (is) a recording that reveals a markedly different side to the often introspective artist. ‘I didn’t want to wallow in the drama and darkness any more. That would’ve been too easy, too comfortable. I wanted to get sexy. I wanted to romp.” … Steady Pull (2001) … is a blissful sonic marriage … the title track, an anthemic stomper … ”
After the track’s start in G minor, we’re led through an uprooting of the tonality via a dizzying B major note from the backing vocals (first at 1:12 – 1:15). After two verses and choruses, the bridge (2:12) brings a downward modulation to F# minor; the track’s strong percussion falls away except for a persistent hi-hat, but the intensity manages to keep winding up anyway. Temporarily abandoning its funk-tinged riffs, the electric guitar’s distant echoing siren lofts us back into G minor for the next verse at 2:36. Ambitiously surveying the landscape of a burgeoning new romance, the tune’s lyrics — tame on a per-word basis — seem anything but when taken in combination:
Now there’s evidence I’ve been here but no one knows how long
My change is in your pocket and the whisper of my song
My clothes are in your closet and my books surround your bed
Wonder what you expected, baby, and what you got instead … What you got …
… Where there is ruin there is hope for treasure
And out of the ashes come comfort and pleasure
This is the love that no one could measure
I have you, I hold you … We are birds of a feather
September | Can’t Get Over
“Can’t Get Over” was recorded in 2007 by the Swedish pop singer September (her stage name) and featured on her third studio album Dancing Shoes. The song, written by Anoo Bhagavan, Jonas von der Burg and Niklas von der Burg, reached the #14 spot on the UK charts. It modulates from D up to E for the final chorus at 2:32.
Rick Trevino | Separate Ways
“Separate Ways” is featured on American country singer Rick Trevino’s 2011 studio album Whole Town Blue. The track was initially released as a single in 2007, but when it failed to reach the Top 40 the album release was delayed. Trevino, who is of Mexican descent, has made it a practice to release both Spanish and English versions of many of his songs, one of the first mainstream artists to do so.
The song begins in E and shifts without warning or preparation up to F for the second verse at 1:47.
Tell Her (from “13: The Musical”)
“Tell Her” is from the Broadway musical 13, with music and lyrics by Jason Robert Brown. The stage version premiered in New York in 2008, and the show was recently adapted into a movie by Netflix and released on the platform last month.
“Tell Her,” performed here by Eli Golden, Gabriella Uhl and the ensemble, comes near the end of the show and features multiple modulations. Beginning in G, the song shifts up a third to Bb for the second verse at 1:04, and then rises again a half step to B for the verse three at 1:52 before returning to G at 3:08.
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