Canadian singer Justin Bieber makes his MotD debut with “That Should Be Me,” the final track on his first studio album, My World 2.0, released in 2011. The song, which was co-written by Bieber, Nasri Atweh, Luke Boyd, and Adam Messinger, debuted at ninety-two on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The lyric portrays the singer pleading with his lover to take him back.
The tune begins in C minor and transitions to the relative major, Eb, for the chorus at 0:41. There is a full modulation, up a half step to E major, coming out of the bridge for the final chorus at 2:34.
We usually wrap up our week with an up-tempo rock or dance tune, but this week we’ll continue to look back at the singular career of legendary songwriter Burt Bacharach, whose work has been a frequent feature on MotD. Bacharach’s work not only featured a broad harmonic vocabulary — including plenty of modulations. It generally stepped lightly through complex harmonic and meter transitions which only fully came to light after several listening sessions, rarely “telegraphing” themselves in advance. Bacharach generally avoided cliché half-step or whole-step key changes; rather, he favored transitions between closely-related keys, which don’t hit the listener like a brick upside the head, but a bit more like the sun gradually peeking through the clouds. He hid all the seams and made the final result sound effortless.
Bacharach studied composition with composer Darius Milhaud, one of the members of the informal but influential guild of progressive French composers, “Les Six.” Key changes and meter changes were not special effects for Bacharach, but rather organic tools for expression. Composer/pianist Ethan Iverson reports that Milhaud “told Bacharach that he shouldn’t worry about dodecaphony and keep composing those nice melodies.”
Iverson continues: “In his 60s songs, Bacharach undoes conventional pop from deep underneath the surface. ‘Hooks’ are almost always a bit asymmetrical, but Burt’s are truly lopsided. In the background of his radio-friendly hits, there is an echo of bebop logic, an echo of Schoenbergian logic.” Lyricist Hal David, Iverson suggests, “searched a surreal and overcast meadow for unexpected rhyme and reason.” Iverson continues by saying that jazz musician Dave Frishberg, when learning to write memorable themes, studied “the ‘4 Bs’: The Beach Boys, the Beatles, Brazilian, and Bacharach. (‘Brazilian’ means Jobim, Gilberto, Mendes, etc.)”
“The Look of Love,” originally released by Dusty Springfield in 1967, was covered by jazz vocalist/pianist Diana Krall for a 2012 performance at the White House as part of the In Performance at the White House | Burt Bacharach + Hal David: The Library of Congress Gershwin Prize for Popular Song PBS broadcast in May 2012. While Bacharach was present for the performance, Krall’s emotional mention of David hints at the ill health of the lyricist, who lived only a few more months. Krall’s version of the #22 US pop hit, which features plenty of “Burt-isms” in her piano work, is in Bb major overall, but shifts to Bb minor from 3:59 – 4:10. The modulation is situated in the heart of an outro that seems lit only by hushed twilight (3:59 onward), during which Krall communes with her bassist as the two negotiate the subtle ritardando that brings the tune in for a landing. The final Bb major tonic chord rings out at 4:10, complicated by the quintessentially Bachrachian #11 tension Krall repeats several times.
“Curiosity” is featured on Canadian singer Carly Rae Jepsen’s eponymous 2012 EP. The track has a similar feel to “Call Me Maybe,” Jepsen’s breakout hit from the same EP. “[Curiosity] brings the same lighthearted vibe while touching on a more personal note,” said critic Jen Appel. “This song encompasses the feelings of a girl fighting to keep her relationship alive while struggling with the ever-present curiosity of “what ifs.”
The tune begins in E and shifts suddenly up to F# at 2:12.
“Robert Glasper’s2012 album Black Radio was a groundbreaking collection that combined hip-hop, R&B, jazz and more into a diverse yet cohesive package … (SoulTracks.com). It was justly honored with the Best R&B Album award at the 55th Grammys, recognizing both its ambitiousness and its near flawless execution. It also begat the critically acclaimed Black Radio 2 a year later.”
“Glasper has released two albums of what you might call neo-soul, or maybe organic R&B, featuring a core band (The Robert Glasper Experiment) and guest stars like Erykah Badu, Lupe Fiasco and Norah Jones. Black Radio and last year’s sequel, Black Radio 2, aren’t heard much on ‘urban’ radio, but the point is that they ought to be,” (NPR Music). “Glasper builds his songs with old-school values: singers and MCs who don’t need software to carry a melody, improvising within a band, hand-building beats and vamps with live instruments.”
After a start in Bb major, the bridge of this slow but cutting ballad shifts to Bb minor from 2:50 – 3:24 before reverting to the original key.
The Sussex Carol, a popular British tune, is performed here in a jazzy cover by accordionists Karen Sweet & Karen Tweed. It begins with a slow, rubato intro that stretches and embellishes the melody, eventually leading into the tune at 1:16. There is an unexpected downward modulation from G to Eb at 2:04.
Surprisingly, this is our first time featuring the classic “Jingle Bell Rock,” originally recorded in 1957 by Bobby Helms. There is some controversy over who wrote the tune; Helms claims that he, not Joseph Carleton Beal and James Ross Boothe, who are recognized as the composers, deserves credit. Alas, all three are dead now, so we will never know. This cover was performed on the television show Glee, and modulates from D to Eb at 0:57.
“Miraculum,” an arrangement of We Three Kings, is featured on Christian pastor and musician Lincoln Brewster’s 2012 Christmas album Joy To TheWorld. It is the only instrumental track on the record, which reached #6 on the Christian Albums Billboard chart.
The tune begins in Eb minor and glides into Ab minor during the more subdued middle section at 3:15. A sudden return to Eb minor occurs at 4:52
Thanks to MotD contributor Peter McCutcheon for this submission.
Tommy James, along with his band, The Shondells, scored a Billboard #4 in 1967 with the just-over-2-minutes bubblegum rocker “I Think We’re Alone Now”. The song, written by Ritchie Cordell (who also co-wrote another Shondells hit, “Mony Mony”), stuck to one key throughout.
Over 50 years later, in 2019, James reprised the song on his album Alive, featuring only acoustic guitar and background vocals, and a much slower tempo. Missing in this version are the percussive “heartbeats” from the original, perhaps because at this tempo, they would be suggestive of brachycardia. James’ voice, perhaps sweetened by a touch of autotune, is really the highlight here.
The song starts in A; in addition to some subtle re-harmonization here and there, it features an elegant modulation to C at 2:18.
“While working on their new album of classic country covers — Country Evolution (2015),” the a cappella ensemble Home Free decided to cover The Oak Ridge Boys’ “defining 1981 hit ‘Elvira,'” (Rolling Stone). The kicker: Home Free collaborated with the song’s originators on the track. “’Once we got together as a group, there was a magic happening among the nine of us that just exploded…’
The result is an ‘Elvira’ that … maintains the cadence of the Oaks’ recording, but adds modern-day flourishes, thanks to Home Free’s beat-box singer Adam Rupp.” Home Free has been awarded “the Bob Hope Award for Excellence in Entertainment by the Congressional Medal of Honor Society and induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame.”
After the initial surprise of “a capella + country” starts to wear off, there’s a half-step key change at 1:03; at 2:02, another modulation hits (this time a whole step). At 2:29, there’s a shift to the parallel minor for a brief bridge before a jubilant return to major at 2:40. Many thanks to first-time contributor Joya M. for submitting this track!
“Coming Back As a Man” is featured on Dutch singer Caro Emerald’s 2013 album The Shocking Miss Emerald. “Caro is certainly the sort of performer who you could imagine giving a knowing wink in between a cheeky lyric or two and the voice has a twirl that makes you smile,” said critic Stephen Unwin in his review of the album for The Daily Express.The record debuted at #1 in the Dutch and United Kingdom album charts, selling over 600,000 copies.
The track begins in G# minor and modulates up a half step to A minor at 2:43.
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