Tag: pop

Tim Minchin | I Wouldn’t Like You

“I Wouldn’t Like You,” from Australian comedian/musician Tim Minchin’s 2025 release Time Machine, “begins as a tender piano ballad, gently unfolding with Minchin’s signature lyrical wit and emotional nuance, before gradually building into a more guitar-driven, alt-rock finish,” (Amnplify). “At its heart, the track is a wry and quietly romantic ode to loving someone exactly as they are, quirks, contradictions and all. With lines like ‘I wouldn’t like you if you weren’t like you,‘ Minchin delivers a love song that’s both offbeat and sincere, playfully rejecting perfection in favour of authenticity. It’s equal parts dry humour and heartfelt truth, wrapped in a deceptively simple melody that swells with feeling as the track evolves. 

Tim Minchin said: ‘Of all the tunes on this record that have been reinvented, this one has had the most successful vibe update. I always thought this was a keeper, but now with Evan’s loping groove, and the pure undeniable jank of Jak’s guitar in the chorus… I love it.’ The track adds a new layer to the growing portrait painted by Time Machine, a curated anthology of previously unreleased material. This collection of 11 songs offers a glimpse into the mind of the songwriter Tim was before global acclaim, showcasing a raw, witty, and deeply human side of his artistry.”

The intro verses are built in Bb major; the pre-chorus (0:49) and brief chorus (1:14) shift to the closely-related key of Eb major. At 1:26, the cycle repeats.

Tears for Fears | Sowing the Seeds of Love

UK-based Tears for Fears’ third studio album was The Seeds of Love (1989). “Kicked off with the release of the titular single, Tears For Fears presented a new sound that drew strongly from the influence of The Beatles with a track that was at once deliberately nostalgic and fully present,” (Albumism). “An epic ode to the musical influence and production brilliance of the fab four (five if you include George Martin, and you should) “Sowing the Seeds of Love” plays to the strengths of Tears For Fears’ songwriting, weaving a tapestry of captivating melodies and sing-along lyrics that carry a serious undertone.

With a jubilant energy, it flourishes with kaleidoscopic production that transcends being a grab-all of Beatles production and becomes a joyful exuberance that is all its own. But anyone expecting a TFF meets Sgt. Pepper’s album was pleasantly surprised as The Seeds of Love unfurls. Pushing beyond the Beatles-esque psychedelia, the album embraces tones of soul, jazz, pop, world music and orchestral flourishes.”

Starting in G minor for the verse, the tune transitions to C major for chorus (heard for the first time at 0:40). At 0:57, verse 2 returns to G minor. At 1:48, a sprawling multi-section bridge unfolds: an instrumental interlude shifts into F major, shifting into a bridge with vocals at 2:22. At 3:12, a primarily instrumental chorus turns on the hot-and-cold running “Penny Lane”-era Beatles taps in full, complete with a sprightly trumpet feature in C major. 3:29 brings yet another bridge section to the table, this time in A minor. 3:59 provides a new section, returning to G minor; the harmonic material suggests another verse, but the melody and lyric structure are different from the initial verses, providing what might as well be a central tenet of the band’s trademark focus on self awareness: time to eat all your words / swallow your pride / open your eyes. At 4:49, the C major chorus makes its triumphant return. This track is arguably the most vivid section of The Seeds of Love, perhaps Tears for Fears’ most multi-layered canvas.

Matt Boyd | Where Are You Christmas? (feat. Katherine McPhee & Pia Toscano)

The Nashville-based singer Matt Boyd covered “Where Are You Christmas?” for his holiday EP Feels Like Christmas, released earlier this year. The track features former American Idol contestants Katherine McPhee and Pia Toscano. The song starts in Bb, shifts to C at 2:33, and moves to D at 2:50.

Tavito | Tua Ramalhete

“One of the members of Som Imaginário, a band organized to back Milton Nascimento in the ’70s and which also accompanied Gal Costa and other artists, Tavito had his song ‘Hey Man’ (with Zé Rodrix) successfully recorded by the group on its first LP. In 1973 he became a music producer,” (AllMusic). “In 1979 he recorded his first solo album, Tavito, followed by two others recorded before 1982. His biggest hit was ‘Casa no Campo’ (with Zé Rodrix), recorded by Elis Regina in 1971, and ‘Rua Ramalhete’ (with Ney Azambuja)” in 1979.

In the central Brazilian city of Belo Horizonte is a street called Rua Ramalhete (Bouquet Street). The area is well known for its romantic setting, where couples often stroll in the evenings. Tavito lived nearby; a plaque recognizing his work has been placed on a wall overlooking the street.

Online information about Tavito is sparse, but the same can’t be said for his arrangements! After “Tua Ramalhete” starts in E minor, 0:37 brings a pre-chorus leading to a chorus at 0:56 in C# major and a harmonically meandering interlude. At 1:36, E minor returns for another verse. The pattern continues from there. Many thanks to our frequent contributor, Julianna A. from Brazil, for submitting this beautiful tune!

Wang Chung | To Live and Die in L.A.

“… A strong case can be made that To Live and Die in LA is (director William) Friedkin’s masterpiece … Friedkin (director of The French Connection and The Exorcist) gave the British pop group, Wang Chung, near free rein and the results chime perfectly with the gritty neon tinted vision of a city enslaved by Reagan era greed,” (Sense of Cinema). “The title track lays down the unsparing tone in the pre-credit opening. A presidential motorcade moves through the sun scorched streets towards a Beverly Hills hotel. Cut to night time; President Reagan can be heard giving a speech advocating tax cuts to a well-heeled banquet room crowd as his security team warily moves through the hotel …

With its fatalistic lyrics (‘I wonder why we waste our lives here / When we could run away to paradise / But I am held in some invisible vise’), the title track is not so much a love theme as a requiem for the casualty rate that ensues in the film. The song makes clear that Los Angeles in the mid-‘80s is a place whose glamour is out of reach for most inhabitants, but addictive all the same … Wang Chung’s music makes the film’s resonance with the grotesque Malthusian tenor of Trump’s America all the more haunting, but mercifully tinged with a hint of grace and absolution.”

Within the overall bounds of 1980s pop, the film’s atmospheric theme song “To Live and Die in LA” (1985) couldn’t be much more different from Wang Chung’s marquee hits (the relentlessly energetic “Dance Hall Days” and “Everybody Have Fun Tonight”). The intro starts in F minor and transitions to a verse in Bb minor (0:32), punctuated by a rapid-fire, percussive keyboard hook. After a grand pause grants us a moment to breathe, a gentler chorus begins at 1:09, shifting among several tonalities. At 1:31, the pattern repeats with another verse, followed by another chorus at 2:16. In the middle of an interlude (2:42), the track climbs up a whole step to G minor, for another verse and chorus (3:05). From 3:27 to the track’s end, we’ve returned back to the original F minor for an outro/chorus.

Plush | Soaring and Boring

“Liam Hayes is an accidental perfectionist. In hindsight, the Chicago-bred/Milwaukee-based songwriter’s disjointed two-decade trajectory — under his nom de pop Plush and, now, his birth name — was pretty much spelled out in the title of his early signature “Soaring and Boring”: high expectations followed by agonizingly long periods of inactivity,” (Pitchfork). “On the surface, Hayes’ backstory boasts all the hallmarks of a contrarian eccentric genius, whether he was answering the orch-pop promise of Plush’s splendorous 1994 debut single “Three-Quarters Blind Eyes”/”Found a Little Baby” with 1998’s starkly somber solo-piano effort More You Becomes You; tinkering with the symphono-soul follow-up Fed so much he had to release it in two different versions; or issuing certain albums in Japan only. But the uncommon lags between albums have mostly been a factor of Hayes losing his money rather than his mind, and trying to find sympathetic label backers to support a vision of tastefully constructed, soft-focus pop music that’s always been out of step with both mainstream and underground orthodoxies.”

“While it’s hip for contemporary pop acts to toss out Burt Bacharach’s name as an influence, few even remotely approximate the master’s melodic savvy, emotional resonance and simple elegance; Plush’s Liam Hayes comes much closer to the mark, with his debut More You Becomes You — an intimate, often gorgeous collection of piano ballads — recalling the handful of solo records Bacharach cut during the late 1960s,” (AllMusic). “Gentle yet disarming, the record’s only hint of irony is in its title — Hayes smartly favors a less-is-more approach, stripping his music of virtually everything but piano and vocals; both are more than adequate to convey the somber beauty which lends the album its seductive powers.”

Starting in A minor, “Soaring and Boring” (1998) drifts down to Ab minor at the 0:17 mark before rebounding at 0:26. The alternating pattern continues until 0:44, when the track settles into a longer patch of G minor during the chorus. More harmonic shifts continue from there.

Many thanks to regular contributor Ari S. for yet another distinctive submission to MotD!

Limahl | Neverending Story

“In 1983, Limahl was abruptly, unceremoniously fired as the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, only a few months after the British new wave band had scored a massive hit with ‘Too Shy.’ But the following year … Limahl met super-producer Giorgio Moroder at the Tokyo Music Festival and was invited to test his voice on Moroder’s theme song for the epic fantasy film The NeverEnding Story.” (Yahoo Entertainment). “And a new chapter began. ‘The NeverEnding Story’ ended up being Limahl’s only major worldwide solo hit, but it has stood the test of time.

And now the kaleidoscopic pop song is adding yet another chapter to Limahl’s career story and finding new fans of all ages. That’s all due to its placement in an adorable Stranger Things scene … (when) Stranger Things Season 3 premiered, “The NeverEnding Story” shot to No. 4 on Spotify’s U.S. Viral 50 chart, with on-demand audio and video streams for the track surging by more than 2,000% and YouTube views increasing by 800%. Interestingly, this revival (coincided) almost exactly with the 35th anniversary of the film’s U.S. theatrical release on July 20, 1984.”

After a start in C major, the tune shifts quickly to Eb major for the chorus (first heard at 0:28). At 0:44, C major returns while the end of the chorus is still in progress. At 1:47, an interlude starts in G major before shifting to Bb major at 2:02; 2:22 brings a return to the original key with another verse. At times, vocalist Beth Andersen takes over the melody while Limahl harmonizes. Although it only reached #17 in the US, the track was a worldwide hit, reaching #1 in Sweden, Spain, and Norway and top 10 status in a dozen other countries, including Limahl’s native UK.

Eagles | Already Gone

“Eagles were an ascendant country-rock band by 1974, with a handful of hits to their name,” (Ultimate Classic Rock). “With their third album, On the Border, they began courting the rock listeners they so desperately wanted to win over — beginning with the LP’s lead single, ‘Already Gone.'” The tune was “built around a rousing guitar riff from their newest member, Don Felder, and his and Glen Frey’s dueling solos.

… Released on April 19, 1974, ‘Already Gone’ peaked at #32 on the Billboard Hot 100 — no small feat, but one that paled in comparison to On the Border’s third single, the chart-topping ballad ‘Best of My Love'”

The track is built primary in G major, but after two verses, two choruses, the guitar feature, then another verse and chorus, 3:18 brings a late key change up a fourth to C major for the chorus-based outro.

Tracey Ullman | Move Over Darling

“More often than not, when TV personalities dip their toe in the pop pool, it’s meant as a brief detour from the day job, with little expectation of prolonged success.” (Record Collector). “Comedienne Ullman bucked the trend with some style, going as far as chalking up her label Stiff Record’s only US Top 10 hit. That came with her carbon cope of Kirsty MacColl’s ‘They Don’t Know.” Her UK stats stretch to half a dozen hit singles and an album that hung around the charts for close to six months.

Ullman excelled at aping bygone girl pop sounds, be it the Shangri Las, Sandy Shaw, or Blondie … a strong of memorable videos clearly boosted her music profile, but that’s taking nothing away from Tracey’s own ability to inhabit the material with wit and radio-friendly pizazz.”

“Move Over Darling” (1983), originally recorded in 1963 by Doris Day for a movie of the same name, begins in A major, shifts up a half step at 1:02, and then drops another raise of a half step at 1:37.

Paul Mauriat | Love is Blue

“Love is Blue,” originally composed by Andre Popp and Pierre Cour, started off its life as Luxembourg’s entry in the 1967 Eurovision Song Contest,” (Stereogum). Several versions charted over the years, “but the version of the song that really hit … was the one that French easy listening composer Paul Mauriat released the following year.”

MotD regular contributor JB calls Paul Mauriat’s “Love is Blue” (1968) “… a perfect encapsulation of the zeitgeist of the mid-60s. At the same time that the Rolling Stones were recording truly transgressive stuff like ‘Under My Thumb,’ there were still large and enthusiastic audiences for weekly variety shows like Lawrence Welk and The Grand Ole Opry. Mauriat’s arrangement manages to simultaneously include both a beautiful harpsichord melody and cheesy strings and horns.”

Starting in A minor, the tune’s progresses through two verses before reaching the chorus, which shifts to A major at 0:54 after a dynamic huge buildup previewing the major key at 0:51. The pattern continues from there.