Tag: pop

Mitski | Nobody

Category-transcending artist Mitski spent her childhood living in Turkey, China, Malaysia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and many other countries due to her father’s US State Department job; the family eventually settled in New York City. The Japanese-born American singer/songwriter’s upcoming album 2019 album “Be the Cowboy” features the lead single “Nobody,” apparently reflecting on (lack of) love amongst the ruins.

The tune builds from more introspective verses into disco/funk-driven choruses. The vocal line ascends throughout two modulations at 2:20 and 2:37 before the tempo and energy deflate into the final bars.

Joni Mitchell | Car on a Hill

Today we mark the MotD debut of acclaimed songwriter/performer Joni Mitchell with her album Court and Spark (1974), which featured the classic tracks “Free Man in Paris,” “Help Me,” “Twisted,” and “Raised on Robbery.” It reached #1 in both the US and Mitchell’s native Canada and was awarded #111 on Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Albums of All Time.” AllMusic reviewed the album as “…a remarkably deft fusion of folk, pop, and jazz …(it) moves away from confessional songwriting into evocative character studies.”

“Car on a Hill,” a non-single track, features an intro and verses only loosely centered around F# minor, but grounded with a straightforward rock groove. At 0:53, the groove drops out for an interlude featuring layers of wordless vocals cycling through layers of keys. At 1:32, we’re back on solid 4/4 ground with another F# minor verse; at 2:24, the groove falls away again, leaving a dizzy A minor outro droning and ringing as the song fades.

Bruce Springsteen | Hungry Heart

Marking Bruce Springsteen‘s debut on MotD, “Hungry Heart” was the lead single on Springsteen’s 1980 album The River and hit #5 on the pop charts. Originally written for The Ramones, the tune ended up becoming a keeper for the Boss instead, winning the Rolling Stone Reader’s Poll for best single of the year.

The early instrumental bridge brings a modulation from C# major to E major at 1:37, and then reverts to the original key at 1:55.

Hall + Oates | Ooh Child

“Ooh Child” was originally released as a single in 1970 by Five Stairsteps. The song’s uplifting, hopeful message led to its ranking of #402 on Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Performed here by Hall & Oates for their 2004 release, Our Kind of Soul, the verses and chorus modulate back and forth throughout.

Red Velvet | One of These Nights

Rising K-Pop stars 레드벨벳 (Red Velvet) are best known for up-tempo dance tracks, but their 2016 R&B-style ballad release “One of These Nights” shows an entirely different side of the vocal quintet. A persistent theory among the group’s fans is that the video’s somber mood and multiple references to water, small life boats, flickering lighting, etc. symbolize a memorial to the victims of the South Korean Sewol ferry tragedy of 2014. The Sewol sank suddenly, killing hundreds of passengers, most of whom were high school students.

The tune is full of modulations, further enhanced by a huge harmonic vocabulary. After the string intro, the verse begins at 0:14, loosely based around G minor; at 1:05, the chorus begins with a devastating downwards modulation to F# minor. The pattern holds for verse 2 and chorus 2. Finally, a bridge shifts briefly to a sunny G major at 3:06, but at 3:20, just where we’d expect a cliche upwards modulation by half-step, we instead get a 4-second pause before falling back down into the plaintive F# minor chorus. The group’s occasional mixing of English with Korean lyrics only adds to the affecting intrigue.

Brent Bourgeois | Dare to Fall In Love

Vocalist, keyboardist, and songwriter Brent Bourgeois released “Dare to Fall In Love” in 1990 as the single from his first solo album after leaving the band he co-fronted during the late 80s, Bourgeois Tagg. The lushly produced track builds to a modulation at the start of the bridge (2:36), remaining in the new key throughout the return of the chorus (3:03) and the remainder of the tune.

Bourgeois remembers the tune’s origins well: “I didn’t want my record company to hear it, because it was very ‘pop,’ very commercial, and didn’t fit the tone of the rest of the record. I was afraid if they heard it, they would want to make it the single, and the record would be misrepresented to the public. Well, they heard it, and that’s exactly what happened.”

Lisa Stansfield | All Around the World

UK pop/soul chanteuse Lisa Stansfield‘s career breakthrough was the smash 1989 hit “All Around the World.” The short intro ends by winding into the song’s sole modulation: a string-heavy compound chord which rings out in a crescendo from 0:14 – 0:18 leading into the first verse. The tune is driven by compound chords throughout and plenty of melodic tensions during the chorus.

The Beach Boys | I Get Around

The Beach Boys‘ first charting single, 1964’s “I Get Around,” was co-written by band members Brian Wilson and Mike Love. Starting in G major, the tune transitions to Ab major at 1:06.

Rolling Stone magazine’s Anthony DeCurtis praised Wilson’s tendency to be “very complex and have every single thing you do have an emotional impact, and have the hearer not even be aware of it — just hear it the first time and get it. That’s hard.”