Tag: soundtrack

Billy Preston + Syreeta | With You I’m Born Again

“With You I’m Born Again” (1979) was “the last Top 10 charting hit of Billy Preston‘s prolific career,” Songfacts reports. “He was active in music from the 1950s into the 2000s, and was then stopped only when he lost his battle with kidney disease. This song was done in duet with Syreeta Wright, a soul and R&B singer best known for working with and being married to Stevie Wonder.”

In addition to his own hits such as “Nothing from Nothing” and “Will It Go Round in Circles,” Billy Preston was also known for playing keyboards as part of the Rolling Stones’ touring band. He was honored with the title “fifth Beatle” for his intermittent work with the Fab Four.

Songfacts continues: “‘With You I’m Born Again’ was written specifically for the film Fast Break, a very routine sports-comedy film at the tail end of the ’70s from producer Stephen J. Friedman, who made a name for himself in comedy flicks, especially sports-related ones. Today, the song is the most notable thing people remember about the film, which tells you something. Songwriting credits here go to singer Carol Connors and songwriter/composer David Shire; Shire also had a hand in the scores to the films Saturday Night Fever and Return to Oz. As for Connors, she … co-wrote the theme to the 1976 film Rocky and several songs from Disney’s the Rescuers film series.”

The 2016 book Dynamic Duets: The Best Pop Collaborations from 1955 to 1999 (Bob Leszczak) recounts a story from songwriter Connors: “The late great Marvin Hamlisch told me that he was in the barber chair when he first heard the song on the radio and stood straight up in amazement, narrowly missing getting his throat cut by the scissors.”

Starting in D minor, the tune begins with a lazy, string-sweetened rubato with a lyrical flute countermelody (0:53 – 1:13). At 1:38, a groove is finally added to the mix for the second verse as the orchestration continues to build. At 2:51, a late modulation to Eb minor crashes down on us; at 3:19, returning to a gentle rubato, we close in Eb major.

Hannah Montana (Miley Cyrus) | The Other Side of Me

If someone asked you to name artists whose repertoire features ingenious modulations, chances are Hannah Montana would not rank high on the list. But the writers of Miley Cyrus’ sensational Disney Channel show’s soundtrack (2006) created some intriguing compositions, especially in the sense of music theory and modulation. Matthew Gerrard and Robbie Nevil formed a partnership around 2006 working for Disney and wrote often for Hannah Montana as well as some other hit Disney Channel productions, including High School Musical. 

These two writers used modulations often in their tunes to create that intense burst of energy we all know and love. However, one tune in particular modulates in an extremely strategic and unique way — something not often done in commercial music, let alone youth television soundtracks. “The Other Side Of Me” is part of Hannah Montana’s first season soundtrack. The song has an extremely uplifting energy, constantly shifting and continuously engaging the listener. This engaging quality is driven by the harmonic contour of the song, which includes four keys in total! Rather than using the classic one-time key change at the end of the song, Gerard and Nevil employ a series of modulations to keep the tune moving forward and evolving harmonically, creating sectional contrast and an elevated sense of passion as Miley Cyrus moves through the song. 

The tune starts out in the key of A major with a rockin’ V – iv – IV – I progression in the intro and first verse. The pre-chorus progression shuffles these chords but maintains a clear tonic of A major. Suddenly, a transition into the chorus brings the tune up a whole step to B major (0:38), where we remain for the chorus until moving back to A major for the second verse and pre-chorus (1:05). From here, the song modulates back to B major and then moves into the bridge, which includes a modulation to G major for the first half (1:54) and E major (2:02) for the second half. The final chorus brings listeners back to the third chorus in B once again, going out with a bang as the hook, “the other side of me,” plays in the chorus’s home key of B major. 

The tune is absolutely genius and well thought out; the transitions among keys are seamless. Miley Cyrus handles the shifting tonality in her stride.

What’s Wrong With Me (from “The Kissing Bandit”)

According to the American Film Institute, 1949’s The Kissing Bandit was a film whose production hit more than a few bumps in the road: The film went through many iterations of casting before the leads Kathryn Grayson and Frank Sinatra were finalized. “The film is set in the early nineteenth century. Ricardo (Frank Sinatra) is the son of a robber known as the Kissing Bandit. He however is a shy, Boston-bred young man who does not know how to sit on a horse … the film became jokingly known as one of MGM’s biggest ‘flops’ and an acknowledged low point in the careers of Sinatra and Grayson.”

The Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television reported that the film was a financial disaster, earning $969,000 in the US and Canada and $412,000 overseas, resulting in a loss to MGM of $2,643,000. This made it one of the least successful musicals in MGM history.

But given its lovely melody, “What’s Wrong With Me” survived as a standout from the production. With music by Nacio Herb Brown and lyrics by Earl K. Brent, the tune provided a good showcase for Grayson and Sinatra. A downward half-step modulation kicks in at 2:22 in the transition between Grayson’s and Sinatra’s respective solo sections.

Many thanks to Jamie A. for this contribution — hopefully the first of many!

Paciencia y Fe (from “In The Heights”)

Before Hamilton, composer/lyricist/actor Lin-Manuel Miranda wrote In The Heights, a musical focused on a group of Hispanic immigrants living in Washington Heights, looking to create a sense of home and belonging while also maintaining a connection to their roots. Miranda began writing the show during his sophomore year at Wesleyan College in 1999, and it opened on Broadway in 2008, winning four of the thirteen Tony Awards it was nominated for. Like Hamilton, the score incorporates rap and hip-hop, and Miranda starred as the lead in the original cast. A film adaptation of In The Heights opened last week.

“Paciencia Y Fe” features two key changes — from D down to C minor at 2:00, and up to C major for the final 8 measures at 4:19.

For Forever (from “Dear Evan Hansen”)

Pasek & Paul’s 6-time Tony Award-winning, blockbuster 2016 musical Dear Evan Hansen opened in London in November 2019 before closing the following March due to the COVID-19 pandemic; it is scheduled to re-open this October. English actor Sam Tutty plays the title character in the production, and is featured here singing “For Forever” with three other Evans: Andrew Barth Feldman from Broadway, Robert Markus from Toronto, and Stephen Christopher Anthony from the national tour. The show’s music supervisor Alex Lacamoire produced and arranged the vocals, Dillon Kondor wrote the guitar arrangement, and Tim Basom and Ethan Pakchar accompanied for this performance.

A film adaptation of the musical, starring Ben Platt who originated the role of Evan, will be released this September. Key changes at 2:47 and 3:49.

Christopher Tin (feat. Soweto Gospel Choir) | Baba Yetu

If you enjoy turn-based strategy video games, then you are likely familiar with the Civilization franchise, and if you played Civilization IV, then you may have spent a significant amount of time staring on the main menu screen, enraptured by today’s tune and forgetting entirely that you’d settled down to conquer the digital world. American composer Christopher Tin‘s composition “Baba Yetu” arranges a Swahili translation of The Lord’s Prayer into a masterful piece for choir and orchestra.

The tune won the 2011 Grammy award for Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists — the first ever piece of video game music to win. Just as impressive, it’s featured on an album which itself won the 2011 Grammy for “Best Classical Crossover Album”: while the piece debuted with the game in 2005, Tin also released a recording of it on his first album, Calling All Dawns, in 2011.

Tin begins the song with a rousing call and response in G major. The voices gradually build and merge into a modulation to D major, which begins at 1:00. 20 seconds later, the chorale drops away, and the tonal center begins to shift until the voices triumphantly return and modulate squarely to E major while proclaiming “Ufalme wako ufike utakalo. Lifanyike duniani kama mbinguni, Amin.” (Thy kingdom come, thy will be done. On earth, as it is in heaven, Amen). With the verse finished, tonal certainty once again fades, until at the 2:25 mark the final chorus brings us back to G major to finish out the tune. I hope you enjoy this moving arrangement, along with the visual accompaniment of some truly high-definition 2005 video game graphics!

Olivia Newton-John & John Travolta | Summer Nights (from “Grease”)

“Summer Nights” is one of the most popular songs from the 1971 musical Grease by Jim Jacobs and Warren Casey. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta performed the song in the 1978 film adaptation of the musical, and their recording reached the #5 spot on the Billboard Top 100 (and the #1 spot in the UK.) Two ascending half-step modulations occur at 1:42 and 2:22, and we return to the original key of D at 2:35.

John Parr | St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)

From the 1985 movie soundtrack of the same title, John Parr‘s “St. Elmo’s Fire (Man in Motion)” was co-written by Parr and David Foster. The film starred a group of 20-something actors collectively known in pop culture as “The Brat Pack”: Demi Moore, Ally Sheedy, Judd Nelson, Emilio Estevez, Rob Lowe, and Andrew McCarthy. The movie focuses on a group of friends as they move into post-college life.

Songfacts reports: “The phrase ‘St. Elmo’s Fire’ refers to the spectral light sometimes seen around a ship’s mast. John Parr didn’t see the movie before he and Foster wrote the song: ‘Fortunately I didn’t see the film, specifically because the phenomenal force of nature known as St. Elmo’s Fire was a metaphor. To me it was the embodiment of a dream, a focus to strive towards as it glows in the sky. In the movie, Rob Lowe pulls out a gas canister and tells Demi Moore not to get too hung up about her problems. He lights the gas and as it ignites he dismisses her plight as no big deal, just like St. Elmo’s Fire. That would have killed it for me.'”

Critical reception of the film was mixed at best. The video echoes the film’s earnest self-congratulation by combining footage from the film, a “club concert” by Parr, a set that’s crumbling and partially on fire, and Parr joining the cast at some sort of event that looks like … a photoshoot? An awkward industry event? It’s anyone’s guess. But the tune hit No. 1 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 chart for two weeks in September 1985 and still remains a staple of many 80s playlists. Starting in A major, the chorus shifts to F# major (for the first time at 1:11); the verse reverts to A major. Many thanks to our faithful mod wrangler JB for this submission!

Barbra Streisand | Make Someone Happy

Originally written by Jule Styne (music), Betty Comden and Adolph Green (lyrics) for the 1960 musical Do Re Mi, “Make Someone Happy” subsequently became a jazz standard, and has been recorded by dozens of singers including Perry Como, Aretha Franklin, Judy Garland, and Jamie Cullum among others. Featured here is a live 2009 performance by Barbra Streisand at the Village Vanguard in New York City. Starting in C major, the tune modulates down to B around 3:29 while Streisand is ad-libbing some dialogue and stays there for the final chorus.

Starship | Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now

Written by Diane Warren and Albert Hammond, “Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now” was recorded by the American rock band Starship for their 1987 album No Protection. The track was the top-selling song of 1987 in the United Kingdom, reached the #1 spot on the Billboard Hot 100, and was nominated for Best Original Song at the Academy Awards in 1988 (it was the theme song for the 1987 romantic comedy Mannequin.) Key change at 2:56.