Sad songs or arias in MAJOR keys

[throatybeard]

I threw this out there on Facebook. The death of Risë Stevens naturally made me think of one of the roles most associated with her, a "pants role," Orfeo in Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice (1762). Orfeo sings the best known aria, "Che farò senza Euridice," right after he looks back at Euridice and she is sucked back into Hades. It's the saddest moment in the work, but the aria is in C major. In 1996, I remember Peter Burian, a Duke professor of Classical Studies mentioning this in a talk that was probably about the Orpheus legend.

Here's what the Facebook intelligentsia in my feed have so said far. Asterisk means I haven't verified it or can't.

Classical

"Che farò senza Euridice" - Gluck - Orfeo ed Euridice - G-major
"O malheureuse Iphigenie!" - Glcuk - Iphegenie en Tauride - G-major
"Lascia ch'io pianga" -Handel - Rinaldo - F-major
"Pace, pace mio Dio" - Verdi - La forza del destino - possibly B♭- Major with sections in another, minor key*
"Je vais danser" - Bizet - Carmen - D♭-major

Popular/Traditional

Rihanna - "Stay" - C-major**
Eagles - "Desperado" - G-major
"Weatherly" - Danny Boy - D-major
"At the River" - Copland - E♭-major
"Creep" - Radiohead - G-major
"The Tracks of my Tears" - The Miracles - G-major
"Go your own Way" - Fleetwood Mac - F major
"Landslide" (!!!!) - Fleetwood Mac - C-major
"Songbird" - Fleetwood Mac - F-major
"Yesterday" - Douchey Moptops, I mean Beatles - F-major
"Imagine" - Lennon - C-major
"Stuck inside a Mobile" Dylan - E-major
"Buckets of Rain" - Dylan - E-major

I would greatly appreciate any other info about this anyone has.

* - I can't find the score on line.
** - I just can't tell. Sometimes if feels like a-minor.

[snowdenscold]

I'm not sure what qualifies as a "sad song", but if we're being generous I guess I might throw out Beth Hart's LA Song, Cranberries Ode To My Family, Clapton's Tears in Heaven, Hootie's Let Her Cry, Live's Lightning Crashes, Les Mis's I Dreamed a Dream, REM's Everybody Hurts and the Dixie Chicks' Travelin' Soldier.


Disclaimer: I actually don't know much about this subject (i.e., the technical/chord aspects of music theory, since I played an instrument for 12 years that could only produce one note at a time), so I could be completely wrong - just going by what I think here.



Also, you might appreciate this:
http://theweek.com/article/index/240...ey-songs-major

[moonpie23]

"Yesterday" - Douchey Moptops, I mean Beatles - F-major

please explain yourself...





THIS one is very sad

[duke23]

I'm also not entirely sure what qualifies as "sad", but off the top of my head, Brandi Carlile's "The Story" comes to mind - I believe it's in A Major.

[pamtar]

Cursive has made a living out of making "happy" progressions "sad." Dunno if its exactly what you're looking for Throaty, but when I think 'sad songs in major keys' I immediately think of these guys..

Cant tell you exactly what key these are in without a keyboard in front of me, but after a quick listen I'd say the first is in G and the second in D.



Wont let me imbed two videos so here's a link to the second http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6GJIdznVM

[Indoor66]

Cursive has made a living out of making "happy" progressions "sad." Dunno if its exactly what you're looking for Throaty, but when I think 'sad songs in major keys' I immediately think of these guys..

Cant tell you exactly what key these are in without a keyboard in front of me, but after a quick listen I'd say the first is in G and the second in D.



Wont let me imbed two videos so here's a link to the second http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NW6GJIdznVM

Is that music? Sounds like noise to me.

[pamtar]

Is that music? Sounds like noise to me.

Haha! They can definitely be off-putting to someone not familiar with post-hardcore indie rock. (god, I hate genres.) However, most critics lauded their record "The Ugly Organ" as one of the best albums of the decade. I like them because of their ability to marry the 'noise' you speak off (quite correctly i might add) with really beautiful melodies and cerebral lyrics. The second song discusses adultery. Its a discombobulated mess of a song (like the marriage it describes) until the ending, which to me, puts things in perspective both musically and metaphorically. Their newer stuff is a bit more subtle, if you will. Here's an example:

[fidel]

But interesting nonetheless...

http://www.hooktheory.com

[Mal]

Haha! However, most critics lauded their record "The Ugly Organ" as one of the best albums of the decade.

Wait, what? Which critics? Pitchfork hates them, from what I recall, and I think they got some good coverage for their first couple albums, but they're no darling. I'm pretty meh on Cursive, as I find them too emo for my tastes and I'm not a fan of concept albums in general. For 21st century noise rock, I'll take Dirty Projectors over Cursive any day. Less punk, more art, but I like the way they use space and subtlety.

Back on topic, most of Patsy Cline's biggest hits are in major keys, if I'm not mistaken. And they're definitely trending towards "sad," if not fully wallowing in it.

[throatybeard]

Thanks, y'all.

Back on topic, most of Patsy Cline's biggest hits are in major keys, if I'm not mistaken. And they're definitely trending towards "sad," if not fully wallowing in it.

Great call. I've added them to the list, and some of Snowdenscold's. Here's what we're up to on the Facebook thread.

Classical

"Fra poco a me ricovero" - Lucia di Lammermoor - Donizetti - G-Major (i think)
"Angelo castel e bel" - Il Duca d'Alba Salvi/Donizetti -

Popular/Traditional

"Before You Go" - Buck Owens - G-Major
"Go Your Own Way" - Fleetwood Mac - F-Major
"Crazy" - Cline/Nelson - C-Major
"She's Got You" - Cline/Cochran - C-Major
"Walking After Midnight" - Cline - C-Major
"Hate that I Love You" - Rihanna - C-Major
"Final Goodbye" - Rihanna - A-Major
"Rehab" - Winehouse -(Is this 'sad'?) C-major
"Honey" - Bobby Goldsboro - D-Major
"Michelangelo" - Emmylou Harris - A♭-Major.
"Red Dirt Girl" - Emmylou Harris - F♯-major
"He Stopped Loving Her Today" - George Jones - G-Major.
"Let Her Cry" - Hootie & the Blowfish - G-Major
"Everybody Hurts" - REM - D-Major
"When the Levee Breaks" - Memphis Minnie/LZ - A-Major
"Do You Love Me?" - Nick Cave - C-Major
"Red Right Hand" - Nick Cave - B-Major
"Drive You Home" - Garbage - C-Major
"No Need to Argue" - C-Major
"Dreaming my Dreams" - C-Major.
"I Will Remember You" - -Sarah McLachlan - A-Major
"Someone Like You" - Adele - A-Major.
"Strange Currencies" - REM - C-Major.
"Ó Gente da Minha Terra" - Machado./Rodrigues/Mariza - D-Major.

[budwom]

How about Two Out of Three Ain't Bad by Mr. Loaf himself...?

[throatybeard]

I'm also not entirely sure what qualifies as "sad", but off the top of my head, Brandi Carlile's "The Story" comes to mind - I believe it's in A Major.

Great call. E-chords says it is A.

[rasputin]

Great call. E-chords says it is A.

"Simple Man" by Graham Nash.

[rasputin]

"Simple Man" by Graham Nash.

Here's another: "If You Could Read My Mind" by Gordon Lightfoot.

[gus]

I was just listening to Long Black Veil by Left Frizzell. His (original version) sounds like it's in a major key.

[throatybeard]

Dust in the Wind - Kansas - C Major

[Bob Green]

"Yesterday" - Douchey Moptops, I mean Beatles - F-major

Talk about disrespectful, the Beatles are the single greatest "entertainment" event of my lifetime. I still listen to them everyday as I drive around wherever it is I am going. Currently, I have Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, The Beatles, Abbey Road and One CDs in my truck.

The Beatles rock, they have always rocked and they will always rock. Get with it!

[OldPhiKap]

Talk about disrespectful, the Beatles are the single greatest "entertainment" event of my lifetime. I still listen to them everyday as I drive around wherever it is I am going. Currently, I have Help, Rubber Soul, Revolver, The Beatles, Abbey Road and One CDs in my truck.

The Beatles rock, they have always rocked and they will always rock. Get with it!

Yoko's songs bring tears to my eyes, but I have no idea IF they are in a key let alone whether it is major or minor.

John>Paul. There, I said it.

[Bob Green]

John>Paul. There, I said it.

I like Lennon a lot and Harrison could be my favorite. Harrison's Taxman, Love You To, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, and Here Comes the Sun are great songs. Lennon's list is long and illustrious: I Want to Hold Your Hand, I Feel Fine, Ticket to Ride, Day Tripper and Help standout from Beatlemania. Moving forward, Nowhere Man, I'm Only Sleeping, Doctor Robert, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, Dear Prudence, Glass Onion, Happiness is a Warm Gun, and I Want You.

Come Together is classic Lennon.

I am of the opinion Paul's music went downhill after the Beatles, but he had some great songs as part of the Beatles: All My Loving and I Saw Her Standing There from the early days, plus Michelle, Paperback Writer, Eleanor Rigby, Penny Lane, Back in the USSR, Blackbird and Get Back are all great tunes. The End off Abbey Road (the last song recorded by all four "Moptops") is a real rocker.

The whole "John>Paul" thing is the two of them together were so awesome. I offer the medley on Abbey Road as proof.

So TB can shoot me now for driving his thread off topic but he was the one who called my beloved Beatles "Douchey Moptops" so it is all his fault.

[rsvman]

From a music theory standpoint, I'm not sure it's all that surprising that some sad songs are set in a major key. In any major key, only the I, IV, and V chords are major chords. The II, III, and VI are minor, and the VII is diminished (which sounds even sadder than a minor chord).

Let's look at Yesterday, as an example. I don't have the song in front of me, so this is from memory (which can be shaky sometimes) but I'll give it a go anyway.

The first chord of the song if F major. However, if I remember correctly, the song quickly tonicizes D minor, going with E minor/A major/D minor.

If I had the chord chart, I could explain it further. I'm pretty sure that the melody doesn't even stick to the key of F major very long; I think it leaves it where the lyric says "All my troubles seemed so far away," which occupy the second and third bars of the song.

I guess what I'm saying is that a song can spend a great deal of time harmonized by minor chords, even though the original key signature is major.