Major Key songs that still sound sad/minor:

[[J.K.]]

Lately I've been trying to write some songs that are in major keys that don't sound agressively happy or upbeat.

Naturally, you can always focus on a Lydian/Mixolydian mode if you want to keep some tension in the song, but what are some other songs that focus on being in a major key, yet don't trip into the pitfalls of that saccharine major key tonality. And also: why?

 

First song I thought of (which was the song that initiated this discussion with a friend) was Foo Fighters' "Everlong." Kind of an easy taget, and slightly pass

[Eclepto Funk]

velvet underground's Walk on the Wild Side is on C major, and it has a certain minor tone to it because of the F6 chord at the end of the first two lines of the verses and both lines in the chorus

 

Radiohead's Creep is in G major, and it sounds damn minor. of course the progression ends in Cminor (G, B, C, Cm)

[Chicken Monkey]

Walk on the Wild Side is just Lou Reed :poke:

 

Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands and I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry are major-key tunes.

[kurdy]

Tempo is often as much of a factor as key. Slow, quiet songs generally have a melancholy mood to them, minor key or not.

[blue2blue]

I'd say the moving element of melody is key to defining the feel and mood. We often separate melody from harmonic context when we annotate or talk about music structure, but, in reality, it is the play of melody against harmonic context that really defines the greater whole.

[[J.K.]]

 

I'd say the moving element of melody is key to defining the feel and mood. We often separate melody from harmonic context when we annotate or talk about music structure, but, in reality, it is the play of melody against harmonic context that really defines the greater whole.

 

 

"Moving element?" Wanna make a working definition for that?

There are a couple really fantastic books on the topic of psychoacoustic properties in people, but that's not what I'm really interested in debating; not the physics as much as the theory.

But now that I think of it, I do feel like reading those books some more...

[Johnny-Boy]

"Moon River" is in a major key, but it always gives me a melancholy feel. Probably because I first heard it in "Breakfast at Tiffanys". Kind of a sad movie with a happy ending. There are definitely other mood factors involved other than major and minor key.

 

John

[EFG#ABCD]

Every Major key has 3 minor chords in it.

 

CMaj - Dm - Em - FMaj - G7 - Am - Bdim.

 

If you use these minor chords, yet resolve to the tonic Major towards the end of your progression, it will have minor "feel" to it.

[LondonSi]

it's time like this when i wish i knew far more theory....

[Johnny-Boy]

 

Every Major key has 3 minor chords in it. CMaj - Dm - Em - FMaj - G7 - Am - Bdim. If you use these minor chords, yet resolve to the tonic Major towards the end of your progression, it will have minor "feel" to it.

 

 

 

Then it would be considered in a minor key. Probably A-minor, relative minor of "C".

[Oswlek]

"Lightning Crashes" by Live is about a woman dying while giving birth and, with the exception of the bridge, it is a nice simple Cmaj progression of F-C-G the entire way through.

 

EDIT: Oops, I forgot they tune down a half-step, so call it Bmaj E-B-F#.

[fjs1229]

Long Black Veil is just C G and F. It relies more on the tempo and the long notes in the melody

[samtrips]

Dark End Of The Street.

[Bodyguard2112]

Bobby Jean.

 

Bruce Springsteen.

[nickfromdtown]

b or e flat major

[Howlin' Wolf]

I found this topic to be so interesting that I had to register.

 

One of the best examples I can think of is Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come," which is in the key of Ab major. I remember reading that after listening to a demo of the track, a friend of Cooke (I can't remember whom), described the song as "sounding like death."

 

One crucial element in the sad, contemplative mood is the tempo and rhythm of the piece. The song has a slow, 6/8 gospel beat and long, drawn-out melody which allows Cooke hold notes and play with phrasing.

 

The progression of the song utilizes many minor chords, and both the verse and the chorus end on the minor vi chord. Despite the heavy minor emphasis, the song manages to maintain a major feel throughout (with the exception of the bridge) and ends with a crescendo on the I.

 

The bridge also modulates to the second mode, centering around the key of Bbm in this key.

[dparr]

The Beatles ~ For No One

[Adey]

Radiohead's No suprises is another good example.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sgzeqwhNTDk

 

 

Also listen to this, it has sad elements, but is uplifting too, its 'room silencing beautiful' at times.

 

-mozart's piano concert .21

 

Then if your not bored yet try this;

 

[Jerry_L]

Major keys do sound brighter and more energetic than minors, but they don't have to be happy. They can also reflect uncomfortable tension, as in the Talking Heads Psycho-Killer. It doesn't sound sad or dark, but it's not a happy song, either.

[Adey]

Psycho-Killer surely is in a minor key

 

Fah-fah-fah is sung with the root, min7th and minor 3rd notes.

But your point still stands.

[eddieboston2]

Chopin -

[eddieboston2]

It's really incorrect to assume that "major" means "happy" and that "minor" means "sad." Yes, because of the harmonic qualities of the minor key (in particular, the lack of a leading tone in the natural minor), the tonic can seem less final or satisfying, and so a lot of songwriters or composers choose to use a minor key when they want a sad feeling, but that is really the composer's choice. There are millions of examples of sad songs in a major key, as well as very happy songs in a minor key.

 

The choice of major or minor key is only one small factor creating the feel of a piece of music.

[Adey]

 

 

 

Stunning!!

 

 

 

The music was pretty good too:cool:

[glemnar]

 

 

 

Had a certain sadness...

 

 

The music was sad too.

[snowaie]

I wrote a song in the key of C Major, and it went like this, with a slowish tempo.

 

Verse:

C, G, Am, F, G

 

And it sounded as if it were minor.