Why Is This OK?
June 6, 2011
We need to have a little chat about a certain set of chords used all too often in pop music. Since we’re living in a text-based medium here, I guess you’ll need to do a little homework first. Watch the video below. If you’ve ever listened to pop music, it’ll be five minutes well spent.
So, I’m sure the music nerds and musically savvy out there didn’t need this video to realize what is going on. SOME of the people writing our songs are lazy as fuck. (Not to mention the people writing our TV Shows and Movies, but I digress). My question to you is, ”Why is this OK?” I’m not sure I have an answer. I mean to say, I’m not really sure why songwriters get away with it. I can, however, tell you why listeners LOVE these chords (from here on known as “The Golden One”).
“Happy, but sad.”
I have heard this phrase said without an ounce of irony. It was only once, and unfortunately not in a context where I could openly laugh. It was a person who didn’t know how to tell me the kind of music they were looking for (and they were paying me). This asinine phrase embodies what makes The Golden One so unique. It’s got a bittersweetness that lets it live with almost any lyric. Lyrics about new love or breakups. Lyrics about new beginnings or the fall of the Roman Empire. Lyrics about adopting a kitten or burying a dog. You get the picture.
Hey songwriters, how about getting inventive? Hey general public, how about having some standards for originality?
Here are some questions that aren’t rhetorical. Who invented The Golden One? Did they not have the scratch to hire a lawyer to sue the first guy to steal it? I’m gonna talk to some people about this, maybe you could too. Let me know what you find out.
P.S., RE: Originality in crafting plot devices in film and TV:
I love the concert video, but to answer your questions about why The Golden One is forever in the public domain, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Is71L4UqxY8&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuB4r6MCb3o and of course the infamous http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JvNQLJ1_HQ0. Actually I guess it’s not exactly the same, since these are all I-V-vi-iii-IV, while The Golden One is I-V-vi-IV, but it’s nearly the same idea and I’m sure there are plenty of ancient I-V-vi-IV examples too, it’s just that it’s late now and I can’t think of them off the top of my head. But the point is that “happy but sad” has been popular longer than copyright has.
Finally, a real answer. Thanks!