From: Dan
To: Ian
This song has an unusual structural property:
Carrie Underwood – Ever Ever After
At least I can’t think of another song with this structural property.
If you hate the song so much you can’t bear to listen to it, I’ll just tell you, but if your wife is having a baby right now, that’s no excuse not to give your full attention to this thread.
From: Dan
To: Ian
Eds. note: approximately two months elapsed here because Ian’s wife was in fact having a baby at the time the previous email got sent…
Dude, I’m still waiting for your answer on this one…
From: Ian
To: Dan
The key change straight out of the prechorus into the second chorus? Usually there would be some kind of bridge, or the key change would be on a repetition of the chorus or something.
From: Dan
To: Ian
Yes, I find this very unusual:
Standard pre-chorus fare... [D]There is joy to be cla[Em7]imed in this worl[D/F#]d [G]You even migh[Am7]t wind u[G/B]p being gla[C]d to be yo[D]u ...and clearly we're going to hit the chorus on I, right? Ever ever [Bb]after [Eb] Though the world will tell you[Gm7]...
What makes it even more surprising is that later there is a bridge that’s as bridge-y as bridges get:
No wonder your [Em]heart feels it's flying Your hea[G]d feels it’s spinning [Em]Each happy ending’s A [G]brand new beginning [Em]Let yourself [D]be enc[F]hanted You [G]just might break thr[Am7]ough [D] Hard stop here... oh, it feels like a key change is coming... but... To ever ever [G]after... ...nope, no key change after the bridge.
I wrote it here in G, it’s really in Bb, but I’d just say this bridge is so bridge-y that it’s in the key of bridge.
Clearly the [G] that I put in blue is where the key change would usually go. And the actual key change has all the other properties of a typical out-of-the-bridge key change: the vocals hit it pretty hard after a more-or-less total instrumental stop, to make sure you can’t possibly miss the key-change-tastic key change. Hey, look here! Key change!
Did I mention the music from Enchanted is awesome? Actually the whole movie is awesome, all the more awesome with this inexplicable key change that happens while the credits are rolling.
How’s being a dad going?
From: Ian
To: Dan
It’s time-consuming. I must have been wasting a lot of time before.
The baby seems to like singing. I make sure to throw in some non-diatonic notes from time to time. I also try to sing a variety of genres, but I’m aware of your warning that it will all snap back to kids music at some point. I haven’t tested unusual time signatures yet.