A songwriting technique that I thought about before, forgot, and want to remember this time: switching to the tonality of the IV chord for the chorus.
The Rolling Stones write some of the catchiest choruses in the world, so let’s look at them.
First, "Happy", off of Exile on Main Street.
The main verse is all riffing in B; the chorus switches to a strong E. This leads back to B for the post-chorus refrain bit, which then leads right back to the verse.
Okay, a less straightforward example: "Loving Cup”. The main verse is:
| D | C | G | G |
Great! Solidly G tonality. But the chorus is:
| F C | G |
This still resolves on G (with a IV -> I, like in "Happy"), but the F suggests C (or, at least, G mixolydian). Another Exile track, "Turd on The Run" doesn’t have a super clearly defined chorus, but uses the same move (IV/IV -> IV -> I) in the refrain (“I lost a lot of love over you”).
So far, we've seen a complete shift where the choruses use only chords from the IV tonality. The transition is not always so complete. Consider "Rocks Off”. The verse is:
| A | B | E | E |
while the chorus is:
| A | A | A | A | | B | B | A | E |
For this chorus, the Glimmer Twins use the exact same chords as the verse - including B from the original tonality of E and not the new tonality of A. BUT, holding out the A four times as long still moves us into the tonality of the IV chord. It creates a tension, which only increases when we move to the V chord (or II/IV?) - this REALLY wants to cadence us back to the I.
The Stones do resolve it here, but, very nicely, they first go back via the IV, which gives a partial resolution (in the IV tonality) while simultaneously delaying and enhancing the eventual return to the original key of E. That is SWEET! Rock and roll!
Still, maybe that’s enough from the Stones. The Dead use the same trick.
Exhibit 1: "He’s Gone". The verse is solidly in E, cycling through E -> A -> B a couple of times. In the chorus (“Now he’s gone”) we move to A, the IV chord. Like "Happy", we don’t actually use any chords besides the IV here, but the new tonality is suggested by the length this A chord is held out.
Now, for each of the first two “He’s gone”, this A resolves solidly back to E. But on the “Lord he’s gone”, which moves into the post-chorus, the Dead further entrench us in the new tonality of A by shifting the E to an E7. This is a subtle change, but to me it holds the emotional weight of the song. It provides a nice resolution and a place to take a breath while the band moves into the post-chorus (while in the background, the tension is still building).
In the post-chorus itself, the band then throws that out of the window by moving immediately up to B. I’m not sure if the right interpretation here is that we’re in a B mixolydian mood, or if it’s just a temporary V/V/IV to add some suspense. But regardless, the Dead, like in the Stones examples above, end the chorus on the A (IV) again, and then lead from there to the back to the E of the verse.
It’s a little crazy - that’s why they’re the Dead, and not the Stones!
That being said, let’s look at Exhibit 2: “They Love Each Other”. The verses are in G, and almost exclusively live in the I chord, while the chorus use the same F -> C -> G (IV/IV - IV - I) move that the Stones employed in “Loving Cup”, putting them in that C/G mixolydian tonality. The move from G to F is what holds all the excitement of the song - both here and in "Loving Cup”, that sudden shift in tonality really hits!
See more on the Dead’s chord progressions in an excellent paper here.
Okay - enough examples. What are the takeaways of this?
- In all examples (here at least) the verse ends on I, while the chorus ends with IV -> I.
- In the chorus, the shift can be used to varying degrees - from just holding out the IV chord to borrowing multiple chords from the new tonality.
- Moving to a new tonality in the chorus adds excitement, tension, and intrigue. It also provides an interesting pathway back to the verse: the IV -> I change (when it comes) makes a nice emotional impact.
- This shift also makes sense going the other way, because the I is also the V/IV. For example, E is the V of A, so even while E is serving as the I, moving to the IV has some sense of resolution built in.
The bigger point is that many great songs play with tonality to create suspense and moments of emotional impact. When I’m writing songs, I sometimes feel an urge to keep my chord progressions simple, which often means sticking with a usual I/IV/V, with maybe a ii or a vi thrown in. But even as “straightforward” a songwriter as John Prine - who almost never wrote a song in a minor key - uses almost the same idea in “Angel From Montgomery”. It doesn’t have to be a big functional harmony trip; it can just be what feels right. And following that feeling is more important than following the key.