Can you name any popular songs that don't resolve on the 1 (tonic) chord?

[aluminumdisc]

I mentioned something about songs resolving and tried to think of tunes that don't resolve on the one chord but drew a complete blank. I've played a few but can't remember any off hand. Do you have any that may be obvious, maybe something she has heard? I was trying to think of a Beatles tune, I think they may have one (revolution #9 doesn't count) that doesn't resolve. Can you help a brother out?

Thanks!

[Ximenean]

A Hard Day's Night?

[Musicat]

Are you excluding those songs that fade out while repeating a harmonic progression?

[aluminumdisc]

Originally Posted by Usram

A Hard Day's Night?

It's got that weird in the intro and fade but it's in G and basically ends on a G. That one came to mind last night but I think it resolves.

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/..._album_tab.htm

[aluminumdisc]

Originally Posted by Musicat

Are you excluding those songs that fade out while repeating a harmonic progression?

Yea, when I was explaining it to her, I said that your brain wants it to resolve and when it doesn't, if you are actively listening, you will hear the chord in your head, along with all the voices

[HMS Irruncible]

I will go to my grave being endlessly bothered by the Eagles' "Take It Easy". It's a major-key song which no good reason ends on a minor 6, one that is heard only for one measure elsewhere in the song.

[Mojo Pin]

The first song I thought of was Pool Shark by Sublime. It's not much of a song, but its more or less popular and it ends at a weird place. Probably because it was more of a sketch of an idea than a whole song.
hmmm
New Song also doesn't totally resolve (though I'm not sure what is going on exactly--and I might be ruining my music cred if the chord turns out to be just an inversion or something but I'm too lazy to check on the guitar)
5446/Ball and Chain does this for sure.
Had a Dat, Wrong Way, Bad Fish, DJs all do this as well, they all sound unresolved and trick you into hearing stuff.
Actually, Sublime did alot of interesting stuff with chords/basslines--they were so much more than the "just another rock band" they're remembered as.

for some reason I have a strange feeling I will be wrong about all of these

[minlokwat]

The Pink Panther Theme -Mancini of course- ends on a funky variation on an E-minor chord.

On the piano, I play it with left hand on an E octave and right hand playing G B E-flat F-sharp.

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by minlokwat

The Pink Panther Theme -Mancini of course- ends on a funky variation on an E-minor chord.

On the piano, I play it with left hand on an E octave and right hand playing G B E-flat F-sharp.

Bet that final horn glissando is a bitch.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by aluminumdisc

I was trying to think of a Beatles tune, I think they may have one (revolution #9 doesn't count) that doesn't resolve.

How about "And Your Bird Can Sing"? It's firmly in E major, but it ends on an A chord (IV).

[aluminumdisc]

Originally Posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew

How about "And Your Bird Can Sing"? It's firmly in E major, but it ends on an A chord (IV).

You nailed it, thanks! I knew I had played one that didn't resolve, thanks. At one time I could have told you a couple of others that are obvious but they aren't coming to me. thanks again!

[Fish]

Pink Floyd's "Nobody Home." It's in the key of C and ends on an E major.

[DooWahDiddy]

You might also be thinking of "Because", which ends on an F-natural in the key of C# minor.

[lobotomyboy63]

We have to throw out songs that start in a particular key, then do the last verse half a step or a full step up, right?

There songs that go along happily in a minor but end on the major. The one that leaps to mind is "And I Love Her" by the Beatles.

[K364]

Originally Posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew

How about "And Your Bird Can Sing"? It's firmly in E major, but it ends on an A chord (IV).

And, oddly enough, the next song on the album (Revolver) is "For No One" and it ends on the V chord.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by lobotomyboy63

We have to throw out songs that start in a particular key, then do the last verse half a step or a full step up, right?

Didja ever notice that the "Gilligan's Island" theme song goes up a half step on every verse?

There songs that go along happily in a minor but end on the major. The one that leaps to mind is "And I Love Her" by the Beatles.

That's called a Picardy Third. My favorite example in rock music is "Roundabout" by Yes--that lovely final E major chord.

[DooWahDiddy]

Originally Posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew

That's called a Picardy Third. My favorite example in rock music is "Roundabout" by Yes--that lovely final E major chord.

Another good example of that is Elton John's "I Need You to Turn To".

[Ichbin Dubist]

"Rockin' Chair" by The Band is in F major but ends on an A minor (I think ... some minor, anyway).

Van Morrison does thing quite a bit. "Slim Slow Slider" on Astral Weeks and "Who Was That Masked Man" on Veedon Fleece come to mind.

[aluminumdisc]

Originally Posted by lobotomyboy63

We have to throw out songs that start in a particular key, then do the last verse half a step or a full step up, right?

There songs that go along happily in a minor but end on the major. The one that leaps to mind is "And I Love Her" by the Beatles.

No I don't think so, if the tune changed keys in the middle of the tune it can still resolve on the one of the key that it changed too and still be resolved That's in IMO and from what I know about theory.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post!
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[lobotomyboy63]

Originally Posted by aluminumdisc

No I don't think so, if the tune changed keys in the middle of the tune it can still resolve on the one of the key that it changed too and still be resolved That's in IMO and from what I know about theory.

Thanks for taking the time to read the post!
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Well f'rinstance:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs/...alance_crd.htm

These chords start in E. At verse 4 they go to the key of F (and stay there). The last chord indicated is a Dm, the relative minor of F, DFA instead of FAC, but that's the poster's opinion. AAR, it sure doesn't go back to the original key of E so it almost certainly wouldn't end with anything in that key, let alone the I/tonic.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LQgFRiDqnEs

[Musicat]

Originally Posted by Biffy the Elephant Shrew

Didja ever notice that the "Gilligan's Island" theme song goes up a half step on every verse?

Going up a half-step is one of the most common modulations of all. Two good reasons: it is close enough that it doesn't take the vocals much out of the original range, and the new key is harmonically unrelated, which makes the key change feel significant. It also feels like you are building tension when the song needs a little build. If it works once, why not do it again?

Now I challenge anyone to name a tune where the modulation is a half-step each verse, but in the DOWNward direction. Very rare. It feels melancholy, and I once saw it used very effectively for a song intended to be sung by a baaad witch in a musical.

[Ellis Aponte Jr.]

The Who's "Pinball Wizard" starts with a B minor or B suspended 4 chord & ends with a B flat chord, which strikes me as unusual.

[GorillaMan]

Originally Posted by Musicat

Going up a half-step is one of the most common modulations of all. Two good reasons: it is close enough that it doesn't take the vocals much out of the original range, and the new key is harmonically unrelated, which makes the key change feel significant. It also feels like you are building tension when the song needs a little build. If it works once, why not do it again?

Ahhh, the tried and tested Truck driver's gear change ....

This reflects the utterly predictable and laboured nature of the transition, evoking a tired and over-worked trucker ramming the gearstick into the new position with his – or, to be fair, her – fist.

For the OP's question, Nick Cave's People Ain't No Good ends on the dominant.

[Jragon]

I'm willing to bet quite a few songs meant to be "looped" (I know a song that gets on everybody's nerves maybe? Can't recall the tune right now so can't say) may end on a half cadence.

Well f'rinstance:

http://www.ultimate-guitar.com/tabs...valance_crd.htm

These chords start in E. At verse 4 they go to the key of F (and stay there). The last chord indicated is a Dm, the relative minor of F, DFA instead of FAC, but that's the poster's opinion. AAR, it sure doesn't go back to the original key of E so it almost certainly wouldn't end with anything in that key, let alone the I/tonic.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LQgFRiDqnEs

If it modulates into D minor by the end then it would be on the tonic, at least I was always taught the tonic is whatever the I (or i) chord is at the current key, rather than what the song begins with, at least for cadential purposes (if you modulate to minor and end going vii(dim)->i, you probably would mark it as an Authentic Cadence, not a Deceptive Cadence). If you go into C locrean, no matter how bad that i(diminished) chord sounds, it's still the tonic.

[pulykamell]

Man, I hear these every so often, but the only one that comes to mind immediately is The Beatles' "A Day In The Life," whose tonic is G, but final chord is E.

[Ukulele Ike]

Laura Nyro's "Save the Country," but only the version that appears on the album New York Tendaberry. It also ended Side A of that LP, which must have bugged the hell out of people in 1969. (The CD goes directly on to "Gibsom Street," the first tune on Side B.)

[Nonsuch]

Originally Posted by aluminumdisc

It's got that weird in the intro and fade but it's in G and basically ends on a G. That one came to mind last night but I think it resolves.

Not to open a can of worms -- I've heard of friendships being irrevocably broken debating "What chord begins 'A Hard Day's Night'" -- but the song opens and closes on Fadd9 (I believe that's the proper name for "F with a G on top") while the verses are in G.

[Biffy the Elephant Shrew]

Originally Posted by Nonsuch

Not to open a can of worms -- I've heard of friendships being irrevocably broken debating "What chord begins 'A Hard Day's Night'" -- but the song opens and closes on Fadd9 (I believe that's the proper name for "F with a G on top") while the verses are in G.

That doesn't take into account the D in the bass. I expect disagreement, but I say that the famous opening is a G chord--specifically, a G9sus4 in second inversion.

Worms ahoy!

[Crotalus]

I know that this chord is an endless controversy, but when I was played this song in a band years ago, playing an F plus 9 on a Rickenbacker 12 while the bass player played a D sounded close enough that everyone knew what the song was.

Back on topic: Rain King by Counting Crows ends on the IV chord.

[Ludovic]

Speaking of the Beatles, what about the last note of "A Day in the Life"? It bothered me because it seems different from what chord "should" be played, but I'm not a trained musician and even if I were can't tell what chord is actually played.