# "Every Breath You Take" in minor key **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 19, 2020, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092 "2020-05-19T08:01:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/21 "2020-05-20T00:25:30Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > Yeah, I never understood the people who used it as their ‘song’ in weddings. Really? You don’t understand how being married is like having a personal stalker?.. Every breath you take Every move you make Every vow you break Every smile you fake I’ll be right there Watching you Every Single Relentless Fucking Day For the rest of your life… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/22 "2020-05-20T00:31:39Z")
> [@Asylum](#): > > He’s definitely not in a relationship with her. > > _“I resolved to call her up a thousand times a day > And ask her if she’ll marry me in some old fashioned way > But my silent fears have gripped me long before I reach the phone > Long before my tongue has tripped me > Must I always be alone?”_ > > I didn’t take it as stalkerish, more unrequited love. > > BTW, are there ANY Police songs that aren’t creepy/depressing? But he’s trying to work up the nerve to ask her to marry him, not go out with him. And then there’s this lyric _Do I have to tell the story Of a thousand rainy days since we first met It’s a big enough umbrella But it’s always me that ends up getting wet_ So my thinking was maybe the guy isn’t pining over the girl that doesn’t know he exists, it’s more like the POV of some guy that’s been friend-zoned. That’s what I meant by “some sort of relationship”. But, then again, it’s a song and these lyrics work well for many reasons. Maybe I’m overthinking it. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/23 "2020-05-20T01:21:17Z")
The whole point of the song is the “love song” in the singer’s head dynamic vs the creepiness of the lyrics. It’s music up, lyrics down – it’s a reasonably common music convention. Putting it in a minor key just ruins the whole thing. I mean, I have fun listening to these YouTube videos of minor key songs in major keys and major key songs in minor keys, but this one doesn’t work for me. I do kind of like the major key version of “Losing My Religion.” That one makes me giggle. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/24 "2020-05-20T12:25:09Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > … I do kind of like the major key version of “Losing My Religion.” That one makes me giggle. In an amusing bit of synchronicity, I googled “Losing my Religion” after I posted the major key version, out of curiosity to see exactly what the song was about, and I found this Wikipedia link that said Michael Stipe compared it to the OP’s topic song “Every Breath You Take”: > **[Losing My Religion | Composition and lyrics](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Losing_My_Religion#Composition_and_lyrics)** > > "Losing My Religion" is based on Peter Buck's mandolin-playing. Buck said, "The verses are the kinds of things R.E.M. uses a lot, going from one minor to another, kind \[of\] like those 'Driver 8' chords. You can't really say anything bad about E minor, A minor, D, and G – I mean, they're just good chords." Buck noted that "Losing My Religion" was "probably the most typical R.E.M.-sounding song on the record. We are trying to get away from those kind of songs, but like I said before, those are some... ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/25 "2020-05-20T13:00:41Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Is this a common thing for artists to record songs in different keys? This guy, [Chase Holfelder](https://www.youtube.com/user/chaseholfelder/videos?view=0&sort=dd&shelf_id=0) has put out a couple of albums of songs changed from major to minor. They make good listening when you are in the right mood. On his YouTube channel he has other oddities - songs with only a toy piano as accompaniment, songs sung higher than the original, _Dance Monkey_ with an arrangement for 18 toys. Here is [All I want For Christmas is You](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tQrN9ba8qEM) turned all stalkerish. He makes no secret of the fact that he lays it on really thick and is going for big moments in his covers. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/26 "2020-05-20T14:15:31Z")
> [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > Doesn’t really work IMO; it messes up the chord progressions to a jarring degree. For example there’s a I-II chord progression that depends on an unexpected major chord to build and resolve tension. I thought it was less “super-creepy stalker” and more “batteries in my boom box are dying after 20 minutes”. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/27 "2020-05-20T14:22:37Z")
Stupid question from someone who knows nothing very little about such things;when someone sings the harmony part of a song, are they singing in a minor key? If the song is originally in minor, would the harmony part be in major? ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/28 "2020-05-20T15:02:52Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Stupid question from someone who knows nothing very little about such things;when someone sings the harmony part of a song, are they singing in a minor key? If the song is originally in minor, would the harmony part be in major? I’m no musical theory expert, but I’ll try to field this, until someone comes along who does a better job explaining: Major and minor keys are about the progression of notes, not the notes themselves. Two or more people singing harmony are singing different musical notes, creating a vocal version of a chord, like playing a chord on piano or guitar. I suppose there could be a song instance in which one person is singing in a major key and another is singing a harmony in a minor key progression (or vice versa) but I don’t think so, it would most likely sound dissonant and bad. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2020, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092/29 "2020-05-20T15:23:36Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > Stupid question from someone who knows nothing very little about such things;when someone sings the harmony part of a song, are they singing in a minor key? If the song is originally in minor, would the harmony part be in major? Oh, this can get really complicated with the explanation, but to keep it simple, no. The harmonies follow the chords, whether they’re major or minor. The key doesn’t change for the harmonized part. But do note that if you’re in a major or minor key it does not mean all the chords have to be major or minor. Usually, there’s a mix. In major key songs, there are some chord progressions where you don’t mix in minor chords, but in minor keys, there’s usually a good sprinkling of major chords in there, sometimes more than minor chords. For example, a song like “Hit the Road Jack” is in a minor key, but the progression only has one minor chord and three major chords (in the key of Am, it would be Am - G - F - E7). I can go on about this, but let’s just leave it at that, and if you have follow-up questions or want a finer level of detail, I’ll see what I can write up. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/every-breath-you-take-in-minor-key/854092.md?page=1)