# Why do singers change the key in the middle of a song?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 18, 2014, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852 "2014-08-18T20:45:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/101 "2014-08-24T16:29:50Z")

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In these kinds of threads, I love to trot out Café Tacuba’s “Esa Noche,” which is mainly in a minor key, but switches to the parallel major just for the “middle eight” section. At the moment of transition ([here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUaBPGCuHU0&feature=player_detailpage#t=67)), the lyrics are that it wasn’t so sad when you said goodbye – rather, it was like “going from smallest to largest” (as in a list of things), which also translates as “going from a minor key to a major key.”

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**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2014, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/102 "2014-08-24T16:39:28Z")

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> [@Shooby](#):
>
> I can’t believe no one has posted [My Heart Will Go On](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNyKDI9pn0Q) yet. For me, that’s one of the most classic of truck driver key changes (about 3:20), in the poppiest and most ubiquitous of pop ballads. Celine at her Celinest.

My Heart Will Go On is one of the songs included in my earlier link.

> [@Idle\_Thoughts](#):
>
> [Here’s a great, impressive video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8LyR1ALrpo&list=UUzdbnf-pIJh-Qp6fdSb5ezw) called (what else?) “Epic Key Changes”. It’s a group covering a few songs that have those in them.

Others mentioned in it that were also mentioned in this topic: Livin On a Prayer, I Will Always Love You, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, and Man in the Mirror.

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**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\
**Post date:** [September 16, 2014, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-singers-change-the-key-in-the-middle-of-a-song/695852/103 "2014-09-16T06:13:54Z")

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I just heard another prime example. [Start here](http://youtu.be/bkGcRy17e6c?t=1m44s) in this song and wait for the 2:00 mark.

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