# Why is this song not happy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 8, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053 "2012-09-08T00:41:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/1 "2012-09-08T00:41:26Z")
[There in the Night - El Dorados](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPMmut2i7To) To me, it’s a gorgeous piece. But part of that is that it’s a song celebrating a lifetime of untroubled love that somehow has a sad feel to it, giving its otherwise trite sentiments a certain _gravitās_. I don’t know why, though. From my one class in music, I recall that songs in minor keys sound sadder than ones in major keys. But I can’t tell by ear whether this is in a minor key. If not, what else explains the effect produced? ---
**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:** [September 8, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/2 "2012-09-08T03:13:00Z")
It’s in a major key. It doesn’t sound particularly sad or anything to me, just reflective/sentimental. ---
**Author:** ![denquixote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@denquixote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/denquixote)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/3 "2012-09-08T16:10:19Z")
I don’t know the answer to your question but that is one of the great doowop songs ever. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2012, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/4 "2012-09-08T16:24:15Z")
Could be the badly out of tune guitar occasionally soloing riffs over the voices. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2012, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/5 "2012-09-10T11:25:26Z")
Well, for one thing, it’s rather slow, and borrows heavily from the minor key. While slow can sound happy in some contexts, it’s hard to do with the dark vocals of doo wop. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/6 "2012-09-14T05:27:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Well, for one thing, it’s rather slow, and borrows heavily from the minor key. While slow can sound happy in some contexts, it’s hard to do with the dark vocals of doo wop. Do you mean that this instance has dark vocals, or is ‘dark’ a term of the musical arts to which I’m unhip? ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2012, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-this-song-not-happy/634053/7 "2012-09-14T05:30:13Z")
Slow, and a descending melody line make it sound rather funeral.