Songs in minor key that aren't sad?

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Seamus Kennedy
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 04:33 PM

Star Of The County Down.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 04:21 PM

Assuming you begin in Am you don't need any barre chords to play "Runaway" but you do need an F chord (which some people play as a barre chord). It's a sad song so it doesn't really answer the original question.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 04:01 PM

Most Yiddish songs seem to be in a minor key, including the happy ones, such as "Sha! Shtil!" & "Yidl mitn Fidl".

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Tattie Bogle
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 01:45 PM

That "skirl o' the pipes" sound is usually modal rather than minor. Drunken Piper always gets the dancers going when we play it in our ceilidh band.
And what version of Mairi's Wedding do you know? Unequivocally major when I last played it!

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 12:58 PM

Cuckoo's Nest

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 12:56 PM

Paint it Black isn't sad??

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 12:53 PM

paint it black by the stones
the letter by the boxtops and joe cocker

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Steve Gardham
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 12:33 PM

The Ghost of Ann Boleyn! The Ying Tong Song intro.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 11:47 AM

That "Eva's Polka" is a real delight.

And listening to recordings of Lovely Joan on YouTube led me to discover this young woman who sings it beautifully - Megan Allen.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: cooperman
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 08:48 AM

Well pointed out Brian. I remember first time I played Brigg Fair,I looked at the lyrics and thought, wait a minute...this is actually a happy song!

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Brian Peters
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 08:00 AM

Re Brigg Fair, it's the same tune as The Murder of Maria Martin - which isn't such a jolly tale. Different traditional songs often share the same tune without regard to the sentiment.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST,vectis
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 07:43 AM

Nelly the milkmaid, even if she does end up with a child.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Tootler
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 07:41 AM

Brig Fair and Lovely Joan both have minor mode melodies.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Black belt caterpillar wrestler
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 07:16 AM

As an aside, I was taught at school that major tunes were considered happy and minor tunes sad, but that historically the reverse had been the general opinion. A bit like pink and blue having changed gender since Victorian times!

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST,twerp
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 07:05 AM

Gold Watch Blues

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:46 AM

Speak of "Ievan Polkka"... Tom Paxton's song, "Jennifer's Rabbit", has exactly the same chord progression to it. Actually, the melody to "Jennifer's Rabbit" strongly resembles that of "Ievan Polkka". And that song isn't a sad one, too.

I think Tom Paxton wrote quite a few songs in minor key, like "Bobbitt" and "Lyndon Johnson Told the Nation". There are extremely sad ones, though, like "On the Road from Srebrenica", but most are not. On the contrary, most of Tom's sadder songs are in major key, like "Last Thing on My Mind" and "Can't Help But Wonder".

Speak of "Runaway" - doesn't that song switch to a major key in the middle? (From I'm a-walkin' in the rain... to the chorus) I like the Traveling Wilburys' version.

Jason

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Sir Roger de Beverley
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:42 AM

I don't think that I would class Step it out Mary as a happy song even if the it is uptempo - they both drown at the end!

R

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Jason Xion Wang
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:22 AM

Speak of the funny ones - two of the funniest songs I've ever known are both written in a minor key: Tom Paxton's Ballad of Lorena Bobbitt and Dave Van Ronk's Luang Prabang...

Well, these two songs actually speaks about losing the same thing, and they're both "sad" to some degree.

Jason

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Jack Campin
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:15 AM

Eva's Polka

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:05 AM

minor keys are sort of schizo phrenic. play them slowly pianistically and you the house of the rising son sort of sound.

strike the guitar briskly and you get a wonderful 'skirl of the pipies' sort of sound - what shall we do with the drunken sailor, marie's wedding, step it out mary, as i roved out on a may morning,

in jazz you get summertime fairly easily, st james infirmary, swing it!

in rock you get sultans of swing, and del shannons runaway - but you need to be able to play barre chords for that last one.

Subject: RE: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: Leadfingers
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 06:01 AM

Where To Start ! 'The Single Bollinder' -Canal Rewrite of 'Little Chance' is the first one I thought of

Subject: Songs in minor key that aren't sad?
From: GUEST
Date: 23 Sep 14 - 05:42 AM

Songs in minor key are usually sad. So it's really interesting to think about this question: Can you name any song written in minor key, but not sad at all? Can minor key songs be happy, funny or uplifting - anything but sad?

This may be far from folk, but the first to come to my mind is "Beat It" by Michael Jackson.