Minor Key

March 31, 2005 12:02 AM

Does anyone have any favorite popular songs in a minor key that they can suggest to me? More Inside.

I'm just a sucker for minor chords. I always have been. I've been trying to build a personal library of minor-keyed songs. I especially like the fast-paced ones (e.g. - "Bigmouth Strikes Again" by the Smiths) and I like all genres. Please provide me with any suggestions, because I'm tired of just stumbling onto these songs by accident.

posted by Slimemonster to Media & Arts (24 answers total)

"Summertime" - the Janis Joplin version.
posted by mono blanco at 12:55 AM on March 31, 2005

I'm listening to Clap Hands by Tom Waits right now.
posted by abcde at 1:35 AM on March 31, 2005

"Blue Skies" -- I like the Anita O'Day version.
posted by LittleMissCranky at 5:07 AM on March 31, 2005

"Sultans of Swing" - Dire Straits
posted by plinth at 5:48 AM on March 31, 2005

Eleanor Rigby, The Beatles. Losing My Religion, R.E.M.
posted by Pericles at 5:51 AM on March 31, 2005

"Blue" by Eiffel 65.
posted by norm at 6:10 AM on March 31, 2005

"Dark Days Indeed" by Firewater
posted by Sangre Azul at 6:38 AM on March 31, 2005

Billy Bragg and Wilco, with backing vocals by Natalie Merchant, "Way Over Yonder In the Minor Key."
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:47 AM on March 31, 2005

Best answer: Life During Wartime - Talking Heads
Losing My Religion - REM
All Along the Watchtower - Bob Dylan
Don't Fear The Reaper - Blue Oyster Cult
Like A Hurricane - Neil Young
I Shot The Sheriff - Bob Marley
The Story In Your Eyes - Moody Blues
Somebody To Love - Jefferson Airplane
Another Brick In The Wall - Pink Floyd
The House Of The Rising Sun - Animals
Stairway to Heaven - Led Zeppelin

and on and on and on ...
posted by mischief at 7:03 AM on March 31, 2005

"Where I End and You Begin" by Radiohead.
"Nothing Beautiful" by Odds.
"False Alarm" and "Live On" by Sloan.
"Three Pistols" by the Tragically Hip.
"Sad House Daddy" by Hawksley Workman.
"Sickening Song" by Rheostatics.
"Evil Angel" by Rufus Wainwright.
posted by Johnny Assay at 7:07 AM on March 31, 2005

"Holocaust," Big Star
"Moonshiner," Uncle Tupelo (and others)
"V," The Golden Smog
posted by COBRA! at 7:58 AM on March 31, 2005

The Decemberists - "Legionnaire's Lament" is in Dm despite it's poppiness....
posted by themadjuggler at 8:30 AM on March 31, 2005

Best answer: Madonna - Into the Groove
Madonna - La Isla Bonita

Great minor key pop songs, amazing melodies..
posted by fire&wings at 9:25 AM on March 31, 2005

"London Calling" - the Clash

And don't forget the greatest of all: Nigel Tufnel's "Lick My Love Pump"
posted by turbodog at 9:45 AM on March 31, 2005

Hotel California, heheh.
posted by mischief at 9:51 AM on March 31, 2005

I don't know from major/minor keys (yet--I'm starting to learn music theory), but I was told that the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams" is in a minor key. Can anyone confirm that?
posted by kimota at 10:12 AM on March 31, 2005

Angie - Rolling Stones (starts in minor, anyway)
Sandman - America
House of the Rising Sun - multitudes
Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Hocus Pocus - Focus
Wreck Of The Edmund Fitzgerald - Gordon Lightfoot
Hazy Shade Of Winter - Simon & Garfunkel
Horse With No Name - America
Thriller - Michael Jackson

There are a ton of 'em...
posted by DandyRandy at 10:22 AM on March 31, 2005

Anything by Merrie Amsterburg.
posted by Specklet at 10:49 AM on March 31, 2005

Best answer: 'Love Song' - The Cure
posted by spinifex23 at 11:21 AM on March 31, 2005

"Michelle", "Girl" - The Beatles
posted by Asparagirl at 12:10 PM on March 31, 2005

Most songs that I hear are in minor keys. Also, if it's actually minor chords that you like, there are plenty of minor chords in major keys.
posted by recursive at 12:29 PM on March 31, 2005

Response by poster: These are pretty awesome so far. I had never heard of/ forgotten a lot of these. That Cure song is really good, Thanks, spinifex. Anyone else?
posted by Slimemonster at 2:55 PM on March 31, 2005

California Dreaming, Good Vibrations (both by the Beach Boys, though the first is more predominantly minor)
posted by Tlogmer at 3:51 PM on March 31, 2005

Every Time We Say Goodbye. Cole Porter
"how strange the change,from major to minor"
posted by hortense at 5:35 PM on March 31, 2005