Talk:Karma Police

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Key of A minor in the verse?

Going by the online chords, jamming along with the track, and the link in the references to the sheet music (at least the part you can see without paying), it doesn't look like the verse is in the key of A minor (Aeolian), despite the "Composition" section of the article stating: "The first half is in the key of A minor ('Karma Police...') "

Instead, it looks like it's in A Dorian. There's a lot of F# in the chords (D major, B minor), with only a momentary shift to A minor with the F chord. The opening move from A minor to D major clearly establishes a Dorian feel too. Furthermore, the sheet music has an F# rather than an F natural in the key signature. So it's in A, yes, but not Aeolian. Dorian is a minor mode too.

I don't want to edit the article in case someone has a good counter-argument or source that actually makes a compelling case for A minor/Aeolian. But I do think the information in the article is probably wrong, and at least misleading; and the reference (2) does not actually back up the claims in the article, but seemingly contradicts it.

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The above was probably intended to be a talk topic - if so, yes, correct, the song's key is complicated and one of those cases where it's basically ambiguous. It's not common but it happens in music. The key, along with other pieces of music theory, is an observation rather than a rule - and some cases cannot fall under certain music theory frameworks.

Sweet Home Alabama is another notable example here, Get Lucky might be another one. I edited the article to reflect this. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Psfinaki (talk • contribs) 10:13, 16 July 2024 (UTC)[reply]