Analysis of borrowed chords in Lush's "Single Girl"

Question

I am analysing the chords from songs I like, in order to understand why I like them and to reuse the ideas in contexts that suit my voice and playing styles better.

I am going through Lush - Single Girl now, a song in the key of A major. Verse goes like:

A                              D
Single girl I don't wanna be a single girl
A                              D
Single girl I don't wanna be a single girl

So I IV.

Then the next section is:

F           G        C         F
Don't wanna be on my own again tonight
F           G           D
Don't wanna put out the light

F, G and C are not diatonic in A major, but I see them as borrowed from relative parallel minor. Which is the best way to notate them? Am I right with:

bVI         bVII     bIII      bVI
Don't wanna be on my own again tonight
bVI         bVII        IV
Don't wanna put out the light

Or should I write it as modulating to A minor (but then again D would be non-diatonic)?

Answer 1

Listening to the tune, it sounds like a modulation to a new key, so I would avoid thinking about borrowed chords here. Since the new key doesn't sound minor and includes no minor chords it seems like C Major would be a better choice for the name of the new key.

Try to focus on what you need to know when you attempt a Roman numeral analysis. When keys modulate, I would simply notate the relevant keys:

    A: I  IV    I  IV C: IV V     I  IV    IV V  A: IV
    |  A  D  |  A  D  |  F  G  |  C  F  |  F  G  |  D  D  |

Looking at things this way makes sense (to me at least) because the chords in the second section seem to want to land on C (with the IV - Vs); this is frustrated by the final chromatic D that leads back to the original key.

Answer 2

I hear a brief resolution to tonic on "own again." As such, I would personally want a way to show that with my analysis.

You're right that F, G, and C are diatonic in A minor (the parallel minor, not relative; parallel keys share the same tonic, relative keys share the same key signature). But these chords are also diatonic in C major; they're I, IV, and V! In fact, this is where I hear that brief resolution, so I think it's best to hear that section as:

  I  IV  V  IV  V
|_________________|
       ♭III

We call this an extended tonicization. Instead of a single V/V resolving, we have a few chords in the temporary key.

This way we can easily see the cadential progression in C, which is ♭III in the overall key of A major. In other words, it's a brief phrase in the relative key of the parallel key!

You'll end up returning to A with the D chord. In fact, you may even want to approach this from a standpoint of "text painting"; I can't help but notice that our return to A begins on the word "light," and the reintroduction of that F♯ sure sounds bright.

Answer 3

If you want a key centre for the second section C major could be useful. Don't worry too much about how to label C major in relation to A Major. They weren't thinking about 'modal interchanges' or any such 'theory'. There's not much functional harmony going on here.

Answer 4

@Richard's answer provides the essential explanation this is an extended tonicization, but I want to add an additional point.

Borrowed chords can also involve a chromatic mediant relationship.

For example, the chord F major can be seen as a borrowed bVI in the key A major. It's also the case that the tonic A major chord and F major are chromatic mediants.

We can also see a chromatic mediant relationship in the to tonic regionss A major and C major.

Finally, when the second part centered around C repeats, the D goes to F another chromatic mediant pair.

In examples like this - where the chords don't function as borrowed chord - I think the chromatic mediant is simply a desired, colorful sound. In this song we hear that unique sound at the connections between the two parts in A and C.