Somewhere between those two milestones, she contributed to the movie "Xanadu," acting in the film and recording songs for the successful soundtrack. One of those songs, written by her long time collaborator John Farrar, would quickly surpass the movie in popularity and make it to no.1.
The sountrack to Xanadu included songs written by John Farrar as well as the Electric Light Orchestra. Though they did collaborate on the title track, "Magic is credited to ON-J. [1] The bass player on the recording is David Hungate of Toto fame.
August 2 - August 23, 1980: "Magic" by Olivia Newton-John goes on a 4 week run at the no.1 position!
The form is similar to many other tunes, built on a repeated AAB. The bridge features a guitar solo over the intro vamp. Because the verse is built on these changes, I labeled it A' in the simplified form.
The strangest section, in terms of length, has to be the chorus. 19 measures is an unusual grouping of measures, especially for a repeating chorus. It starts flowing with 8 measures, followed by 4 measures, then a rogue 3 measure grouping, finishing with 4 measures. The last 7 measures are basically the same segment repeated with an added bar the second time. As strange as it is, it somehow works.
Chord Progressions
Technically speaking, this song is in the key of G major, built around the pitches G A B C D E F#. If you take those same pitches and start on D, you end up with the D mixolydian mode (D E F+ G A B C), supporting a D7 chord. Practically speaking, the tune is in the key of D...which is sometimes D major-ish, sometimes D minor-ish and sometimes D mixolydian-ish.....
The tonal center (D) is established right at the top with a two chord vamp that appears in the verses, choruses and guitar solo. On its own, this dissonant progression sounds out of place in a high gloss pop-rock tune.
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| intro vamp |
As illustrated above, the D major doesn't sound very "major" for long as the Ab and C appear on the D7b5 (D F# Ab C). All of these permutations function as the I chord, D.
The verse takes this vamp and keeps it going before venturing elsewhere. The bass sticks to chord roots with some lines that lead nicely into subsequent chords. Here is the bass line for an 8 measure verse:
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| Bass - Verse |
D D7b5 / D D7b5 / D / F#min Amin / Emin / Amin7 / Emin / A13 / D D7b5 / D D7b5
I I7b5 / I I7b5 / I / iii v / ii / v / ii / V / I I7b5 / I I7b5
The chorus takes a very different approach from the verse. Here, things shift to D minor and the rhythm picks up. The bass, once again, grounds some of the strange chord extensions by staying on the root, this time adding in a few spicy licks:
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| Bass - chorus |
Dmin G/D / Bb C/Bb/ Bb C/Bb / Dmin / Dmin G/D / Bb C/Bb / Bb C / Amin
i IV / bVI bVII / bVI bVII / i / i IV / bVI bVII / bVI bVII / v
So we are in Dmin for the most part. Then things get really funky:
D7 / Gmin / Bbmin / Asus
V/iv / iv / bvi / V
There's a little pit stop in G minor before getting to Bb minor, non-diatonic to D, Dminor, G minor or even G. This resolves down a half step to the Asus.
The last 7 measures head back into D territory:
D / Emin7b5 / Asus / D D7b5 / D Dadd9 / Emin7b5 / Asus
I / ii -7b5 / V / I I7b5 / I / ii -7b5 / V
We hear a few ii-V's indicated D minor (with the Emin7b5), but we get a D major. Note the Dadd9 chord, where an E harmonic rings out n the guitar, just as the vocal tag begins. The last A chord leads back to the intro vamp on the D and D7b5 chords.
Harmonically speaking, this song is very unusual. 7b5 is not a familiar sound in most pop music and in 16 analyses, this is the first instance of such chord quality. Due to the pleasant resolution on a D major, it works. I'm sure when people were listening to this song in 1980, they were more concerned with listening to (and looking at) the lovely and talented ON-J and not hung up on obscure harmonic conventions.
Melody
Olivia Newton-John's delivery of this melody is stellar. She makes it sound so easy and smooth, yet when you analyze what's really happening, it's quite an impressive display of vocal gymnastics. The range covered in the tune is similar to "Close To You" (1970) by the Carpenters, analyzed last time.
The verse starts on beat 2 (a common rhythmic entrance for verse phrases) on the tonal center of D. She then leaps down to the tritone of Ab, reinforcing the D7b5 sound. She resolves the Ab up to A natural in the second bar, then goes back down, only to leap up to E and F#, reinforcing the D major sound.
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| Verse 1 |
She exploits the common tone of G on Amin7 and Emin. In measure 5, she leaps up a 9th from A to B, descending through G once again. The end moves down the D scale F# - E - D. This resolution clearly puts us in the D tonality. The end of the second verse introduces harmonies on the lead vocal. As we move into the chorus, they become more prevalent and add a thick texture to the tune.
The chorus, in harmony most of the time, introduces the hook right off the bat. "You have to believe we are magic" roars in, a D minor pentatonic riff, over the more forceful rhythm section. This line ascends and then descends with some lush harmonies.
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| Chorus - m.1-8 |
This 4 measure phrase is repeated in the second 4 measures of the chorus. At this point, the melody and harmony are relatively straightforward and predictable. Usher in the next 4 bars, a departure to Gminor, as mentioned in the chord progression analysis.
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| chorus - m.9-12 |
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| Chorus - m.13 - 19 |
There is no vocal bridge in the song, but there is a guitar solo that introduces new melodic material over the intro changes.
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| Guitar Solo |
Musical Sticking Points
There is a lot of stuff going for this tune, musically. The fact that I'm so high on it makes me wonder what others saw in it.....
The two chord vamp is a brilliant counterpoint on a dissonant progression that shouldn't work as well as it does. The established tonality let's the tune dance around D major and D minor and in a few places in between. Though many changes are foreign to pop music, there are enough elements to keep things listenable, like ii-V's and V-I changes.
For the second analysis in a row, a melody is filled with leaps and adventures to the outer limits of range. I had no idea ON-J was such a great singer. She is precise on the larger leaps and morphs between singing delicately ("if all your hopes survive") and powerfully ("don't let your aim ever stray").
The entire song has this poppy gloss on it. Upon first listen, I had a little trouble breaking through that aspect and dismissed it as "not that good." Once I got past the sound and started breaking down what was actually happening, I was hooked. The guitar solo actually helped me find the "magic." When you initially hear it, it sounds out of place and cheesy. When it's heard in context, it rages and gives the song a final push to the finish line.
Musically, John Farrar manages to strike a delicate balance of flavors. The simple approach to form contrasts the complex harmony embedded within. ON-J's beautiful vocal delivery contrasts the dissonant guitar foundation.
Lyrics
To understand where the lyrics are coming from, it probably makes sense to know the plot of the movie. I have not seen Xanadu, but after reading this Wikipedia plot summary, the lyrics are put in perspective. Basically, a guy falls in love with his Muse after tearing up a painting and throwing it in the wind and then roller skates to his brand new night club? umm...
The rhyme scheme for the verses is ABCCD, with D being a refrain: "I'll be guiding you."
The chorus rhyme scheme is more common: ABAB for the first 8 and then CCCDCD (the last CD are the same line) to finish out the last 11 measures.
As you could tell from my movie synopsis, these lyrics are mystically hopeful and inspiring. I especially like "and if all your hopes survive, your destiny will arrive." If my Muse told me that, in person, I would be inclined to stay hopeful.
Common Threads
After analyzing "Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini (1960)" and "(They Long To Be) Close To You (1970)," I found some common musical elements present in both tunes. Here is how "Magic" stacks up to that list.
- Repeated melodic motifs - this is not as prevalent here, but it does hold up. Rhythmically, there is consistent use of syncopation on the "and" of beat 2 (2+). This accented rhythm repeats throughout. All phrases also end with a descending scale. So yes, there are repeated melodic motifs.
- Strong harmonic motion from V to I - "Close To You" had no strong V-I motion. This song does, yet the V chords are never a hard V7 chord....
- Background singers contribute to melodic/harmonic texture
- Modulation - "Magic" has no traditional modulation (up 1/2 step). However, you could argue that the shift from Dmajor in the verse to D minor in the chorus is a modulation to the parallel minor?
New material presented at the end- Hook that uses the title of the song
- Contains a lyrical refrain - Each song in this round has a lyric that is repeated in each verse. ("2,3,4...." in "IBTWYPDB"; "they long to be close to you" in "Close To You" and "I'll be guiding you" in "Magic.")
Final Takeaways
This song proves, to me, a common flaw in my listening mentality. When I first heard it, I only heard a smooth female singer singing behind a stereotypical 80's pop tune. I heard guitar coupled with keyboard and it sounded so 80's. The hook was forgettable. I actually mentioned this song to someone, after a brief listen, and they said "how does that one go?" I honestly could not sing a bar.
As I prefaced from the beginning, I am not the biggest fan of pop music. When I heard all the elements listed above, my brain put up the wall and I stopped listening. There were too many elements I identified as negative. So when did it change? When I actually sat down with a guitar and attempted to play along with the intro. I immediately channeled King Crimson and said "whoa, this is sick!" As a fun side note, John Lennon saw the greatness of this song before he died. [2]
So hopefully, as I move into the next song, I will analyze first and judge later. Given our current social climate, this little analogy is probably best served in every area of life.
What do you think of "Magic?" Does being familiar with the movie Xanadu enhance the song? How about that ON-J??? Leave me a comment!
Up next time: August 4 - 25th, 1990 - "Vision of Love" by Mariah Carey takes the lead for 4 weeks. I do not know this song in the least. I have preconceptions about Mariah Carey's music, but I will take me own advice and go into this one with an open mind.
[1]https://www.discogs.com/Electric-Light-Orchestra-Olivia-Newton-John-Xanadu-From-The-Original-Motion-Picture-Soundtrack/master/71366
[2] https://www.songfacts.com/facts/olivia-newton-john/magic
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