It’s the 2000s. Computers have become such a large necessity that nearly every house has one. You go downstairs into the office to check your email, and you see an email from your high school friend. Despite every instinct telling you the link could be a scam or a virus, you click the link where your taken to a dancing man and the sound of eighties electronic drums.
By now, everyone knows the same annoyance in clicking a link and being Rick Rolled, after all, Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up” gets stuck in your head every time you hear it and is sure to ruin your day. Interestingly, this song shares musical parallels to Asian pop music, which makes music theorists wonder why the one hit wonder made it so big in America.
Source: epuzzle.info
Similar to the “four chords” progression I have discussed before, Asian pop music relies on a four chord progression that the call “The Royal Road” progression. This four chord system begins on a major four chord, then to a major five chord, followed by a minor three chord, and ends on a minor six chord. What this progression does so differently from the American four chords is its emphasis on tension. Our ear wants a chord progression to end and resolve on the tonic chord, a major one chord, but the closest we get to resolution is the minor three chord which shares two notes with a major one chord. By omitting the major one chord, the four, five, and six chords can build tension while never completely resolving, and although four and five chords are comfortable chords to our ear, the missing context of the one chord’s resolution only helps to build upon the tension of the song.
This avoidance of resolving the progression allows the music writer to continue writing more verses and choruses that never quite feel like the end of the song. While our brain searches for resolution, the building tension grabs onto us and entices us with what is to come next. For this very reason, we feel a helpless need to let the video keep playing. We want to listen to Rick Astley sing in the hopes of his song eventually resolving, but we never completely get there. In turn, Astley’s song captured the hearts of millions and the addictiveness of his music led to the famous internet trend we all can’t help but enjoy listening to.