Nine Inch Nails – Right Where It Belongs – Chorus
Right Where It Belongs < All Analyses
Chord Progression
[‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’]
Chord Progression Analysis
Here’s a breakdown of the specific chord names and their corresponding Roman numerals:
G minor (vi) – Bb Major (I) – F Major (V) – C Major (V/ii)
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Chord Function:
G minor – Tonic parallel
Bb Major – Tonic
F Major – Dominant
C Major – Dominant of the ii (Secondary dominant)
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Similar Chord Progressions
There are a number of artists and songs that use similar four-chord progressions:
1. “I Will Follow You Into the Dark” by Death Cab for Cutie also uses a vi-I-V-IV chord progression in the key of C major:
Am (vi) – C (I) – G (V) – F (IV)
2. “No Woman, No Cry” by Bob Marley uses a I-V-vi-IV progression in the key of C major:
C (I) – G (V) – Am (vi) – F (IV)
3. “Don’t Stop Believin’” by Journey also uses a I-V-vi-IV progression, but in the key of E major:
E (I) – B (V) – C#m (vi) – A (IV)
Each of these songs are in different genres from “Right Where It Belongs,” but all rely on similar four-chord progressions for their harmonic foundations.
Musical Analysis
The repeated four-chord progression creates a loop effect that is hypnotic in nature and is often characteristic of Nine Inch Nails’s music. This progression is also notable for the use of a secondary dominant (C Major, the V/ii), which briefly modulates the key center to ii (C minor) before the progression loops back to vi (Gm).
Overall Analysis
The chorus of “Right Where It Belongs” by Nine Inch Nails is built upon a repeating four-chord progression of Gm-Bb-F-C. This song is in the key of Bb major (with two flats in the key signature, Bb and Eb). All the chords used in this song are derived from the Bb major scale, which makes this a diatonic chord progression. There is no borrowed or chromatic harmony in this song.
Style Analysis
The style of this song is typical of the industrial rock genre, with a strong reliance on synthesized sounds and heavy drum beats for its instrumentation. The chord progression itself, while relatively simple, represents the darker and more melancholic musical aesthetic that Nine Inch Nails is known for, with its use of minor and major chords.
What are the chords in: Nine Inch Nails – Right Where It Belongs – Chorus?
[‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’, ‘Gm’, ‘Bb’, ‘F’, ‘C’]
