A good mix

"Two Tickets to Paradise," by Eddie Money, is a great song. The verses vacillate between two chords -- G and A -- but it is not until the chorus that the key of the song establishes itself as D. When it does, it uses a very Townshend-esque riff to go from I to IV to V. Ain't very complicated at all, but the vocal melody makes the song.

At song's end are several repetitions of that three-chord riff, with the final V chord ringing out and leaving the song unresolved. Something else needs to happen there. It's begging for something.

I'm a Radiohead fan. Lots of people credit their album OK Computer as being one of the very finest albums of the 1990s, and I agree. But that being said, I never did like the tune "Let Down." Whenever I heard it in its place in the album, it was completely overshadowed by the song that preceded it. At four minutes and 25 seconds in length, "Exit Music (for a Film)" contains so much passion. It's mellow at first and then grows in intensity. Like a good storyline, the song has the buildup, the climax and then a solid dénouement. Great song structure, expertly executed by Radiohead both instrumentally and vocally. It's such a great moment in their career.

Any song following "Exit Music" is necessarily going to be a big letdown to me, hence "Let Down" is such an appropriate title for the song in that place. By itself, it's not a bad song.

Back to the Eddie Money tune. Last night, I heard a wonderful accidental juxtapositioning of "Two Tickets to Paradise" and "Let Down," thanks to a random choice made by iTunes. The resounding A chord at the end of the first song was unexpectedly resolved by the strumming guitar at the beginning of "Let Down." Because chords are only implied in Jonny Greenwood's opening riff, it's not clear what key the song might be in until the rest of the band enters and establishes it as A. It's actually the perfect continuation of "Two Tickets to Paradise."

Good stuff.