These harmonies never fail to give us the chills. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most epic, emotionally fulfilling instances of harmony in music.
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00:00 "Hello darkness, my old friend."
00:04 Welcome to Ms. Mojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the most epic,
00:09 emotionally fulfilling instances of harmony in music.
00:12 "Dream, dream, dream, dream, dream."
00:19 What constitutes a perfect vocal harmony?
00:27 They're everywhere in music, but the best ones reach out,
00:30 grab our hearts, and make us feel something.
00:32 "We had a love, a love, a love you don't find every day."
00:38 Call it the chills, nostalgia, or simply that love and feeling, but we know it when we hear it.
00:44 The Righteous Brothers work perfectly off each other here on 1964's "You've Lost That Love
00:48 and Feeling," while Phil Spector's "Wall of Sound" production amplifies everything
00:52 to evoke a certain time and place.
00:54 "You've lost that love and feeling, oh that love and feeling."
01:03 Bill Medley's lead baritone vocal sets everything up before Bobby Hatfield hits
01:07 the high harmony for the chorus. Hatfield also delivers some banger high notes near
01:11 the song's tail end, but it's all about that chorus, man.
01:14 "You've lost that love and feeling, 'cause it's gone, gone, gone."
01:22 Number 9 - "Be My Baby," The Ronettes
01:25 "The night we met I knew I needed you so."
01:30 We're sticking with the Phil Spector "Wall of Sound" style here once again for our next entry.
01:34 An absolute classic slice of early 60's pop, Ronnie Spector, then under the name Veronica
01:40 Bennett, is actually the only member of The Ronettes to sing on the track,
01:44 overdubbing all of the backing harmonies that lift up her soaring vibrato.
01:47 "You say you adore me, be my, be my, be my baby now."
01:57 It's these sweetly sung backing oohs and ahs that make Bennett's already powerful work on
02:02 the chorus feel truly iconic. The end result evokes those nostalgic,
02:06 slightly sad memories that make "Be My Baby" tug at so many heartstrings.
02:10 "Be my, be my, be my, be my baby now."
02:18 Number 8 - "Turn, Turn, Turn," The Byrds
02:21 "Do everything, turn, turn, turn. There is a season."
02:29 The Byrds may not have written "Turn, Turn, Turn." That honor belongs to folk singer Pete Zeger,
02:34 but it's their version that's arguably gone down as the most well-known.
02:38 It also doesn't feel unfair to surmise that the band's amazing harmony vocal work helped
02:43 make their take on "Turn, Turn, Turn" feel so indicative of the 1960s.
02:48 Roger McGuinn takes the lead, while David Crosby and Gene Clark assist on harmony vocals,
02:53 and it's truly the stuff of magic.
02:55 "A time to be loved, a time to break down, a time to dance, a time to mourn."
03:03 It's still folky, sure, but there's also a rock backbeat,
03:07 and a proto-psychedelia that would define The Byrds' musical direction into the future.
03:11 The vocals are insistent and captivating, possessing this glorious echo that makes
03:16 "Turn, Turn, Turn" feel and sound like no other song from the era.
03:19 "A time for peace, I swear it's not too late."
03:27 Number 7 - "God Only Knows," The Beach Boys
03:30 One does not simply discuss rock vocal harmonies without praying at the altar of The Beach Boys.
03:42 It doesn't matter if we're listening to the old-school surf-rock fun of "I Get Around"
03:46 or our number 7 entry "God Only Knows," The Beach Boys are absolute masters of their craft.
03:59 A bevy of instruments were laid down in the studio for this latter song,
04:02 including everything from sleigh bells and clarinets to everyday kitchen cups.
04:07 At the end of the day, however, it's all about how Brian Wilson and Bruce
04:10 Johnston harmonize Carl Wilson's soaring lead vocal.
04:13 This is a tender yet deceptively complex song with devastating arrangements and the
04:18 kind of vocal performances that make the goosebumps rise, and the hair stand on end.
04:23 "God Only Knows"
04:30 Number 6 - "Because," The Beatles
04:33 The Beatles were another band whose career trajectory saw them embracing some of the
04:45 most forward-thinking vocal arrangements to go along with their influential songwriting talents.
04:50 "Because," from 1969, could not sound further removed from the band's early pop hits,
04:55 but instead feels more at home with late-period gems like
04:58 "Eleanor Rigby" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps."
05:01 The direct inspiration from Beethoven's "Moonlight Sonata" lends "Because" a
05:12 gothic and grandiose atmosphere, like something out of the Castlevania franchise.
05:16 Elsewhere, the Moog synthesizer and electric harpsichord underline those haunting vocal
05:21 harmonies that stress that aforementioned melody lift from Beethoven. It's brilliant stuff.
05:26 Number 5 - "Thank You For The Music," ABBA
05:45 The opening of "Thank You For The Music" by ABBA sounds like a Broadway show tune,
05:49 which is fitting because it would later be used in "Mamma Mia!"
05:52 There's a grand cabaret style to this track that's not quite the disco for which ABBA
05:56 was largely known, but more of a sweeping pop ballad with great vocal harmonies.
06:00 The group had already proved they could deliver some amazing harmonies on songs like "Knowing Me,
06:12 Knowing You" and "Thank You For The Music" underlines this fact in a great way.
06:16 The chorus sounds particularly massive, as Agnetha Fältskog handles the lead,
06:21 while Anne Fried-Lingstad and the other backing vocals echo Fältskog in fantastic fashion.
06:26 Number 4 - "The Sound Of Silence," Simon & Garfunkel
06:39 It seems difficult to believe that the debut album from Simon & Garfunkel,
06:50 featuring the original version of "The Sound Of Silence," failed to make an impact back in 1964.
06:56 Yet if that hadn't happened, then perhaps we'd never have this 1965 remix to enjoy.
07:01 A take many feel is the definitive version of the song.
07:05 "Hear my words that I might teach you, take my arms that I might reach you."
07:12 The electrified instrumentation doesn't hamper the folk duo's amazing harmony vocals.
07:17 If anything, they amplify how "The Sound Of Silence" resounds as a defining song of the 1960s,
07:22 an evocative tune where Simon & Garfunkel become, almost in an instant, icons of their generation.
07:28 This reputation would be further cemented on tear-jerkers like 1970's "Bridge Over Troubled
07:34 Water." Number 3 - "Seven Bridges Road," The Eagles
07:44 The dude may hate The Eagles, but even he probably couldn't deny the vocal harmonies
07:55 present on their version of Steve Young's "Seven Bridges Road." Or maybe we better
07:59 address the elephant in the room by calling it Ian Matthews' arrangement of "Seven Bridges Road"
08:03 that was allegedly heisted by The Eagles for their 1980 hit.
08:06 "And I have loved you in taint with..."
08:16 It doesn't really matter on which side of the argument you lay, because there's no denying
08:20 that this live track really captures how well the band harmonized out on stage. The quintuple
08:25 harmony in particular is incredible to behold, creating a moment of musical history that's
08:30 difficult to beat. The control and attention to detail is just astounding.
08:34 Number 2 - "California Dreamin'," The Mamas & The Papas
08:48 The musical climate of the 1960s was one that supported huge growth,
08:58 from West Coast folk and psych rock to psychedelia and British invasion imports.
09:02 The Mamas & The Papas were from the former camp, and their hit "California Dreamin'" is perhaps
09:07 the song that could serve as a time capsule relic from this very important decade.
09:10 The lead vocal by Denny Doherty, as well as the harmonies by John and Michelle Phillips
09:24 with Cass Elliott were actually laid over instrumentation by the Barry McGuire version
09:28 of the song. Yet it's the Mamas & The Papas' warm harmonies, together with a ghostly improvised
09:33 flute solo by Bud Shank, that makes "California Dreamin'" one for the ages.
09:37 Before we unveil our top pick, here are some honorable mentions.
09:50 "Angel," "Aerosmith," a power ballad for the ages.
09:54 "You're the reason I die, you're the reason I heal, when I break down and cry."
10:01 "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby," Sam & Dave, "The Beauty of Soul."
10:06 "Knoxville Girl," The Leuven Brothers, blood harmony for a murder ballad.
10:21 "I'd go my anxious mother, I was bleeding at my nose."
10:28 "My Immortal," Evanescence, "Shut Up, You're Crying."
10:34 "When you cried, I'd wipe away all of your tears."
10:40 "Alone," Heart, "Anne & Nancy Forever."
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11:17 What is it about pop hits from the 1950s that make us cry every single time? There's an innocence
11:24 and nostalgia associated with songs like "All I Have to Do Is Dream" that makes the listener
11:28 yearn for a time and place that may or may not exist. The harmonies of the Everly Brothers on
11:33 here are bittersweet and slightly melancholic. Their voices evoke imagery so closely
11:47 associated with this decade. Sharing milkshakes, young sweethearts holding hands at the drive-in,
11:53 and those same sweethearts dancing close to the song. The Everly Brothers captured lightning in
11:57 a bottle with "All I Have to Do Is Dream." Their harmonious voices achieving not only
12:02 Billboard chart success, but musical immortality. Why do these songs make us feel the way they do?
12:15 What makes a great vocal harmony and who are some artists who carry this torch in the modern day?
12:19 Let us know in the comments.
12:21 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo,
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