Sometimes, after a rough or difficult day, we all need a little pick-me-up. Be it an extra dose of caffeine or the cathartic power of listening to our favourite bands, each of us have go-to, fail-safe spirits-boosters to momentarily diffuse the madness of our existence on this planet.
Personally, we can heartily recommend listening to metal in a major key for a guaranteed mood uplift.
As basic music theory goes, songs played in major keys usually tend to sound uplifting and happy, while songs written in minor keys tend to evoke melancholy or darkness.
So, take Metallica's 1986 hallmark anthem Master Of Puppets for example, written in the key of E minor. Now, undeniably, the original is an extraordinary piece of music, but on days when you're feeling angry or gloomy, perhaps moments away from sending a petty email to your annoying co-worker who chews way too loudly, listening to the song's menacing guitar riffs might not be the perfect catalyst for chasing away black clouds and summoning joy.
Switch the song into the major key however...and before you know it, the sun is shining and life is sweet! Indeed, this simple tweak makes Metallica's rager sound like it could soundtrack the opening of a Disney sitcom, or like it could be an unreleased pop punk song from the early 2000s. Anyone else hear Bowling For Soup?
Fans in the comments are similarly amused by the perkiness of the cover.
Some users have even translated the song's lyrics into the "major" style too, writing "OBEY YOUR MASTER!" / "Kindly follow what your educator say". Another suggests: "Taste me you will see / Sweets is all you need / You're dedicated to / How I'm loving you". Awe...
The masterminds behind this discovery was Happy Metal, who reconfigure metal hits into major keys to make them sound, well...happy.
Comprised of the highly talented axe-slingers Ben Bouissieres and Andy Xiong, Happy Metal have spread the love via covers of a variety of bands, including Slayer, Megadeth, Gojira and more.
Check out their take on Master of Puppets below:
