History Main / TruckDriversGearChange

** "Love is an Open Door" begins in D major and goes up a full step for the second verse and chorus.

* "Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life" from ''Film/MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' has one near the end. During the sing-along at Creator/GrahamChapman's funeral, Creator/EricIdle pointed it out.

* Music/{{ABBA}} used the technique in their song "Hasta Manana", supposed to be used for Eurovision. Their manager, Stig Andersson, thought that a good pop song HAD to go up one half tone somewhere near the end. They even wrote a birthday song to him that says "We think you'll like it if we raise the song one half-tone..." in the bridge before raising it one half-tone for the final chorus.

* "Dying In Your Arms" by Trivium.

** Laserdance's "The Lost Battle", "No Escape"(up a perfect fifth, back down, then up a second, then a minor third), "Voyage of Discovery", and "Fly Over The New Territory", all from the ''Laserdance Strikes Back'' album.

* "Do I Have To Say The Words?" by Bryan Adams shifts up a semitone in the middle of each verse.

** The title song by The New Seekers, Music/DianaRoss's "When We Grow Up", and Rosey Grier's "It's Alright To Cry" are straight semitone examples.

* Buckcherry's "For The Movies" modulates up halfway through the final chorus.

* Maarja's song ''What in This World'' starts in C, but goes up to D right before the chorus plays the first time, and stays in D until it goes up to E right before the chorus plays the second time, where it stays for the rest of the song.

** Also happens towards the end of [[Music/OffTheWall "Rock With You"]] and [[Music/HistoryPastPresentAndFutureBookI "Earth Song"]].

* Music/BelindaCarlisle's "Heaven Is A Place On Earth".

* Vicki Sue Robinson's "Turn The Beat Around", and by extension Music/GloriaEstefan's {{cover version}}, steps up a semitone after the percussion break.

* Music/BonJovi's "Livin' on a Prayer" (a minor third up), and "I'll be There for You".
* Celestial Wish are a fan of this trope, 'Our Creation', 'Crossing The River', and 'Dear Beloved' all have very sudden gear changes on the final chorus.

** "The Night Hank Williams Came To Town" starts in E major, then before the second verse goes up to G major, where it stays for the rest of the song.

** "Nobody Gets Off In This Town" goes up a semitone for the third verse, then goes up another for the last one.

* ''Series/GrowingPains''' [[ThemeTuneExtended extended version of]] "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Fi0Q1wW9E0 As Long As We Got Each Other]]" by BJ Thomas and Music/DustySpringfield shifts from C to C♯ halfway through the final chorus. [[https://youtu.be/qhyjYewf0Jw Thomas's original solo version]] also included the gear change but at the beginning of said chorus.

** "Luck Be A Lady" subverts this, being an AABA song where the second A section (but not the third) is a semitone higher.

** "With Anne On My Arm" starts in C, goes up to D♭ as Anne enters, then up to D, then back to D♭ after Anne exits.

** "Easy" is a particularly odd variant: the key jumps up a minor third (C♯ minor to E minor) halfway through the second verse (sung by Natasha Bedingfield).

* Music/{{Ultravox}}'s "Hymn" steps up a whole tone from E minor to F♯ minor for the ending chorus and fade-out.

** The Voices of East Harlem's "Sisters and Brothers" modulates down a major third to C for it's B-section("Ain't we happy?" "Ain't we lucky?"), which in turn shifts up a whole tone twice, returning to the song's home key of E. Following the [[SubduedSection relatively quiet]] {{Scatting}} bridge, the final chorus upshifts to F with a particularly [[NightmareFuel unsettling]] [[ScareChord ascending strings glissando]].

* Several songs from the children's album ''Free to Be... You and Me'' modulate up a semitone or two, such as the title song by The New Seekers, Music/DianaRoss's "When We Grow Up", Rosey Grier's "It's Alright To Cry", and The Voices of East Harlem's "Sisters and Brothers". The last one's key change arrives with a particularly [[NightmareFuel unsettling]] [[ScareChord ascending strings glissando]] after the [[SubduedSection relatively quiet]] {{Scatting}} bridge. "Parents Are People" by Creator/MarloThomas and Music/HarryBelafonte shifts up a minor third from B to D for the latter's verse, then drops down a whole tone to C for the duet finale.

* Several songs from the children's album ''Free to Be... You and Me'' modulate up a semitone or two, such as the title song by The New Seekers, Music/DianaRoss's "When We Grow Up", Rosey Grier's "It's Alright To Cry", and The Voices of East Harlem's "Sisters and Brothers". The last one's key change arrives with a particularly [[NightmareFuel unsettling]] [[ScareChord ascending strings glissando]] after a SubduedSection.

* ''God Knows'' from the LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya anime.

* Several songs from the children's album ''Free to Be You and Me'' modulate up a semitone or two, such as the title song by The New Seekers, Music/DianaRoss's "When We Grow Up", Rosey Grier's "It's Alright To Cry", and The Voices of East Harlem's "Sisters and Brothers". The last one's key change arrives with a particularly [[NightmareFuel unsettling]] ascending strings glissando after a SubduedSection.

* "Sisters and Brothers" by the Voices of East Harlem, and "When We Grow Up" by Diana Ross, both from the children's songbook and album ''Free to Be You and Me'' The former's key change arrives with a crescendo after a SubduedSection, making it potential NightmareFuel.

* The Music/{{Queen}} song "Breakthru." After the intro, the song is played in the key of F major. However, after the solo, the song shifts keys to F♯ major.

* "Map Ref. 41ºN 93ºW" by Wire [[LampshadeHanging hangs a lampshade on this]] by announcing the dramatic chord change from the verse to the chorus with Colin Newman shouting, [[NarmCharm "CHORUS!"]] Also, "Being Sucked In Again", in which the entire verse part is made up of dramatic chord changes, and "Indirect Enquiries", where it's ''[[RefugeInAudacity the whole freaking song]]''.

** The [[WesternAnimation/AnAmericanTailFievelGoesWest second movie]] has "Way Out West" sung in E♭ major, and shifts to F major for the finale. "Dreams to Dream" starts out in C major and ends in G major, whereas the end credit version starts in A major and ends in E major.

-->-- A conversation on Website/{{Facebook}} parodying "[[Music/WestLife Seasons in the Sun]]"

-->-- A conversation on Website/{{Facebook}} parodying "Seasons in the Sun"

The Truck Driver's Gear Change is most often associated with [[PowerBallad uplifting ballads]] and some Asian pop songs.

The Truck Driver's Gear Change is most often associated with [[PowerBallad uplifting ballads]].

'''Please note that this is not a trope about {{modulation}} in general''' - that has its own page. This is about "shifting gears" for dramatic effect: sliding up a half or whole step and remaining there for the rest of the song.

** Also Lampshaded in Stevens' cover of the theme from ''Music/TheMonkees'', which he performs as an Austrian singing duo, [[TalkingToHimself both characters voiced by him]]. Come the key change, the characters get into an argument about going too high.

** There's also a key change in the final chorus in "Money, Money, Money".

* Music/StevieWonder is a ''master'' of modulation, but the most famous of them is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PY45DkaP9Ls "I Just Called to Say I Love You".]] Notably he does it twice in that song, the first being slightly incongruous both in how early it appears (at the start of the second chorus) and in its positioning (between verse and chorus); the other appears in a more traditional position between the second and third choruses.

** "Penny Lane" is an interesting example. The chorus is a full tone ''lower'' than the verses; the gear shift at the end returns the song to its original key.

* Lionel Richie's "Dancing on the Ceiling." He did this first on "Easy" with his old band, the Commodores.

* Music/ATeens' pop gem "Bouncing off the Ceiling (Upside Down)" goes up a whole step at the last repetition of the chorus.
* USA for Africa's "Music/WeAreTheWorld."

* Music/JesseMcCartney - "Because You Live" transposes up a minor third for the final choruses.

** "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" (even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious) shifts up a half-step before each verse, during the "Um-diddle-iddle-iddle-um-diddle-aye" bridge. And not only that, [[MotorMouth the song gets FASTER AND FASTER each time.]] And if you sing it loud enough you'll always sound precocious (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious)!

** Dion also does a gear change near the end of "I'm Alive," where it goes from a minor-like tone to a major-like one.

* Edison Lighthouse's "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" shifts from A to B flat after the second repetition of the bridge.

* The first theme of "Tallon Overworld" in ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' uses this; it starts off in the key of G Mixolydian[[note]]A Mixolydian scale is simply a Major scale with a lowered seventh note, so in G Mixolydian, the F# at the end would be changed to a neutral F[[/note]] with no clear melody, switches to Tonicized C once the melody starts to kick in, switches to F Mixolydian soon after, and the second half of the song switches and climaxes in B♭ Mixolydian.
* A handful of tracks from ''VideoGame/JumpingFlash'' transpose up a semitone at certain points, e.g. the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM9cveNcDP8 first level]] and the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTuiejp70kM last level]].
* The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcLgIvFK0fQ boss theme]] in ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIIMonsterLair'' for the UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 does this, although in-game, the [[TimedMission boss timer]] expires [[LongSongShortScene before it reaches that part]]. The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtzu4MKR5I0 Ice World / Desert]] music also goes up a step for its second half.

* The undeniably epic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JU0C_l4aac ending music]] from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaALinkToThePast'' goes up a perfect fourth from C to F.=

* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7OyPCYSfLg&playnext=1&list=PLBEB88438F8C9F842&index=15 Stage 7's theme]] in ''VideoGame/BattleGaregga'' shifts up a semitone every time it "loops" (it increases indefinitely [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NS8jaW1iIc if you listen to it in the sound test]]).
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=689o0hdcQ5g "Wily's Castle Part 2"]] in ''VideoGame/MegaMan2'' consists of a 4-bar phrase that shifts up a semitone every cycle, and drops back down after going up a full octave.
** [[http://youtu.be/3aBQAHxPsqc Fangora's]] [[VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn theme]] does something similar with a slightly longer period of repeat. Oh, and every other period has a kickass piano slide. The drop down so that it can repeat is really subtle, as well.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MA7DgTUKVE4&feature=player_detailpage#t=272s "Asterix" for the NES]] makes happy use of this trope, giving the already upbeat and cheerful tune in the first three "Gaul" levels an extra punch after its first loop.
* From ''VideoGame/MegaMan4'', Bright Man's theme goes up a full step after the first twenty seconds.
* Inverted in ''VideoGame/Rockman4MinusInfinity''. When a Robot Master TurnsRed, the music [[SongsInTheKeyOfPanic speeds up]] and shifts ''down'' from C to B.
* [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRAnjj43L_w Manor House Rally]] from ''VideoGame/MedalOfHonorFrontline'' shifts up a minor third; this section happens to be the second version of the VariableMix in-game. Better yet, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cNGFZQKSxs The Halftrack Chase]] moves up a step three times.
* Unusually for a BGM track, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9OeI7KfeBo Slateport City's theme]] in ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'' has this mark the end of its loop. At first, it sounds like it's looping back to its opening notes at the 40 s mark, but 20 seconds later, it diverges into a bridge section that leads to a full tone higher rendition of its opening notes before looping back to the lower tone.
* ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' songs are full of key changes, but an exemplary example would be ''[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdvYffA9BdY Scarlet Symphony ~ Scarlet Phoneme]]'', the theme song of Kurumi from PC-98-exclusive ''VideoGame/TouhouGensokyoLotusLandStory'', which is ''nothing but'' key changes on a fourteen-second motif.

* In ''VideoGame/LeisureSuitLarry5PassionatePattiDoesALittleUndercoverWork'', Michelle Milken's theme shifts up a step when she and Larry get down to business.
* The ''VideoGame/{{Lemmings}} arrangements of [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKG-fRS-7uM "Dance of the Reed Pipes"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTg5Ie2_jiA "London Bridge"]] change gears by a semitone and whole tone, respectively. The original music track [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxubCD6ILeg "Tim 2"]] shifts up either a semitone or whole tone depending on the game version.
* The Silly Race music from ''VideoGame/MarbleMadness'' periodically increases in pitch by a half-step.
* At the end of ''VideoGame/QuestForGloryII'', the background music shifts up from D minor to F minor as you enter the Emir's palace through the front gate.
* "Underground"(Stage 3b) from ''VideoGame/{{Gradius}} III'' upshifts by a semitone twice before dropping back down to loop.
* ''VideoGame/SanFranciscoRush'' implements this ''very'' poorly in several songs. For example, "Blue Fog" and "Rave Rush", which begin with a single song and then repeat the ''exact same song'' a semitone higher. It's very annoying!
* Lifelight, the main theme of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate'', has its last verse a semitone higher in pitch.
* ''Franchise/{{Splatoon}}'':
** The single-player levels (boss fights excluded) step up their music a pitch when you get to the final checkpoint.
** In ''VideoGame/Splatoon2'', the rendition of "Tidal Rush" used during the second phase begins in A minor but soon modulates up a whole tone to B minor. [[spoiler:This is definitely [[IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight definitely for emotional effect]].]]

* ''VideoGame/TwistedMetal (1995)'''s final stage theme, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53opJu5Qubs "Drop Dead"]], changes keys from C♯ minor to G Minor to F♯ minor.
* ''VideoGame/{{Undertale}}'': Undyne's theme consists of two nearly-identical tracks -- "NGAHHH!", which plays during her pre-battle speech; and a slightly rearranged version called "Spear of Justice" that kicks in when the actual battle starts. The latter modulates up from G minor to G♯ minor after the first few lines to let you know that ''shit just got real, yo.'' Because it has to loop for the duration of the fight, it also has to modulate back down at some point and manages to do so in an equally dramatic fashion. Oddly enough, "NGAHHH" started out at G♯ minor to begin with.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'''s version of "Engage the Enemy", [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6TLtJ4epT0 "Counterattack"]], also does this, modulating up from F♯ minor to G minor for the final section.

* The City of Tears theme from ''VideoGame/HollowKnight'' shifts down a minor third in the last section of its loop, though only in-game and not on the OST.
* In ''VideoGame/OriAndTheWillOfTheWisps'', the FinalBoss music modulates up a semitone in the second half of the battle, which is also where the ThemeMusicPowerUp kicks in.
* In ''VideoGame/WonderBoyIIITheDragonsTrap'':
** The second bridge section of "Sidecrawler's Dance" modulates down a whole tone. The UsefulNotes/TurboGrafx16 version, however, omits this key change.
** "The Danger Zone" shifts up a semitone at about the halfway point.
* "[[https://youtu.be/lpbJJmOJLz8 Something Memorable]]" by Kn1ght, from ''VideoGame/{{Furi}}'', modulates up a semitone twice, from E minor to F minor to F♯ minor.

[[folder:Advertisement]]