AskMeCha: ridiculously specific pop music question.→[More:]Some friends and I were talking about the use of key changes in pop songs. Not chord changes, mind you, but key changes. If you need an example, start listening to Cheap Trick's Surrender at about 2:04 in this video. The key change happens at about 2:38. They're frequently used to kick the song up a notch AWWRIGHT!!

Anyway, my pal maintains that not only is it a songwriting gimmick (which it is, but a good one when used properly) but that it's also a white thing. He felt that it just didn't happen very often in black music. As an example, we were mentally scouring the output of one of the best songwriters of all time, Prince, and trying to come up with a song in which he throws in a key change. We came up blank.

His wife and I argued that surely this trick is sometimes employed in huge, vibrant music like classic Motown and black gospel. But he had us: we couldn't think of a single song by a black artist that featured a big key change. But that's just because we hadn't harnessed the power of the hive mind...until now! So can you think of any?

Quick, hopefully unnecessary note for the very racially sensitive: I'm sure that this won't be construed as saying that black songwriters are less sophisticated than white ones or anything completely stupid like that. But if you want to construe it that way, be my guest, stupid.