Those Magic Changes

"Those Magic Changes" is a pop song from the 1971 musical Grease which was performed by Sha Na Na in the 1978 film version.

In the musical, the song is performed by Doody and the Burger Palace Boys at Rydell High School and appears between "Summer Nights" and "Freddy, My Love". The song is part of a dream sequence that moves away from Rydell High to Doody's dream of being in a rock concert, with the Pink Ladies and the Burger Palace Boys as his harmony singers. The song typifies pop music structure of the mid-to-late 1950s, and its lyrics are double entendres for both chord progression and young love.

However, in the movie version, "Those Magic Changes" is played at the high school dance scene, performed by Johnny Casino and the Gamblers, and rather than being a major part of the plot is kept more in the background. The song is preceded by "Rock n' Roll Is Here to Stay", and succeeded by "Hound Dog". It is was performed with dialog over it, illustrating some subplots in the movie, such as building up the rivalry between The T-Birds and The Scorpions, as well as Sandy realizing that Cha Cha was one of Danny's past girlfriends.

In the 2016 live TV musical, the song's stage musical beginnings as Doody's solo guitar number is reincorporated. Doody begins to perform the song in the diner when Sandy challenges Danny to prove he can handle committing to a sport, like the male jock that Sandy is dating. After that, Doody performs the rest of the song in the gymnasium between Danny's attempts at finding a sport that would impress Sandy. The final chorus of the song is sung in unison by Doody and Danny, adding to the friendly relationship they share together as T-Birds.

This song is built upon a simple, repeated, chord progression of C to A Minor to F to G7, which was the basis for most Doo Wop songs in the 50's ("This Magic Moment", etc.),^[1] known as the 50s progression.^[2] In the play, the other characters sing each of these letters in background accompaniment, and in the 1994 revival, this progression becomes the basis for the bridge with the letters being spoken as the words "see," "a" and "gee," and the first syllable of the word "effortlessly":

"C - C - See how much I want you;

A - A - A - A million ways!

F - F - Eff-ortlessly love you;

G - G - Gee, I'm in a haze!"

See also

• Grease
• Doo-wop
• 50s progression

References