Context
City of Stars by Justin Hurwitz
Justin Hurwitz composed ‘City of Stars’ for the 2016 American musical ‘La la Land’ which follows a frustrated actress and jazz pianist trying to follow their dreams.
Listen For
- After a simple 4-bar piano intro in G minor, the male voice (Sebastien) enters with “City of stars, are you shining just for me?” which ends on a D minor chord.
- He sings the same line again but this time the line ends on an F major chord, which sounds more optimistic. This is a theme in the song, alternating between major and minor, and Hurwitz said this:
“You have these great moments and then you have these less great moments in life and in Los Angeles and we see it happen in the story.”
Justin Hurwitz
The rhythm is ‘swung’ throughout which means that the quavers sound like dotted quavers.
At 00:37 Mia enters with the lyrics “That now our dreams, they’ve finally come true.”
At 01:19 the mood becomes more hopeful, with the lyrics “A look in somebody’s eyes to light up the skies” being accompanied by a staccato piano part which becomes more jazzy.
At 01:51 the original melancholy piano idea returns with Sebastien singing the opening line again.
Things To Consider
- City of stars is one of the most popular songs from the show – why do you think that is? What makes a successful song?
- Do you think the song works with just a piano accompaniment or would an orchestral backing be more effective?