Negative Harmony Covers of Songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiIDJ_Lmy54

Recently, I heard a cover of Here Comes the Sun by the Beatles but it was in “negative harmony.” I didn’t know what a negative harmony was at the time but then I did a little more research because of how unique it sounded. I found out that a negative harmony is where the notes are flipped on the axis of symmetry. You find that axis of symmetry based on the songs key. If anyone plays guitar, this will sound familiar about finding a songs key. Then, you can find the axis of symmetry by looking at the note between the tonic and the dominant fifth note. The notes and notes of a chord then are flipped from what they usually are in a standard harmony, meaning if the note is a major third above the axis of symmetry note, then for negative harmony it would move a major third down from the axis of symmetry. I think it makes a really unique sound for songs that change the feeling of the song overall.

In the Here Comes the Sun cover, I feel as though the song changes from a bright and beautiful song to a more dreary and dystopian sounding song. In my opinion, it sound like a sad Soviet song. But the other part is that all of the notes still work together very well. I found this a little strange but it makes sense when you think about the notes still being in the same key and the same structure. It’s just the exact notes that are changed, and since they are all changed they still are the same distance from the root note as they would be normally. I do find it weird that the overall emotions that come from the song are completely flipped, where there would normally be happy and sunny vibes, there are now devastating undertones. Regardless, I really like the sound of negative harmony covers and would like to see if other songs have their emotions flipped as well.