In terms of chords and melody, When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing is more complex than the typical song, having above average scores in Chord Complexity, Melodic Complexity, Chord Progression Novelty and Chord-Bass Melody.
When the World Was At War We Kept Dancing is written in the key of A Dorian. According to the Theorytab database, it is the 3rd most popular key among Dorian keys and the 32nd most popular among all keys. The A Dorian scale is similar to the A Minor scale except that its 6th note is a half step higher (F♯). Chord progressions in Dorian have a characteristic sound due to the major quality of the chord built on the 4th scale degree. See the A Dorian Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more!