Q: why is the series of chords "4 5 1 6m" so absurdly powerful? (subbing the 4 for 2m also has a pretty darn similar effect) i've come up so many melodies that use those chords, and i love every one of them. i don't think i could make a bad melody with those chords if i tried. i'm aware that a million songs have used there exact series of chords, but somehow it never gets old. like, the bridge section in "do the thing" uses these chords and it's so, so fuckin awesome there. thoughts on why these chords always just.... work?
A: i don't have any exact reason why that sequence might be good, but what i have done is extensively categorized and analyzed almost every common looping chord sequence. the ones that stood out to me as being the most reliably powerful, for me,  were different from the one you selected. it probably varies from person to person. it's also worth noting that your sequence is a displaced 1,6-,4,5 or 1,6-,2-,5 which are traditionally known as extremely common. another thing worth noting is, categorically how does it make you feel when you start these things with 4 (or 2min). in my list of sequences, most of the ones i found to be most consistently the strongest also start with 4. For me, it probably tends to be "4, 1, 5, 5" or perhaps "4, 1, 5, 6-" that seem the most reliably strong. On the other hand, if we're talking about purely popularity, then it's hard to beat the infamous "6-, 4, 1, 5" which is almost certainly the winner in popularity, among chord loops, over the past few decades