In terms of chords and melody, Golden Years has complexity on par with the typical song, having near-average scores in Chord-Melody Tension and Chord-Bass Melody and below-average scores in Chord Complexity, Melodic Complexity and Chord Progression Novelty.
Golden Years is written in the key of F♯ Mixolydian. According to the Theorytab database, it is the least popular key among Mixolydian keys and the 44th most popular among all keys. The F♯ Mixolydian scale is similar to the F♯ Major scale except that its 7th note (E) is a half step lower. Mixolydian chord progressions are heavily featured in many genres of music like classic rock, which relies on the major chord built on the 7th scale degree. See the F♯ Mixolydian Cheat Sheet for popular chords, chord progressions, downloadable midi files and more!