Why ABB Shouldn’t Be Roasted Over a Slow-Burning Fire

I’m outraged — by my own wish that Anders Behring Breivik be treated as a human being.

My basest instincts would love to see him fry in a very earthly hell. But although the though of him living on and perhaps even coming out into society 21 years from now, in principle cleared of his guilt, makes me angry, I still don’t think the frying pan is a very good idea after all.

Our civilization is based on a belief in a certain fundamental core of human-ness shared by all human beings. To this human-ness, we have added a set of rights.

Now, I think it’s sound to be clear that this is a belief and not an objective fact, because it gives us the opportunity — and in times of crisis, the obligation — to ask ourselves, individually and collectively, what we base that belief on.

Also, I don’t think of these rights as “universal” or “inalieanable” in any other sense than as a statement of interest: it’s something we, as a society of human beings, have established, because we believe society works better that way — not something that comes automatically, just from being a human being.

Those “rights” are being violated all the time, even in the most civilized societies. I don’t really believe that violating them once more, explicitly and consciously – e.g. by ripping the bastard apart limb by limb – would ruin the foundation upon which our society is based, nor that that would mean that he has won and “we” have lost. Letting the collective expose a person who has demonstrated un-human behaviour beyond belief to inhuman treatment, does not turn us all into a barbarian mob. Human rights is a contract, and a contract can be renegotiated in changing circumstances.

I also don’t believe in the solution that some have suggested: that he be forced to listen to the stories of the survivors and the families of the murdered ones until the day he dies. What would be the point of that? Tormenting his soul? Saving it by making him repent? Letting him realize his mistake and bringing him back into the fold of decent citizens again? Sorry, it won’t happen.

When I still don’t think it’s a good idea to roast him, it’s mainly because I believe the course staked out by the Norwegian prime minister (“We will retaliate with more democracy, more openness, but never naïveté”) and by one of the survivors of the massacre (“If one man can show this much hate, think how much love we can show together“) is a much more productive path to take.

Emphasising community, interdependence, embrace, is not only a way to improve our society — even and especially in extreme conditions — it is also an excellent way to prove him wrong.

If that thought tortures him, all the better.

The potential risk of turning him into some kind of martyr is also a reason — again, pragmatic, not ideological — to abstain from “medieval” treatment.

The problem still remains what to do with the beast in the meantime, but the best would perhaps be to ignore him completely — to wipe him off our collective memory and let his place be taken by communal values.

If we roast him, someone will hear him scream, metaphorically or literally.

He may have a contractual right to humane treatment, but not to be paid any attention.

He may have the right to speak, but not to be listened to.

A Monument of Civilization?

It now seems that the atrocities in Oslo and Utøya were commited by a single person. I think we can rule out completely any kind of organization. Apparently, the killer – a tall, blond native Norwegian, age 32, who speaks the local dialect – was taken to the island on the organizers’ own boat. Now, if there were more than one person involved, surely someone in the organization would have had a speedboat ready for him on the mainland?

Besides: Utøya? A summer camp for politically engaged youths?!

Granted, if terrorism is all about creating fear and terror, there might be some logic to it: strike where the shock will be greatest.

But still, I can’t in my wildest imagination come up with a scenario where a bunch of Mossad agents or al-Qaida sympathizers have sat around and discussed their next step and that idea has materialized – it’s just too weird.

Norway Cup (an over-sized symbol of Norwegian greatness), or some Confirmation Sunday (“all those pork-munching, cartoon-printing infidels celebrating their successful indoctrination of yet another generation”) — that I can imagine.

But a summer camp on an isolated island? No way.

So my hope is that the Norwegians are able to put aside all the national rhetorics, all the talk about threats to democracy and being a small country in a difficult world. And stay away from using words like “terror” and “terrorism”, at least for as long as these words are near- synonymous with “islamism”.

And this is where my headline comes in:

If this is the deed of a single madman, which seems to be the case, it is a sign of what a thin, thin, fragile varnish civilization is. It’s not that difficult to set an entire society on ends. All it takes is a van filled with explosives (which, I suppose, any construction worker can get hold of) and a convincing policeman’s shirt.

When we can still lead perfectly normal lives most of the time, and have so for hundreds of years (except for brief interludes of socio-economic and military madness), it is for the single reason that most of us, very nearly all of us, don’t do such things.

We’re civilized. We behave. I frankly don’t care if that’s because we’re all indoctrinated or something like that: we behave because that’s what we want to do anyway — that’s how we feel most alright. If it wasn’t for this collective “We behave”, there isn’t a terror plan or a millennium act in the world that could uphold civilization as we know it.

It’s a tragic day, of course, and nothing to celebrate. That something like this happens is — seen in isolation — a sign of failure.

But seen in a larger perspective — and here I mean: over hundreds of years, generations way beyond our own memory and the memory of those we remember — it’s a sign of success: that the glue that binds us together is so strong that something like this has never happened before.

That it is so easy to tarnish civilized life — and yet: nobody has done it.

Until now, that is. In Norway, that is. Now, where to go from here?

Guitar in Two Weeks, day 13: Open Tuning

Finally – it took more than a year, but here’s the next lesson: on open tunings.

I have had three life-changing epiphanies in my life as a guitar player. The first was the first time I tried a twelve-string guitar. I realized that the fullness of that sound was what I had been dreaming of all my life, I just hadn’t known it. Fifteen years later, I bought an old Ibanez twelve-string, and although it would be a lie to say that it’s the best guitar in the world, there is nothing wrong with that sound of twelve shiny strings.

The second was when I first tried a Martin guitar. I immediately realized that that was the sound I was after. Fifteen years later, my wife got me an HD-28, and I have bliss within reach whenever I need it (in more sense than one).

The third was when I first tuned to an open D chord.

On a side note, that was in a way the most life-changing experience of them all, because that’s when dylanchords started for real (and man, has that taken up a large part of my life in the fifteen years since then). I had alreadyput up on a little site a few tabs that I couldn’t find elsewhere, but it was when I made the tabs of the New York versions of Blood on the Tracks that the idea of a comprehensive site with exact chords to Dylan’s entire output was born for real.

Open and Alternate Tunings

Just so that the terms are clear: the “open” in “open tunings” means that all the strings are tuned to tones belonging to one particular chord, so that you’ll get a full chord if you play all the strings open.

“Alternate tunings” would then refer to all the other different ways one can tune the guitar. In principle, the dropped D, double dropped D, and Dropped C would count as alternate tunings, but because they are so relatively common, they have their own names.

General remarks

Before we go into the specific tunings, a few words about alternate and open tunings in general.

First, the reason to play in open tunings in the first place is not (or not only) to get simpler chords. One might think that playing with open tunings would be a huge advantage in general:  there is at least one chord where one doesn’t have to do anything with the left hand.

But  that one chord cannot outweigh all the potential disadvantages:

  • All the other chords become more troublesome. Of course, all the chords of the same kind as the chord you have tuned to (i.e. all the major chords if you play in open G or D) can be played with a simple barre chord at the appropriate fret. E.g. In open D, you will have the subdominant G major at the fifth fret and the dominant A at the seventh. But that’s just about all you can do with those chords: play them. No fancy bass runs, no hammer-ons and melodic finesse, no use of the open strings.
  • An open string is like a binary number: it’s either on or off, and beyond that, there is really nothing much you can do with it, whereas a skilled instrumentalist has far greater control of the tone quality once there is a finger on the string. You can bend it, you can apply some vibrato, you can slide up to it or down from it, you can mute it, you can release it — all those wonderful things that make the music breathe and sound natural; all those things that a binary number can’t.
  • Besides, the major chords may be easy to get at, but what about minor chords, seventh chords, other fancy chords? try to play a Cm6 chord — or a Dm7-5 chord for that matter — in open D tuning, and you’ll know what I mean. It’s not that it can’t be done, but it may just not be worth the effort.
    Standard tuning is a quite wonderful invention in that respect: with strings tuned a fourth apart (with a major third thrown in for good measure, between the second and third strings), just about any combination is within reach.
  • And last but not least, one should not underestimate the value of having somewhere to place one’s fingers. A nice side effect of fingering a chord is that one also holds the guitar still . . .

All in all: in practice, in open tunings you’re limited to play in one main key. If you tune to open D, D is what you’ll be playing.

And that is OK: open tunings are for songs or arrangements where one chord dominates. Modal pieces, bluesy tunes, folk ballads — that’s where the open tunings shine.

“Modal” in this context means more or less a style where the “classical” hierarchy of tonic, subdominant, and dominant does not apply, but where other chord relationships dominate. Examples are “Masters of War” and “It’s Alright Ma” from Dylan’s repertory, and songs like “What Shall We Do With the Drunken Sailor” or just about any minor key song from the Irish tradition.

Joni Mitchell’s Naming System

Joni Mitchell is the Queen of altered tunings — she uses hundreds of them. In order to tell them apart, she uses a naming convention. First, the note of the lowest string, then five numbers that indicate the number of frets to the next string, i.e. on which fret to finger one string in order to find the tone of next.

Thus, standard tuning would be named E55545 and dropped D tuning D75545. I will use this convention in the following.

The Most Important Open Tunings

Enough talk — time to get our hands dirty.

There are two or three open/alternate tunings that are widely used, and a host of others that show up here and there. I will concentrate on open D, but the principles are the same in all of them.

Open D

in open D, the whole guitar is tuned to a D major chord,

D - A - d - f# - a - d'

To get there from standard tuning, tune down the lowest and the two highest strings one whole tone and the third string a semitone. The Ds on the outer strings should sound the same as the D you already have on the fourth string in standard tuning. Likewise, the second string should sound like the fifth.

In Joni-naming, this means: D75435. Tune the deepest string to D — one whole tone down from standard tuning. It should sound equal to the fourth string. Then check that the fifth string is equal to the sixth string fretted at the seventh fret and the fourth string equal to the fifth fretted at the fifth fret (they should, if you start with standard tuning). Go on with the remaining strings according to the Joni pattern.

When you’re done, you should hear a wonderfully rich and full chord when you strike all the strings.

A word about pure and tempered tunings: As I mentioned in lesson 6, an instrument like the guitar is always slightly out of tune. This is true for standard tuning, but in open tuning one actually has the option to tune closer to the pure intervals: since you’ll mostly be playing in/around one key, you don’t have to be as cautious as in standard tuning about the problems with temperament, and you can tune the third string to a pure f#, without worrying too much about what might happen if you need that string in an A flat major chord. You won’t.

What’s With The “Open D/E” Thing?

You may come across a label like “open D/E”, or you may see a song you know as an open D song referred to as being in open E. What’s up with that?

The answer is that open D and open E are essentially the same tuning, only at different pitch levels. That means: the intervals between the strings are the same, so you will use the same chord shapes. This becomes quite clear in Joni notation:

open D = D75435
open E = E75435

If you tune to open D and put a capo at the second fret, you are actually playing in open E.

Which of the two you choose, is up to you —

  • You may prefer the darker sound of open D, or the brighter of open E.
  • For open D, there are four strings you have to retune; for open E only three.
  • Open E may be harder on you strings, since three of them are tuned up from their usual position.

Open D Chord Shapes

Here are some of the most important chord shapes in open D tuning:

oooooo    o  ooo    o   oo    o o  o    o o oo
======    ======    ======    ======    ======    ------
||||||    ||||||    ||||||    |||1||    |||1||    111111
------    ------    ------    ------    ------   5------
||||||    ||||||    ||||||    |2||3|    |2||||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
||||||    ||||||    |||1||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
||||||    ||2|||    ||2|||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
||||||    |3||||    |3||||      G         G         G
------    ------    ------
  D         D         D

 o   o     o  oo     o  o      o  oo       ooo
======    ======    ======    ======    ======    ------
|||1||    |||1||    |||1||    |||1||    ||||||    111111
------    ------    ------    ------    ------   7------
||2|3|    2|3|||    ||2||3    ||2|||    ||1|||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
||||||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
||||||    ||||||    ||||||    ||||||    |3||||    ||||||
------    ------    ------    ------    ------    ------
  A          A         A        A         A         A   

  o oo     o oo     o oo o
======   ======     ======
|||1||   ||||||     ||||||
------   ------     ------
23||||   ||||||     |2||3|
------   ------     ------
||||||   |||1||     ||||||
------   ------     ------
||||||   23||||     ||||||
------   ------     ------
  Em      F#m         Bm

I’ve included several versions of some of the chords, but the table is by no means complete. It’s in the nature of the open tuning that you can play around with it — play any of the tones in the chord anywhere on the fretboard for different shades of the sonority, or for different licks. So, the first chords in the New York version of Tangled Up In Blue are D [000897] — C [000675].

It should also be noted that most of these names are “wrong”. The Em chord isn’t a plain Em, but an Em7add4, and F#m is really F#m-6. The “A” chords are even worse: only the last one is actually a plain A. This has to do with the open character of the tuning: typically, there will be open strings sounding, and the exact name of the chord or the exact notes in it are not that important. All the A chords above fill the “A” slot, and that’s what matters.

Some of the chords above go together in groups:

D [054000]     D
a [042000]     G [020120]
G [020100]     A [x02120]

etc.

A few words about some of the chords:

D

You may ask: why bother with lots of fingerings, when I can get a D chord literally without lifting a finger (well, actually, the opposite: without placing a finger)? As I’ve indicated, it’s a matter of chord sequences, chord nuances, and preference.

The [054000] variant, e.g. has a full octave between the two lowest strings. This doubled bass tone is a powerful reenforcement of the key (inicdentally, this is the same sound as the Double Dropped C that Dylan favoured for a while in the mid-60s). Furthermore, the tone of the third string (g#) is doubled on the fourth string. This tone is the “third”, the tone that decides whether a chord is minor or major. Taken together, these two features give a very strong sense of the main tonality.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, one might play a shape like D [000300] or [050300], where there is no third at all — hence, the key is neither major or minor. If one adds one finger, one gets [000330], and one is well on the way toward a delta blues feeling.

G

I’ve talked earlier about establishing the key by having the main key note of the chord in the bass, and that the key note is usually heard on many strings, for reenforcement. The G chord in open D defies all these principles: the key note is heard on one string only, the third.

Instead, the chord is dominated by the tone D, on strings 1, 4 and 6. In fact, the G chord in this tuning is most of all an embellishing variant of the main D sonority. This is precisely the same function as the c chord has in Dylan’s most cherished figure: G-c/g-G (320003-3×2013-320003). This “embellished d” character is emphasized by the alternative fingering 020100, where the open second string adds yet another tone from the D major chord. You may also recognize the “physical” similarity between the two figures:

G-C-G     D-G-D
------    ------
320003    000000
3x2013    002010
320003    000000

A

If the G chord is merely a variant of D, the A chord in open D is merely a variant of G. It is basically a G chord with an A in the bass, which technically is an A11 (played x02120. This variant of the dominant is a quite rare guest in Dylan’s songs prior to blood on the tracks, but quite common after that album. Part of the explanation is that 11-chords are central in the gospel tradition, which Dylan dived into shortly afterwards, but it is not either impossible that he discovered its sweetness through the use of this A chord.

One-Finger Barre Chords

If one wants “genuine” versions of the G and A chords, one can use the barre forms: G = [555555] and A = [777777].Since these are one-finger barres, it is fairly easy to extend them with interesting embellishments, e.g. a simple but effective boogie shuffle:

D: 000000  020100   030300   020100 
G: 555555  575655   585855   575655
A: 777777  797877   7a7a77   797877
(a=10th fret)

Open G

The other main open tuning is open G, which is a preferred tuning among slide guitar players. It is also Keith Richards’ favorite tuning. (Actually, Keef removes the lowest string.)

Of course, most of what has been said about Open D applies to Open G as well. As a matter of fact, all the chord shapes apply too, if you just shift everything one string down. I will therefore just outline what I find to be the most interesting differences.

Tuning

Open G has a G major chord on the open strings:

D - G - d - g - b - d'

Joni tuning: D57543. Compare this to open D: D75435, and you will see that the intervals are the same, they just fall between different strings.

Bass vs. The Rest

In Open D, the key note is on the lowest bass string, as well as on the brightest string, and it naturally dominates everything.

In Open G, on the other hand, the key note is on the open fifth string, which means that you can’t just strike all strings and get that full-bodied sound as in open D.

This may seem like a disadvantage, and is in fact the reason why Keef removes his lowest string, but the gain is considerable:

With an extra string below the key note, you have a whole range of extra bass runs, figures and configurations available. In open D, everything centres around D. In open G, you can emphasise the subdominant (which has the deepest bass string, as opposed to open D, where it has none); and reach the key note from below, not just above.

The advantages require slightly more control than, say, in open D, to be realized. If Open D is the strummer’s dream, Open G is the fingerpicker’s or slide player’s dream come true. (oooh, very poetic!)

Chord Shapes

The differences with regard to the bass strings also means that the chord shapes you will mostly use, are slightly different than in Open D. A very useful feature of Open G is that the four lowest strings are in pairs: d on 4th/6th, g on 3rd/5th. This means that it is very easy to use the same patterns on both pairs. Many of the chord shapes have the two strings of a pair fingered at the same fret (e.g. 202010, 020210, etc.), and this shape becomes almost second nature.

Here are just a couple of the chords that differ from their open D counterparts:

 ooooo    o   o    o oo
======   ======   ======
||||||   ||||||   ||||||
------   ------   ------
||||||   ||||||   2|3|||
------   ------   ------
||||||   ||||||   ||||||
------   ------   ------
||||||   |||1||   ||||||
------   ------   ------
||||||   2|3|||   ||||||
  G        G        Em

o o  o    o o o   x  o
======   ======   ======
||||1|   ||||1|   ||||||
------   ------   ------
|2|3||   2|3|||   ||1|||
------   ------   ------
||||||   ||||||   ||||||
------   ------   ------
||||||   ||||||   ||||||
------   ------   ------
||||||   ||||||   |4||||
  D7       C        C

The second G above (505400) immediately shows the “paired strings” pattern. The shape is a way of overcoming the “I can’t use the deepest string” problem, by doubling the bass tone.

The D7 and C pair for me constitute the most distinctive difference between open G and open D. The equivalent chord shapes to the “standard” versions in open D would be C = [x02010] or [x02012] and D = [xx0210] or [xx0212]. As I mentioned above, this C is almost just a variant of G, and the D a variant of C; we’re almost never out of the control zone of the main key.

That would be a very un-open-G way to play it. Using the shapes C = [202010] and D = [020210] instead, with the distinctive paired strings pattern, we’re in a completely different sound world. The D here is emphatically a seventh chord, i.e. a very independent character from the main key, emphasising the difference rather than blurring it. And the C chord, while still not boasting a strong C character of its own, at least stands out from G (thanks to the doubled bass strings 4 and 6, with the tone e, absolutely not part of a G chord).

The last C shape, x520xx, remedies the lack of a key-note in the other C shapes. Obviously, it is not a shape particularly suitable for strumming, since one only plays on three strings in the middle. But for fingerpicking it is quite useful. Then, one can also use some of the x-ed out strings for embellishment.

Examples

Needless to say, there’s Blood on the Tracks – all the songs were first recorded in open D (well, open E, actually), and they are alle transcribed in that tuning.

Joni Mitchell should be represented. Her song “Hejira” off the album of the same title, is played in C77325-tuning and can be found here. The tricky part is to get the main picking pattern going: the pattern covers two measures instead of the simple one-measure patterns we have encountered so far. Once that is in place, the song is actually fairly simple to play.

Tallest Man on Earth: Where Do My Bluebird Fly

Then there’s the most recent star on altered tuning heaven: The Tallest Man on Earth. His guitar technique is exquisite, his musicality astounding, and his stage presence is breathtaking. The first song, “Where Do My Bluebird Fly”, is in open G minor (D57533), and it is actually not too difficult, once you master the two-measure picking pattern.

The Tallest Man usually capos his guitar far up the neck. Both this and the following song have a capo at the eighth fret.

 

 

Intro:
    :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
||*-----0-----0-----|-0-----0---------|-----0-----0-----|-0-----0---------|
||------3-----3-----|-3---------3-----|-----2-----2-----|-2---------0-----|
||------5-------5---|-----5-------5---|-----4-------4---|-----4-------0---|
||*-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

                                     ____________________________________
                                    | 1.                                 |
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|------------------||
|-----0-----0-----|-0-----0---------|-----2-----2-----|-2-----2-----2---*||
|-----0-----0-----|-0-----0---0-----|-----5-----5-----|-5-----5-----5----||
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------0---|-----4-------4---|-----4-------4----||
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------*||
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0--------||

 ____________________________________
| 2.
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----2-----2-----|-2-------0-------|
|-----5-----5-----|-5-------2-------|
|-----4-------4---|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------3-------|

|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-1---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0-----------|-------------0---|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|-----3-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-3-------3-------|-4-------4-------|

|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-1---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------| 

|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0-----------|-------------0---|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------3---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|
                                                            oh well, I 

|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-1---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  know you shook the set-up baby,         of all the    leaves upon the
  know our song is all but healthy        as I see dry leaves fallin'

|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0-----------|-------------0---|-----0p2---------|-------------0---|
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------3---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|
  ground                                                        And I
  down,                         oh

|-----------------|-3---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0-----------|-------------0---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------3---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|
      With all this fever in my       mind,                     I could 

|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-3---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----3-----------|-------------0---|-----0-----------|-------------0---|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|
|-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|
  drown in your     kerosene          eyes        Oh,

|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0-----------|-------------0---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----1-------1---|-----1-------1---|-----3-------3---|-----3-------3---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1-------1-------|-1-------1-------|-3-------3-------|-3-------3-------|
      you're just a riddle in the     sky         Oh,

|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----3-------3---|-----2-------2---|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-3-------3-------|-2-------2-------|
  where do   my     bluebird            fly?

And as the early sign of dawn of thunder
I see you stir the fog around
And when you find the voice and gears of sunset
we'll hear that high and lonesome sound, oh
And I will question every wind
if they gone through the glow of your eyes Oh,
you're just a riddle in the sky Oh,
where do my bluebird fly?

Oh, well I know you shook your feathers baby
upon the ghosts along my trail
And I know your lie was sold and buried
before I knew it was for sale, oh
With all this fever in my mind
I could aim for your kerosene eyes Oh,
you're just a target in the sky oh,
where do my bluebird fly?

Tallest Man on Earth: The Lion’s Heart

The second example, in Open G, is more tricky, especially at the breakneck speed of the album version. Check out the live video (and enjoy the mastery with which he kills the annoying clapping!), and give it a try:

 

  D6
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----2-----------|-------------2---|-----2-----------|-------------0---|
|-----4-------4---|-----4-------4---|-----4-------4---|-----4-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|

  G                                   Gmaj7/f#
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|

  Em7                                                   D7sus4
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0---------------|-------0---------|-----------------|
|-0---------0-----|-------0---------|---0---------0---|-1---------------|
|-------2-------0-|-----------0-----|--0--------0-----|-0---------0-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2-------2-------|-2-------2-------|-2-------2-------|-0-------0-------|

  G                                   Gmaj7/f#
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|

  C/g                                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0h2-0-----------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-1---------1-----|-------1---------|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-0-----0-------0-|-----------0-----|-----2---------2-|-----------2-----|
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|

  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-----2---------2-|-----------2-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
                            There's a

    G                                   Gmaj7/f#
    :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
||*-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
||------4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
||------0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
||*-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
||------------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
    pa -    lace a - fallin'  There's a smoke   in   the sky      There's a
    catching     the train to where he's    heard you have been   He's a 

  C/g                                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0h2-0-----------|-----------0-----|-------0----------||
|-1---------1-----|-------1---------|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------*||
|-0-----0-------0-|-----------0-----|-----2---------2-|-----------2------||
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0----||
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------*||
|-----------------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0--------||
  boy     running   downhill to the   lowlands     to - night.  And he's
  fool    now a -  mong us,     a     dreamer      with-in,     dreaming of 

  G                                   Gmaj7/f#
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
  you

  Em7                                                   D7sus4
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0---------------|-------0---------|-----------------|
|-0---------0-----|-------0---------|---0---------0---|-1---------------|
|-------2-------0-|-----------0-----|--0--------0-----|-0---------0-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2-------2-------|-2-------2-------|-2-------2-------|-0-------0-------|
                                                             And on that...

  G                                   Gmaj7/f#
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
  day     there was snowfall in the   street, yellow    light.  And they

  C/g                                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0h2-0-----------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-1---------1-----|-------1---------|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-0-----0-------0-|-----------0-----|-----2---------2-|-----------2-----|
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
  cleared the bill and rails just by those dark shimmer eyes    In that 

  G                                   Gmaj7/f#
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|-0-----0-----3p0-|-------0---------|
|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|-----4-----4-----|---4-------4-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|
land      there's a winter, In that      winter's a    day,     in  that 

  C/g                                 D
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0h2-0-----------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-1---------1-----|-------1---------|-----------3-----|-----------3-----|
|-0-----0-------0-|-----------0-----|-----0-----------|-------0---------|
|-----2-------2---|-----2-------0---|-----4-------4---|-----4-------0---|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
  day     there's a moment    when it all     goes your way,    and you

  Em                C                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----------0-----|-----------1-----|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-----0-----------|-----0-----------|-----2---------2-|-----------0-----|
|-----2-------0---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2-------2-------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
  know it's a       lion's      heart                           That will

  Em                C                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------0-----|-------0---------|
|-----------0-----|-----------1-----|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-----0-----------|-----0-----------|-----2---------2-|-----------2-----|
|-----2-------0---|-----2-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-2-------2-------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
  tumble      and   tear a  -   part

                                      C                 D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|-5---------------|-1---------------|
|-----2---------2-|-----------0-----|-0---------0-----|-2---------2-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----5-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-5-------5-------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-----------------|-0-------0-------|
                            when he's coming down the   hills      for      you.

But can you still now remember who's been hiding up there?
Through his howling at twilight all his songs of despair?
Do you remember the caller of a black and white crime?
Well he lives by that memory and falls from his mind

And you know it's a lion's heart
That will tumble and tear apart
When he's coming down the hills for you

Well he'll

    Bm6                                 C
    :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
||------------------|-0---------------|-----------------|-0---------------|
||*-----------3-----|-------3---------|-----------5-----|-------5---------|
||------0-----------|-----------0-----|-----0-----------|-----------0-----|
||------4-------4---|-----4-------4---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
||*-4-------4-------|-4-------4-------|-5-------5-------|-5-------5-------|
||------------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
  walk    in the    city        for - ever                  Oh,
  no      real goodbye         if you mean it               So I 

  G                                   D7
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-0---------------|-----------0-----|-------0----------||
|-----------0-----|-------0---------|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------*||
|-----0-----------|-----------0-----|-----2---------2-|-----------2------||
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0----||
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------*||
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|-0-------0--------||
  walk    in a      time    to be     gone                   Well there's
  guess   I'm for - ever        a  -  lone

:   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------0-----|-2-----0---------|
|-----0h1---------|-0h1-------------|
|-----2---------2-|-----------2-----|
|-----0-------0---|-----0-------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-0-------0-------|-0-------0-------|
                      Now he's a

Now he's a stranger among us, he will die in the park
Where he hides from the statues and the weather remarks
In that land there's a winter
In that winter's a day
In that day there's a moment when it all goes away

And you know it's a lion's heart
That will tumble and tear apart
When it's coming down the hills for you

All the Lessons

[catlist name=Lessons numberposts=150 order=asc orderby=date excludeposts=419]

“I Stole A Song”

At last: I’ve found it!

Not the holy grail, not the place where lost pencils and single socks live, but the melody to Steel Guitars, James Damiano’s composition that Dylan allegedly stole and used for his song Dignity.

[see  this if you don’t have a clue what I’m talking about (and this and this if you’re still hungry for more). Damiano’s own material in support of his case can be found here: http://christinejustice.yolasite.com/]

So – it is obvious to anyone who has heard Dignity and Steel Guitars, that Judge Simantle’s words:

To the ear of this court, there is no substantial similarity in the structure, instrumentation or melody of the two songs.

is a fairly precise judgement. The mystery that was beginning to nag me was where on earth Paul Greene had found the pitches that he presented in his court testimony as “The main melody of Steel Guitars”:

a'-g'-d'-e'-d'-b-g-a-b-a-g

How can it be that a trained musicologist can find enough identity between two melodies to support a claim of theft where common-sense judgement hears nothing of the kind?

Greene is courteous enough to define “melody” for us:

I define melody as the sequence or ordering of pitches in a single line of a musical composition.

But I could not for the life of me find any such “single line of a musical composition” in Steel Guitars.

One thing is the quasi-Schenkerian nonsense he presents — e.g. that

the notes (2) & (3) are just accompaniments of (1) when the note (2) or (3) precedes the note (1). […] Theoretically the (2) note or (3) note in reference to this melody line can be considered the same note.

But the melody itself seemed to have been taken out of thin air in the first place.

Hm.

The methodology is fundamentally flawed, the application is deceiving, bordering on fraudulent, but surely, he couldn’t be that bad — he did, after all, graduate magna cum laude from Haaaavard.

So I sat down and listened one last time. I slowed it down to half speed, and when I isolated the left channel and yanked up the volume to an audible level — there it was! In the barely audible first run-through of the verse, before the steel guitars enter, there is actually something, half picked, half strummed, from which the following can be isolated (not, mind you, reduced), which actually matches with Greene’s sequence (which is marked with red in the transcription):

  G
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .   
|-5---3-----3-----|---------------3-|-----------------|
|---------3-------|-3---5---5-3---3-|---5---3-5-3---3-|
|-----------------|---------------0-|-------------0---|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

                    D                                              
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----0-----0-----|---3-------------|-----------------|
|---0-----0-----0-|-2---2-2-4-2-0-2-|---2-2-2-4-2-0-2-|
|-0---0-----------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|-----------------|

                G
  :   .   .   .     :   .   .   .
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|---2-2-2-4-2-0-0-|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|
|-----------------|-----------------|

Right. So it wasn’t “a sequence of pitches in a single line” after all, as I had suspected all along, but pitches, chosen among many others to be  the most important ones. Pitches that are not played in sequence (i.e. one after another), but which appear in this sequence over the course of the musical composition, sometimes as melodic fragments (as in the beginning) sometimes as a condensation of a long passage (as in the end), and sometimes, it seems, picked out just to have something to pick out (as at the end of the first line, where the doodling can hardly be claimed to have a melodic character but is merely harmonic filler).

OK.

Fine. So, if these are the rules: if you’re allowed to leave out things at will, and apply stupid “transformational rules” such as the “(2)=(3) if it comes before (1)”, regardless of the harmonic and rhythmic context, then it’s not very difficult to show that two unrelated melodies share the same “melody”.

I Stole a Song

So I wrote this little tune, to lyrics which just came to me. Careful analysis will show that my composition is in fact identical to the melody of Steel Guitars (and, hence, of Dignity). What’s worse, the melody actually appears not once but twice in this short tune. Actually, three times if you count the guitar outro, where the melody line can be heard in its raw form. And in fact, the melodic character of the sequence of pitches is even more pronounced here than in Steel Guitars, so the plagiarism should be even more apparent. I didn’t even use the (2)=(3) rule.

I recorded the song, of course, and it will be released on my next album, where I will shamelessly cash in on other people’s creative efforts:

Here’s a transcription of the stolen composition. Again, although it’s probably unnecessary, since the derivative nature is so obvious, I’ve marked the melodic line in red:

  Em                          Am            G
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-------------|-------------|-0---2---3---|-5---3-------|
|-0---0---0---|-0-------0---|-------------|---------3---|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 I  stole a   song,    I     took it from  someone who

  Cadd9         G/b           Am            D7
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-5---3---0---|-5-3---------|-0---1---0---|-------------|
|-------------|---------0---|-------------|-2-----------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 needed   the   money   more  dearly than   me

  B7            Em            D7            G  D/f# Em
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-------------|---------0---|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-3---1---3---|-0-----------|
|-4---2---4---|-0-----------|-------------|-----2---0---|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 I  was so    cruel    and   he  was a     fool, I make

  Am7           G             F             D7
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-5-3---------|-------------|-5---3-------|-------------|
|-----------3-|-5-3---------|---------3---|-5-3---------|
|-------------|---------0---|-------------|---------0---|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 millions   of dollars   and  he's left with nothing, I

  C#m7-5        B7            Fmaj7         E9
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-5-------5-3-|-0-----------|-5-3-----5---|-0-----------|
|-------------|---------2-0-|-------------|---------0-2-|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 swim in champagne,   I do  nothing  in   vain,   I don't

  A9            C9      B9-7  Em
  :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .     :   .   .  
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-4-------2-0-|-3---2---0---|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-2-----------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
|-------------|-------------|-------------|-------------|
 care    I just tear out his soul.

I stole a song
I hate it when someone 
comes up with ideas 
more brilliant than mine
I used to be great
But now my muse is running late,
I'm a washed-out phenomenon,
a has-been in tailspin
I can't hold a tune
I can't croon to the moon
but I don't care,
I have a clear flair for fraud.

I swim in champagne, 
I do nothing in vain, 
I don't care 
I'm just baring 
and tearing out his soul

Yes, I know: it sounds exactly like both Dignity and Steel Guitars.

So now I’m just waiting to see who’s going to sue me first for this blatant theft: Dylan or Damiano.

Last Words on Dignity (the song, that is)

The story so far

I’ve been involved with the Damiano-Dignity “case” now for more than a decade. Here’s a summary, and my last words (I hope) on this matter.

Act One: Musicological Inquiries

When I first heard that Dylan had stolen “Dignity” from a poor songwriter, James Damiano, I was more sympathetic towards the victim than surprised about the theft.

Then, the victim started flooding the net with his case. Somewhere in the vast material, which mostly set out to prove — in tedious detail — the degree and kind of contact between Damiano and various persons somehow associated with Dylan’s organization, there was also one piece of musical evidence: a graph comparing Dignity” and “Steel Guitars”, the song Dylan allegedly had appropriated:

Dignity and Steel Guitars
Graph showing similarities between Dignity and Steel Guitars

This piqued my interest — partly because the skeleton to which “Dignity” was reduced didn’t bear much resemblance to the melody itself, partly because this kind of reductive music analysis, which is still today, for mysterious reasons, en vogue at American universities, is demonstrably not able to reveal much of interest about the musical object, since — as has been shown by many scholars — widely different compositions can be reduced to the same pitch sequence.

I would have liked to hear “Steel Guitars”, but among the many hours of videotaped material Damiano presented on his webpage, that was the one item that was missing. The closest thing was a video from court, where Damiano’s crown witness, Dr. Paul Greene, plays the skeleton melody from the graph above, over the accompaniment of “Dignity”. (Sounds a lot like “Dignity”? Sure — it is “Dignity”, with some random notes added here and there.)

I then wrote a little piece about the questions this graph raised. My conclusion was that it was impossible, based on this graph, to say anything conclusive about possible similarities between the two songs, and that I would like to hear the un-reduced version of the song.

Damiano responded, variously calling my very existence into question and claiming that I was paid by Dylan to put forth such lies, that I was too much of a coward to face the truth (his favoured nickname for me over the past few years has been “The Weasel”), etc.

Act Two: Close Encounters

When he eventually threatened to start an email bombing campaign against me, I decided it was time to contact him directly:

What you’re describing in your mail amounts to a threat of email bombing, which, being a kind of denial of service attacks, is a federal crime in the States, and I could sue you for it. Your ISP probably wouldn’t like it either.

We then entered into a direct communication — a strange experience indeed. During our communication, I finally got to hear the song:

The Last Words: Musical and Psychological Analysis

The following is a revised and condensed version of what I wrote to James Damiano on that occasion (this was in August 2009). I present it here, not to put anyone on the spot, but to complete what I’ve written publicly about the case — most notably: the full musicological analysis of the two tunes:

*

I’m sorry to have to tell you this, but it doesn’t really matter how much effort you put into proving that Dylan — or someone in his ‘organization’ — has actually heard your material: if the songs don’t sound the same, what’s the point of proving it?

And they don’t.

If a song consists of harmony, melody, rhythm, and overall structure to bind them all together, I would say that:

(1) the harmony is different:

your song goes:

||: G . . . | . . . .  |
    D . . . | . . G . :||
    C . G . | C . G .  |
    C . G . | C D | G . . . |

whereas Dignity goes (transposed to the same key):

||: G . . . | . . .   . |
    C . G . | . . C/d G :||
    D . . . | C . G   . |
    C . G/d . | Am .  D . ||

The only thing they have in common is the first line — which is a single chord….

Do you have your own very special way of playing the same chord over long stretches, which Dylan then has stolen? Or is it something else?

Other than that, the harmonic structure, i.e. the arch of tension in the song, is virtually reversed: you start with a G-D alternation, i.e. a strong tonic-dominant polarity; Dylan starts with a G-C relationship, where the C hardly breaks out of the control of the G.

Your refrain — which is a true refrain with a tonal closure — is harmonically identical to the Everly Brothers’ Bye Bye Love (you haven’t stolen it, have you?). Dylan’s, on the other hand, is not a refrain, but a bridge, ending on the dominant, D, getting ready for the next pair of verses.

The above also implies that the overall harmonic structure is radically different between the two songs. And having heard a few of your songs, and having worked with Dylan’s music more extensively, I can say with some confidence that this is in fact a decisive factor: the differences I have pointed out above correspond closely to differences between your idioms, your musical directions.

(2) As for melody:

I can’t really find something to call a melody in any strong sense of the word in Steel Guitars, and I would have liked to see it pointed out where exactly you find the melodic similarities. Also, where exactly, among all the improvised doodling, Dr. Greene has found the notes that he picked out for his reductive analysis. It’s not that they jump in the eye (or: ear), and Dylan’s melody for “Dignity” is nowhere to be heard.

(3) Lastly, the rhythmical side

is also different, which makes it a nasty trick to play the melody of “Steel Guitars” — whatever it is — over the rhythmic accompaniment of “Dignity” in order to prove the similarity.

(4) Overall Structure

In fact, I would have a much stronger case for the claim that the refrain of your “song” is borrowed/stolen from the Everly Brothers’ “Bye Bye Love” than you have for your claim about Dylan stealing your tune.

I won’t make that claim, however, because all the songs I’ve heard so far on your site are extremely derivative. You’d have a hard time finding a single record in the history of popular music which didn’t have some song which showed similarities with some of your songs. Have they all stolen from you? No. Just as little as every poet who uses the words “love”, “and”, or “flower” have stolen from Shakespeare.

*

You know that scene in Don’t Look Back? Where the guy who is covering up for the one who threw the glass out of the hotel room window is comparing himself to Dylan? “You’re a big noise”, I think is what he says. “You’re a big noise, and I’m a little noise.” Something like that.

That’s the saddest scene I know, at least in any Dylan movie. Because it is so recognizable, somehow. There are some people around who want to be a big noise too. Some of them are — and some turn into it. But some people, like the guy in the movie, are happy to be a small noise (as long, perhaps, as they are allowed to spend some time in the big noise’s hotel room), and that’s the sad part.

Basically, I think we all want to be big noises — and so we should, at least in our own lives and the lives of those close to us.

But here’s the lesson to you: you can stand on a giant’s shoulders and see farther than the giant, but you can’t stand on a big noise and scream louder than him.

You have to figure out where your worth lies, independently of Dylan.

Have you ever tried to open up to the thought: maybe Dylan didn’t steal my song, maybe I’m not the little guy who’s been screwed by the big guy after all?

You may have been screwed — we all have, some way or another — but perhaps nobody in particular is to blame.

It’s nice to have someone to blame for one’s misery, but often things happen without them being anyone’s fault — they just happen.

I can understand it if you’d rather be a music star than paint people’s houses. But perhaps it’s not Dylan’s fault that things are the way they are?

Postscript

Our conversation came to a halt after I asked Damiano to comment, in his own words, on what I had written.

I’m still waiting.

I consider the case closed. And I urge anyone who still thinks Dylan has stolen “Dignity” to come forth with clear arguments.

I’ve pursued the case as far as I have, not to harm James Damiano, and definitely not to defend Bob Dylan, but mainly out of righteous, professional anger at the analysis of Dr. Greene, which is either just flawed or — more likely — simply fraudulent.

There are two intriguing things in all this.

One is that Dylan’s organization apparently is so musically incompetent that they have let it come as far as a court case — even one they won. I heard somewhere that Dylan had advised his son never to receive anything from his fans, partly because of the Damiano madness. Why not just contact some competent musicologist who could conclusively state what anyone can hear (even Judge Simandle): that there isn’t an ounce of similarity between the two songs?

The other strange thing is that all this fuss is about this song, “Dignity” — hardly Dylan’s most exciting song, I’d almost say: musically rather boring. If I wanted to claim authorship of a Dylan-song, I’d go for “Most of the Time” or something — not a simple three-(plus)-chord song.

Damiano’s material in support of his case can be found here: http://christinejustice.yolasite.com/