{"id":1449,"date":"2020-08-06T17:52:55","date_gmt":"2020-08-06T16:52:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/oestrem.com\/thingstwice\/?p=1449"},"modified":"2020-08-24T22:47:12","modified_gmt":"2020-08-24T21:47:12","slug":"black-rider-dylans-most-complex-song-ever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/oestrem.com\/thingstwice\/2020\/08\/black-rider-dylans-most-complex-song-ever\/","title":{"rendered":"Black Rider \u2013 Dylan\u2019s most complex song ever"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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DISCLAIMER:<\/em> To some extent, this text is still a draft, in that there may or may not be too much or too little music theory in it. I intend to revise it, so if you have comments that may be useful in that respect, I would be very grateful. Use the comment section or send me a mail<\/a> <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

From a musical perspective, there is one song on Dylan\u2019s recent album, Rough And Rowdy Ways<\/em>, that stands out: Black Rider<\/em>. One may not initially notice it: on the surface the song fits nicely in with the rest of the album: rather slow, melodically nothing much more than a monotonous recitative, a nicely sounding canvas for a fairly wordy set of lyrics. But harmonically speaking, it is in fact probably Dylan\u2019s most complex song ever (that is: if he has written it himself, which obviously can\u2019t be taken for granted these days, given his track record of musical thievery. But for the sake of argument: his most complex song).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Among the candidates for \u201cmost complex song\u201d \u2013 In The Garden <\/em>is the most obvious one, but Ring Them Bells <\/em>and Dear Landlord <\/em>also come to mind \u2013 it is also the most interesting one in this respect, since the very nuanced harmonic progressions are not immediately perceptible as complexity \u2013 they feel very natural, and yet they contribute very strongly to the expression of the song. A comparison with In The Garden<\/em> underlines this: there, the complex harmonies sound slightly contrived \u2013 interesting, but in a way that draws attention to itself and not to the song. Here, one hardly notices them. And yet, they are an important aspect of why the song seems to suck the listener in. I\u2019ll try to show how.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The material description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If\none follows the traditional division of the musical material into\nmelody, harmony, and rhythm, Black Rider<\/em>\nis all about the harmony. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rhythmically<\/em>, the whole song consists of a sequence of chords with no fixed rhythm, just calmly strummed, two chords for each line of text, from beginning to end, with no change, no development. Just the chords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dm       A\/d       Dm      A\/d\n \n      Dm                 A7\nBlack rider, black rider, you've been living too hard\n     D7                    Gm\nBeen up all night, have to stay on your guard.\n    E7\/d                          A7\/c#\nThe path that you're walking, too narrow to walk,\nD7\/c                    Gm\/bb\n Every step of the way, another stumbling block.\nDm\/a                           A7\n The road that you're on, same road that you know,\nDm6\/a\nJust not the same as it was\nA'         Dm       A7\/d       Dm      A7\/d\n a minute ago.<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
The\nmelody <\/em>to which the\nlyrics are sung is not really a melody. It is more like a recitative,\nbasically with one tone per\nchord, repeated with\na consistency that is surprising given Dylan\u2019s incapability of\nsticking to one note (at least when he\u2019s supposed to \u2013 unlike the\nunbearable one-note samba impersonations he used to do back\nin the day,\nwhichever song he was singing). So no melody to speak of, just the\nwords.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which\nleaves us with the harmony<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In\nthe following I will go through the song, chord by chord, verse by\nverse. There will be some music theory; I\u2019ll try to make that as\nbrief as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Verse 1: Same road, <\/strong>just not the same that it was a minute ago<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The\nsong begins with the four chords \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
 Dm \u2013 A7 \u2013 D7 \u2013 Gm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
(In the following I use bold<\/strong> for chord names, Uppercase Italics<\/em> for note names, and Bold Italics<\/strong><\/em> for the abbreviated functional harmony names that will show up here and there.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Bar .1-4, with the chords Dm – A7 – D7 – Gm<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
In these chords lies the seed of all the developments that lie ahead. Here is why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The three chords in a \u201cthree-chord song\u201d are the keynote (also called the tonic<\/em>), together with the chords on the fourth and fifth steps above the tonic (the subdominant<\/em>, and the dominant<\/em>, respectively). In a song in D major, these chords would be D<\/strong>, G<\/strong>, and A<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Minor keys differ from major keys in some important aspects. One is that the dominant <\/em>is almost always a major <\/em>chord, even though a minor chord might have been expected. The reason for this is that we absolutely<\/em> want that halftone-step leading from the third of the dominant chord (c#<\/em> in this case) back up to the keynote of the tonic. That halftone is the glue that keeps all western harmony together. <\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Going from Dm<\/strong> to A7<\/strong>, then, is expected, since these are the main chord functions of any key: the tonic<\/em> and the dominant<\/em>. Returning to a D<\/strong> chord is also expected; after all, the A7<\/strong> is there to build up tension so that the return to the tonic feels even more satisfactory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But\nhere, we don\u2019t return to a regular tonic. Instead, we get a D7.\nWhat difference does that make? \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Quite a lot, actually. The added seventh transforms the chord from a tonic<\/em> \u2013 the bringer of rest and stability \u2013 into a dominant<\/em> \u2013 the bringer of tension and trouble. That tension needs to be resolved, and in principle, the resolution of a dominant always happens the same way. A7<\/strong> resolves to Dm because of the halftone step from c#<\/em> to d <\/em>and the step from g<\/em> to f <\/em>in the lower voice. And, correspondingly, D7<\/strong> resolves to Gm, which is exactly what happens here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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Resolution from Dominant to Tonic.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
And Gm is not a stranger in a song in Dm. In fact, as indicated above, it is the subdominant<\/em>, the last of the main functions<\/em> in any key, together with the tonic and the dominant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The core of traditional functional harmony is the progression T-S-D-T, and the notion that these chords represent different functions<\/em> in a musical narrative. We begin and end with a Tonic, the stable foundation; the Dominant is where the action takes place; and the Subdominant is a preparation to get away from the calm quiet of the Tonic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It could be likened to the Lord of the Rings<\/em>: the Tonic is Hobbiton and the Shire, the Subdominant is Frodo\u2019s first hesitant steps on the road that leads from his cozy hut with the round door, out into the wide world; and the Dominant is Nazguls and orcs and Mordor and all that; and in the end, we\u2019re safely back in Hobbiton again. In other words: T-S-D-T.  You have heard that progression thousands of times. It is e.g. the first line of Blowin\u2019 in the Wind<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means two things for the story of the Black Rider: after Dm\u2013A7\u2013D7\u2013Gm, we have been through all the narrative steps in the story, so we might in principle be ready for a return to T again. The problem is that we have gone the wrong way. Which means: we are not done yet \u2013 we have only just begun: what we thought was Mordor back there in the second bar, turned out not to bring us back to Hobbiton after all; in hindsight we can see that it was really part of the preparation to get to Bree, the little village just outside of the Shire, or in more technical terms: the subdominant (Gm) in the fourth bar.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Thus: (a) only now<\/em> are we ready for the real <\/em>Dominant step, and (b) we may not have traveled very far, but we\u2019re already a long way from home. (Or as Sam expresses it: “If I take one more step, I’ll be the farthest from home I’ve ever been.”)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Exactly how<\/em> long, is determined by several things. It would have been perfectly possible to continue: Dm-A7-D7-Gm-A7-Dm:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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