“Decoding Dylan. Searching for the sources to the songs of Bob Dylan”
Book by Domenico de Luca. Review by Tony Attwood
Here is a paradox: in our Western society, we tend to value originality, while we tend to sneer at people who “merely copy”. And yet somewhere between the original and the copy there is the work that is “influenced by” and by and large most of us think that is all right. Yet where is the boundary between “influenced by” and “copying”? I am not sure many of us know.
And yet maybe we ought to, for at least two reasons that immediately spring to mind (and there are probably many more). First, originality suggests the creator has worked hard and has offered us something of him/herself; something we have not heard or seen before. Second, if the original work of art is any good, that work itself points us in directions that maybe we haven’t actually considered before. It’s not that we have to say, “Wow, that is how it really is.” Rather it is, as the man said: “You go your way and I’ll go mine.” But who is to say if the work is indeed “any good” or not?
Out of this contradictory environment we seem to have got to the stage where we don’t value all originality – the scribble of children, a frustrated teenager hitting the furniture, works of art that appear to be original for the sake of being original; each tends not to gain many plaudits.
And when it comes to music, most of us still want what we hear to be recognisable to us listeners as music. Of course there is the avant-garde, but most of us pass that by and prefer music in a form that we can recognise and relate to.
Now I am not venturing in the by-ways of multiple musical forms at this point (and you probably wouldn’t welcome it if you got me started on that topic anyway) but instead I am guided by a really enjoyable volume Decoding Dylan by Domenico de Luca, which is on line as a download (which is where I read it) and available as a printed volume as well via Amazon and the like. (The UK line is here).
And rather helpfully, the subtitle tells us what the book is about: “Searching for the Sources of the Songs of Bob Dylan.”
Now I am sure we have all read articles about how this or that Dylan song or these or those lyrics were in part lifted from someone else’s song. Bob has never denied this, indeed in a few commentaries he has openly admitted it, and as a musician and songwriter myself I can tell you it is an issue that occupies the thoughts of quite a few songwriters, either when they are pointing at the fact that another composer “quoted” a line or two of their work, or when a pal gently lays a hand on my shoulder as I give the world preview of my latest work, and says, “You do know that sounds rather like….” Followed by the title of a well-known piece.
And herein is the clue. The song is quite a simple art form, primarily consisting of lyrics, melody and chords. Worse, it is an art form that in the popular genre, has only occasionally developed beyond its original verse and chorus simplicity. Even if we ignore the multiple millions of 12-bar blues that have been created (one line of lyrics repeated, and an answering line in each verse, and generally just three chords – those known as I. IV and V – used in the accompaniment), songs tend to follow formats in melody, lyrics and accompaniment.
Indeed, a lot of popular songs (including quite a few composed by Bob Dylan) have some element of a predecessor lurking within. And if you don’t believe me, just try and write an original song lyric or melody (or indeed chord sequence), that is memorable on first hearing, and which isn’t a direct copy of an existing song, and you’ll find out how hard it is.
This is the ground that the book, “Decoding Dylan: searching for the sources to the songs of Bob Dylan” by Domenico De Luca, explores. In short, it takes us on the journey of finding where Bob’s songs came from. And I must stress. not in any sort of negative way, but simply as a way of showing that yes, much of Bob’s work is indeed highly original, but all songwriters, on occasion, owe a lot to their predecessors.
Thus, with songwriting, taking the inspiration from others (or if you prefer, “being heavily influenced by…”) is part of the game. It happens. What the genius songwriter such as Bob Dylan does, is create something new out of the three fundamental elements (melody, chords, lyrics) to create something that we really want to hear again, even though we’ve heard a million songs before.
As far as I know, Bob has never denied the influence other people’s songs have had on his work, and indeed has often admitted such influences. And as far as I am concerned, that’s fine. I don’t really mind that Bob adapts other people’s work because he always adds so much of his own.
So does it not matter if one writer uses another’s work? Well, yes, it does – but only sometimes.
Songs in the popular or folk genres only use a small number of chords in the accompaniment, so there is every chance that in a new composition, some combination of notes has been used before. And we all know how many popular and folk songs focus entirely on the world of love and lost love. Writing a new song on such themes surely means it must be nigh on impossible not to touch the ground a composer has explored previously.
Of course, the Oxford English Dictionary has over half a million words in it, but most of those are rarely used, so if you write a song with the lyrics “I love you baby” within the piece, are you guilty of plagiarism? If so, an awful lot of songwriters would also be guilty.
But no, it’s all a matter of judgment. As the author says, if we consider the lines “You’re gonna wake up one of these mornings And, it ain’t gonna be long And look for me and I’ll be gone” we might conclude that Dylan plagiarised that in ‘Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright’. Or we might say he was “influenced”. And then we might ask, “Does it matter?” Given that the music and overall feeling are different, I would always say no.
For me, there is a huge difference between “influenced by” and “copied from”.
Popular music and folk music are art forms which have limited inputs and variations and as a number of composers who have tested the issue in court have found, it is very hard indeed to prove that one song has in part been lifted from another. Songwriters carry the work of thousands of songs in their heads and many can, if asked, give a semi-decent performance of a song they heard a year ago, but have never previously performed. Just as most of us can create a few sentences describing the world outside the window, so the songwriter can turn it into a song.
The problem is simply one of knowing if that melody or set of lyrics that suddenly springs to mind is as novel and interesting as it appears to us to be at the moment of creatin.
“Decoding Dylan” takes us through the minefield that is songwriting, touching on the issue of who copied from whom in terms of Dylan’s songs, some of which I recognised at once, and many others which made me think “I’ve never realised that”. And to be utterly fair, many of which are totally original in every regard.
And thus, this is a book I have found it to be great fun. As for the question of whether the occasional use of a musical or lyrical phrase from elsewhere matters, well, for me, no, it doesn’t. Bob has admitted that he takes elements of songs from elsewhere – indeed, it would be foolish of him to try and deny it. But in popular and folk music, that is what always happens. If you want music that is truly original but within the form that was previously laid down, then you might care to work your way through JS Bach’s “48 Preludes and Fugues”. I wouldn’t spend too much time on pop, rock or folk music.
But I would stand beside Domenlica De Luca and the book “Decoding Dylan”. Of course, within Dylan’s songs, there are links, similarities, and borrowed musical and lyrical phrases. And indeed it is interesting on occasion to realise the sources. But knowing about such things does not devalue Bob’s work, not least because he openly admits it. No, in the end, spotting a source adds to my enjoyment, although mentioning it to friends does tend to make them think I am showing off.
“Decoding Dylan” is available as a paperback and as a Kindle Edition, both of which are available via Amazon.