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| Writing Credits on 'Future...' | |
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Scaramouche 07:57 pm UTC 06/14/07 |
| Call me synchophantic, but I’ve never agreed with the argument that Ray Errol Fox should have got a writing credit on ‘Future Aint What It Used To Be’. In regards to the actual music, Jim ‘pilfers’ from all of his previous projects, and obviously must feel that any piece, be it a riff, a chord sequence, a melody or a whole song, should not be ‘locked down’ to one project, and in many cases deserves a ‘second chance’. Other composers do it (especially in theatre), and I don’t think Ray should have been surprised at the music being used again (bearing in mind this was not a widely known project), unless he & Jim had an agreement to the contrary? In regards to the lyrics Jim supposedly ‘copied’, I can only see: 2nd verse: ‘It doesn’t matter…’ Chorus: ‘...waters’, ‘...sons & daughters’, ‘...got a hold of me’, ‘...pulling me forward’, ‘...tears are washing over me’ & ‘...I’m crying...’ I think we can disregard the second verse ‘contribution’, as no-one is likely to get a co-writing credit for that. Jim has obviously taken ‘bits’ from the chorus, but importantly, not whole lines or sections. These ‘bits’, have then been re-written into a totally different context, and I believe this is where & when the ‘creativity’ has happened, and in turn the credit is owed. If Jim had taken whole lines and/or sections, then Ray may have had a case for a credit, but the ‘bits’ are so non-specific, and read/mean something different in ‘Future’. Jim has created a TOTALLY different and far superior song, and as far as I know, Ray had no involvement whatsoever in helping to write ‘Future’ (disregarding the ‘lyric contribution’ from years earlier). To summarise, I feel the argument is always gonna be, how specific are the lyrics ‘borrowed’, and how much did they contribute to creating the ‘new’ song, before the lyricist deserves a credit? If someone writes a song called ‘Life is a sandwich, with nothing between it’, does Ray deserve a credit?? Maybe a liner note acknowledgement, but not a ‘writing’ credit? Jim has taken very small non-specific ‘bits’ from the chorus, and then re-written them into something so far removed from the ‘original’, that the credit for ‘Future’ should always be ‘words & music by Jim Steinman’. However, having said all that, I do believe Jim has been ‘inspired’ by the lyrics and musical structure of New Orleans, and feel that it would have been appropriate for the Pandora’s Box liner notes to have printed a ‘thanks to Ray Errol Fox for lyrical inspiration on Future Aint What It Used To Be’ or similar credit?? Hmmmm?? | |
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