The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #72134 Message #2125130
Posted By: GUEST,Kevin Parker
14-Aug-07 - 08:23 AM
Thread Name: Lyr/Chords: Dimming of the Day (Richard Thompson)
Subject: RE: Chords Req: Dimming of the Day (Richard Thompson)
Mr Happy - how did the latest attempt go?
As long-time RT fan and guitar player I'd make the following (helpful, I hope) observations about the song.
1. Its much more complex than it sounds at first hearing - the singer needs a good range.
2. The two bridge/chorus parts are the key (sorry) to the song. You'll see in the chords posted by Nick that an A chord appears in a song thats otherwise in the key of G. So it sounds like a key change is imminent. The singer has to really get that ascending vocal line right, and the guitarist needs to emphasise the end of the bar with the A chord, not the beginning. If you can finger it, a 9th/2nd chord (eg an A chord with a B in it) can be effective here.
3.Then there's the apparently descending last line of the the bridge (si...i....de). The chords imply the melody is going down but the note at the end of the descent (harmonised by the C chord in Nick's chart) is actually the same as the note at the start of the descent (harmonised by the A chord). There's a real temptation to go down to the tonic note of the song (which would be a G in this key), and if you do that you will end up an octave below where you started. Its actually pretty hard to sing the line and play the chords smoothly, especially in standard tuning.
4. Bonnie Raitt interprets the song somewhat and pulls the tune around a little. Irrespective of which version you prefer, I think its much easier to learn the song from the version Richard and Linda Thompson recorded on 'Pour Down like Silver' as the vocal melody is clearer. Plus you get a nice RT acoustic instrumental at the end of the song...
5. Judging by the fingering of the instrumental, I'm fairly sure RT plays the song in drop D tuning using a D chord as the tonic/root. So in the bridge he uses an E chord rather than an A one. Instead of the C chord in Nick's chart, there is a nice G chord leaving the 6th string open - it has a D as the bottom note and sounds more 'spacy' than a normal G chord with G at the bottom. Of course you may need to capo to suit.
6. For any of you Martin Simpson fans out there, it also sounds good in CGCGCD tuning - again capo to suit.