Connection

If You Could Read My Mind (1970)

Gordon Lightfoot

F♯

E

D

C♯

B

A

E

E

E

D

D

D

D

C♯

C♯

C♯

C♯

B

C♯

A

Hungry Like the Wolf (1982)

Duran Duran

F♯

E

D♯

C♯

B

A

do

E

do

E

do

E

do

D

do

D

do

D

do

C♯

do

C♯

do

C♯

do

B

do

B

do

B

do

A

do

B

do

B

These songs share

• A wordless staggered scalar descent that punctuates a section, in both cases using the notes E, D, C#, B, and A
• On VH1 Storytellers (2001), Simon Le Bon of Duran Duran told the audience he was "obsessed by" Gordon Lightfoot's If You Could Read My Mind when he was a child, and that it inspired two Duran Duran songs. In the Ask Katy online fan Q&A, he elaborated: "just the doo doos on Hungry Like the Wolf."

• More on Duran Duran

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SongPatterns.com is an encyclopedia of

• the musicological devices that contribute to the distinctive sounds of various artists, genres, and time periods
  Style marker

  

  The Dylan cadenceBob Dylan

  Bob Dylan adds a tender, vulnerable quality to many of his phrases by ending on 4 over a I chord with which it does not agree; this [...] is so frequently heard [...] that it might be referred to as the Dylan cadence.

  — Walter Everett, The Foundations of Rock (2009), p. 186

  

  Like a Rolling Stone (1965)

  Bob Dylan

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  7

  V

  I

  oh

  1

  how

  4

  does

  3

  it

  1

  feel

  4

  

  Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues (1965)

  Bob Dylan

  1

  7

  6

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  V

  IV

  I

  they

  3

  got

  3

  some

  4

  hun

  5

  gry

  7

  wom

  5

  en

  4

  there

  5

  and

  4

  they

  4

  real

  4

  ly

  3

  make

  4

  a

  3

  mess

  4

  out

  1

  ta

  1

  you

  4

  

  Visions of Johanna (1966)

  Bob Dylan

  2

  1

  7

  6

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  IV

  I

  V

  I

  and

  5

  these

  6

  vis

  1

  ions

  1

  of

  5

  Jo

  6

  han

  1

  na

  1

  that

  4

  co

  4

  o

  1

  on

  2

  quer

  1

  my

  4

  mind

  4

  

  Absolutely Sweet Marie (1966)

  Bob Dylan

  2

  1

  7

  6

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  IV

  V

  I

  but

  5

  where

  6

  are

  5

  you

  1

  to

  1

  night

  1

  sweet

  6

  Ma

  1

  rie

  4

  

  If You See Her, Say Hello (1975)

  Bob Dylan

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  7

  V

  I

  kiss

  3

  her

  2

  once

  1

  for

  1

  me

  4

  • More on Bob Dylan
• the elements that songwriters draw from preexisting songs
  Connection

  

  Hungry Like the Wolf (1982)

  Duran Duran

  2

  1

  7

  6

  5

  4

  3

  dark

  1

  in

  1

  the

  1

  cit

  1

  y

  3

  night

  4

  is

  3

  a

  4

  wire

  5

  steam

  1

  in

  1

  the

  1

  sub

  1

  way

  3

  earth

  4

  is

  3

  a

  4

  fire

  5

  

  Black Or White (1991)

  Michael Jackson

  5

  4

  3

  2

  1

  7

  6

  5

  4

  3

  I

  5

  took

  1

  my

  3

  ba

  4

  by

  3

  on

  1

  a

  5

  Sat

  4

  ur

  3

  day

  4

  bang

  5

  "Boy

  5

  is

  5

  that

  1

  girl

  3

  with

  4

  you?"

  3

  yes

  1

  we're

  5

  one

  4

  and

  3

  the

  4

  same

  5