I was introduced to Richard Dawson's music by Kiran Leonard almost a decade ago, when he wrote: “I like Richard Dawson because he has a voice that could pulverise stone, and I like him because he plays guitar like balls of flame rolling down a fretboard… His lyrics are devastatingly funny and equally tragic; he understands the sensitive balance between the two and utilises it with more skill than any lyricist I’ve come across. His vision is unparalleled”. I basically learned to play guitar through obsessively copying Dawson’s songs by ear (and occasionally by watching YouTube videos of him playing live). I was totally enraptured, not just because of the raw power of his voice and guitar and lyrics, but because of how unique his harmonic language was. Learning these songs from the inside out, I noticed he loved to use contrary motion unconventionally, usually by having his lead melody and accompanying chords move in opposite directions to and/or from a suspension, extension, or added tone, rarely resolving onto a simple triad chord. I wrote most of the following analysis years ago while I was still in the midst of my obsession...
A lot of his musical language stems from using open tunings, mostly major but sometimes minor. Nothing Important, for instance, consistently uses the tuning [CGCEGC]; all the major triads can be played with ease, needing only a simple bar of the index finger. Often Dawson uses these bar triads in quick succession for striking and harmonically bewildering effect, such as in “The Bamburgh Beast”, “Newcastle” and “Judas Iscariot”. With the index finger in place, this then leaves the remaining three fingers free to alter the triad to its relative minor [020020], a bare fifth chord [000300], any other variation on the major (suspended, extended, added tone etc.), or to play all manner of scales and embellishments. Since the open tunings have three strings tuned to C and two tuned to G, consecutive octaves are effortless to play; this is evident in tracks like “Wooden Bag”, “Grandad’s Deathbed Hallucinations” and “The Vile Stuff”, all of which contain melodies played in octaves relatively quickly.
With all this in mind, it’s easy to see how his signature contrary motion chord changes came about. To demonstrate, let’s say that the tuning is Open C, and the current chord is D major [222222]. A resolution to C from D could traditionally be achieved by moving to G and then to C in a “II V I” cadence. However, what Dawson might do instead is resolve through chromatic contrary motion: D [222222] to D♭add9 [111113] to C [000004]. You can see how the top melody line is moving in the opposite direction of the triads underneath.
The technique is first introduced to his musical vocabulary in The Magic Bridge. The opening and closing sections of “The Bamburgh Beast”, in which Dawson begins by playing an ascending melodic sequence in oblique motion in E (if he's playing in Open C tuning). Once he reaches the F♯ (for a Eadd9 chord) on the top string, Dawson completely subverts the listener’s expectations by resolving outward onto E♭, with the index bar slipping down a fret and the little finger on the F♯ slipping up to G. I’m going to notate this movement like so: E~F♯ to E♭~G.
As his style developed, Dawson became more confident with this technique, utilising it on every track of Nothing Important, which is without a doubt one of my favourite albums ever. Just absolutely monolithic. Dawson at the height of his sonic and emotional intensity thus far IMO. The first section of “Judas Iscariot” (and its recapitulation later) is a repeated chord sequence involving a great deal of contrary motion disguised by the spectacular, constantly shifting, irregular rhythmic invention and variation. In the second half of this sequence, first heard at [0:43] here, an inward motion of G♭~B♭ to G~A to A♭~A♭ (resolving to C) is followed by an outward motion of F♯~F♯ to F~G to E~G♯ (resolving to A). In addition, near the end of the A sections of the piece (given the structure is in ABA’ ternary form), there’s a particularly stirring shift inwards from an Aadd♭9 to a B♭maj7 chord: A~B♭ to B♭~A (this happens at [1:52]).
The title track of “Nothing Important” features heavy reharmonisation in the quiet introductions to each verse, all of which involve contrary motion: the first occurrence is inwards, F~C to G♭~B♭, at [0:18]; the second is outwards, F~C to E♭~D♭, at [2:30]; the third is outwards, B♭~E to A♭~F, at [4:42]; and the final occurrence is outwards, F~C to E~C♯, at [15:16]. This is by no means the extent of its use in this song, however. Before the refrain of each verse, that same A♭9 to B♭maj7 shift heard in “Judas Iscariot” returns, adding to the emotional intensity of the climax (the first instance being at [1:48]. Part of the guitar solo, at [7:12], following the first half of the song involves an outward motion on the inner strings of E~F to D~F♯ to D♭~G, all accompanied by the steady low open C done. The recurring section which in its first instance at [8:53] accompanies the words “inscribed upon the base…” features two outward motions in succession, one from F~C to E~C♯ and the next from E♭~C to D~C♯. Finally, the shift first heard set to the words “a skiff” at [9:22] is from G♭~A♭ to G~F♯.
Given the frequency of its use in the preceding pieces, it’s perhaps surprising that the opening guitar solo of “The Vile Stuff”, perhaps the most harmonically complex and dissonant passage of music Dawson has put to tape, contains only one instance of this close contrary motion in a resolution from B♭6 to B (B♭~G to B~F♯) around the [1:38] mark. It really does deserve its own more detailed analysis though because it's just breath-taking.
“Doubting Thomas”, however, features an impressive sequence of chord shifts driven by contrary motion: first heard at [1:07], it moves from B♭~E to A♭~G to B♭~F to G~F♯, and while the first two chords are reharmonisedat [1:24] to include B~D♯ and A~G♯ in their outer voicings, the inward-outward-inward contrary motion is retained. Around the [1:45] mark, a C chord with G in the treble shifts inwards to a D♭ chord with F in the treble (in which the bass D♭ is inaudible but very much implied), and at [3:32] and [3:47], a D♭ chord with A♭ in the treble resolves outward to a Cmaj7 chord with B in the treble.
Dawson continues to implement contrary motion regularly on Peasant; although much more attention has been reserved for the arrangement of the songs, which feature a whole host of instruments and musicians, there’s still plenty of harmonic invention. Lead single “Ogre” is bookended by instrumental passages ending in an outwards shift from A~B to A♭~C, and in the second and fourth verses (sung by Dawson as opposed to the choir) there’s a surprising modulation away from the tonic of C spurred by the movement of E~B (Cmaj7 1st inv.) to G♭~B♭ (G♭). The instrumental passages between the verses of “Weaver” feature an outwards motion of G~G to E~G♯ that is reharmonised to G~G to F♯~G♯, and “Hob” contains the repeated inwards motion of D♭~E♭ to D~D first heard around [1:07] and repeated multiple times. “Shapeshifter” contains perhaps the most inscrutable instrumental passages on the album thanks to their gratuitous dissonances and frequent shifts in rhythm and harmonic centres, and so it comes as no surprise that contrary motion is part of the equation when the guitar moves inwards from A♭maj7 to B5 as part of the repeated phrase first heard around [0:50]. The introduction to the finale of the pained ballad “Masseuse” increases tension with a shift from Dm7 (D~A) to a stacked 4ths chord (E♭~A♭) at [8:05], one of the most striking chords on the album.
Of all the songs on Peasant, “Prostitute” makes use of contrary motion the most to propel its harmony in unexpected and dissonant ways. An opening F major chord moves unexpectedly to E (1st inv.), which resolves inwards to Asus4 (G♯~E to A~D) via contrary motion before landing on root position E, seemingly establishing Am as the tonic. However, there’s an unexpected modulation by means of an ascending scale to a C in the chord of A♭ which resolves by outward contrary motion to G5 (A♭~C to G~D), which then falls in a perfect cadence into C major (although as the melodic line falls sinisterly this darkens into C minor). The cadence into the chorus is set up by another instance of outwards contrary motion, with a treble G in F climbing as part of a scale to G♯ in E (F~G to E~G♯); this resolves to A for the chorus, the major of the first established tonic, which is here immediately superseded once again. The chorus ends with the chromatic contrary motion of two sets of perfect fifths at [1:00]: the chord comprised of A♭+E♭ and B♭+F shifts to G+D and B+F♯, before returning to the F chord that marks the beginning of a new verse.
His most recent albums — 2020, The Ruby Cord, End of the Middle — are still unmistakably Dawson, but the harmonic eccentricities have been noticeably tamed for the most part. If you want to read some more about his lyrics though, Aaron Skates (who personally prompted me to share this analysis) wrote a good article, mostly about the power of specificity; Kiran also talked about how Dawson's specificity paradoxically takes on a feeling of universality in Nothing Important in the interview linked at the top of this post.
Even though my musical language is very different from Dawson's, and there's plenty other music that uses contrary motion, I've totally taken influence from these songs when writing my own. The most obvious example I can think of is the refrain of "Asleep in Wildland Fire", which has a sequence that goes B~B to B♭~C to A~C♯ to A♭~D (though it's harder to tell, as it's played on prepared piano). There's even more contrary motion in the new songs I've been playing live, and which I'll hopefully be able to start recording by the end of the Summer... Anyway, listen to Richard Dawson! His songs are special and absolutely devastating.