‘Borrowed Tune’: The song Neil Young stole from The Rolling Stones
No artist is entirely original, even if they think otherwise. From The Rolling Stones to Neil Young, every band or musician has taken influence from somebody else at one stage. Typically, it incidentally comes from a place of love rather than intending to cause any malice or deliberately steal a precious piece of another’s art.
If somebody were to comb through the back catalogue of any legendary artist, there would be plenty of nods and references to their favourite artists. After all, they were the ones who were responsible for their musical educations, which subconsciously bled into their psyche and seeped out when they entered the recording studio. More often than not, this is accidental, and artists don’t even realise it has occurred until after the song is finished. However, Neil Young is an exception to the rule, and when he lifted from The Rolling Stones, he chose to shout it from the rooftops rather than deny its existence.
Although Young could have likely gotten away with a few people noticing how he borrowed from The Rolling Stones’ song ‘Lady Jane’ on one song, that would have defeated his entire message. He instead made it abundantly clear by calling his track ‘Borrowed Tune’ and holding his hands up for all to see. The effort appeared on his flawless 1975 album, Tonight’s The Night.
The singer-songwriter sounds disorientated and like a broken man on the recording. He also openly admits to the act of plagiarism regarding the song’s melody, singing, “I’m singin’ this borrowed tune, I took from the Rolling Stones, Alone in this empty room, Too wasted to write my own.”
Young’s career was riding high at the time, but he was plagued by personal problems, as ‘Borrowed Tune’ highlights. He also sings on the track, “I’m climbin’ this ladder, my head in the clouds”. This lyric can be interpreted as the Canadian suggesting that the only way to make your way to the top is to lie, cheat, and steal up the greasy ladder, which he duly did by plagiarising The Stones.
While Young’s honesty regarding plagiarism is refreshing, it’s also an artistic statement of intent. At the time, Young was battling personal demons following the death of his close friends, Bruce Berry and guitarist Danny Whitten, which led to him losing sight of himself. He perfectly captures the loss of creative desire he suffered on ‘Borrowed Tune’, which didn’t even contain an original melody.
On the surface, his decision to pinch from ‘Lady Jane’ appears to be pure laziness, but on a deeper level, it was a stroke of songwriting genius that said more about his mindset than he ever could with words alone.
If The Rolling Stones wanted to take Young to the courts and sue him for plagiarism, they’d undoubtedly have a case on their hands. However, ‘Borrowed Tune’ is a magnificent work that perfectly summarises Young’s despair and is wholly original despite the theft. At this time, music had gone from the only thing he cared about in life to an unwanted chore, but somehow, it led to the creation of the heartbreakingly spectacular Tonight’s The Night.
