LinkExchange Member
Songwriters on Songwriting Expanded Edition
by Paul Zollo
- Interview with Robbie Robertson (1991)
pg. 394
With Martin Page, you've written two extraordinary songs: "Fallen Angel," from your last album, and now "Sign of The Rainbow" from Storyville.
There have been things that Martin and I tried to do that haven't been successful, but I like it with Martin. He's very good at coming up with musical things that get you stirred up. He's really good that way. His background leads him to some different chord changes than I would use, and that freshness is fun.
I noticed that both "Fallen Angel" and "Sign of The Rainbow" are in E Flat, which is an unusual key for a guitarist to use.
Oh, yeah? I didn't notice that. Maybe that's the only key he can write in. (Laughter.)
His contribution is entirely musical?
Oh, yeah. We would figure out the music together. He would come and we would work on it until I would feel that it was something I could work with. Then I would write the lyrics and I would give it a shot and I would ask, "What do you think of the direction I'm going in?" Martin has never said too much about lyrics except, "I like where you're going; I just think you should go the distance."
Is "Fallen Angel" a song that emerged from a musical idea he had?
He brought to me, a long time ago, a vibe, as he calls it, that he put on tape. And there was the germ of an idea there. And we started to progress with that a little more, and when it became time to record, we took it to another place with musicians, and it just evolved into that. We would then try to get a structure for the song that felt right.