The Chain <-- How did they do it?

[DownOnRodeo]

OK I downloaded ‘The Chain writing process’ boots from Dissention’s site. Many of you have probably heard it all before but for me it was all new.

So many funny moments! ….
- Stevie singing ‘Listen to the su…’ .. She does it twice!!
- Christine appraising the song as ‘Kinda funky’.
- That god-awful rendition of the ‘Love Song’ version of The Chain, and a guy’s voice off the left, assumably Richard or Ken, going ‘Oh …god!’ at the end.

So I guess this boot isn’t new but doesn’t this throw a lot of light on what we can assume about the formation of the song? I think we’re better off going by this boot than any of the band members’ later comments because they’re laregly contradictory of each other, because it’s not like *they’ve* sat down and listened to this boot. They have their own hazy memories, and have worked through so many songs before and since, which you’d think would all blur into one at some point.

So we knew that John had the bass line. That Christine had the ‘Keep Me There’ keyboard part. That Lindsey had the guitar solo at the end. Stevie had these “Write me a love song / Take away the sadness that you gave me” lyrics. Lindsey had the dobro guitar part. It seems he also had the ‘Listen to the wind blow, watch the sun rise’ lyrics. But I’ve heard that Stevie definitely brough those lyrics to the table. So perhaps they were extra lyrics or lyrics from another song she had. Lindsey then tried them with the guitar part (all the while the aim being to exploit the three-part harmony from ‘Write Me a Love Song’). This gelled, and Lindsey added the ‘Run in the shadows’ line. Anyone have a clearer perspective on the development of The Chain, keeping in mind this boot?