This is a very special section because it was inspired by... the MAN HIMSELF! For the first time in my life, in fact, I met Stewart! It happened in Naples during his fantastic Notte della Taranta tour, precisely on his fifty-second birthday! He’s absolutely GREAT! We spoke of this page (it took me a while to realize I wasn’t just enjoying a daydream... Thank you, Giovanni...) and when I asked him “Stewart, which song would you like me to analyze next time?” he answered with no hesitation, “Miss Gradenko.” At your command, Stewart!
A song is made of music and words; that is why it can be considered a form of oral poetry. But a song is, above all, an interaction: it is a text that mediates between an author and a listener. The latter plays the double role of addressee and co-author, especially when music has an artistic rather than a commercial value (the former is, of course, Stewart’s case!); in other words, when the author is not simply composing for the loudspeaker. Because a song may have infinite individual reinterpretations, we should prefer a pragmatic rather than a structural analysis. But I don’t wanna be too academic!