The Sound of Music

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/06/05/ed-sheeran-copyright-infringement-lawsuit-marvin-gaye

("The Trials of Ed Sheeran")

It is his facility with songwriting that is so impressive. In "Yesterday" Ed Sheeran plays himself, a man more capable than anyone else on the planet (except for the movie's protagonist who steals both lyrics and melody from the Beatles) of the act of creating music out of thin air. 

Thus this lawsuit had the distinct feeling of life imitating art. Why would such a genius need a crutch to get where he wanted to go?

But then, music is finite. And everything, ipso facto, to some extent is derivative. If we are not hearing even the faintest echoes of something else each time a chord is played then we are not truly listening.

In "Yesterday" a disconsolate Mr. Sheeran exits the stage, having been defeated by someone who failed to give musical credit where credit was due. Today he was the winner in a true trial testing the limits of one man's right to create something not necessarily out of thin air.

Bravo to Mr. Seabrook for so adeptly helping us connect the musical dots.