Inchoatus
The unfinished work is a possible way to consider an allegedly plagiarized work such as "Stairway to Heaven", as being a more finished version of "Taurus". Perhaps as a culture we like to finish (or resolve) things that others have started. It's saying: "So is this what you meant?"
(If you listen to Taurus it sounds provisional, like the first draft of a song after the first burst of inspiration.)
The idea of "unfinished" is anathema in the digital world where everything is game for remix or appropriation, and never really finished. Aside from a work being unfinished by extenuating circumstances, each century redefines the word: unfinished in the 19th or 20th-century is different from unfinished now. A thousand years ago works were finished (off) by iconoclasts. Now anything can be reworked at some point, and even improved upon.
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Post-script: The old idea of the songwriter at the piano creating songs for other performers was the norm pre-1980, as they knew that the provisional demo version would be finished by the performing artist.
(If you listen to Taurus it sounds provisional, like the first draft of a song after the first burst of inspiration.)
The idea of "unfinished" is anathema in the digital world where everything is game for remix or appropriation, and never really finished. Aside from a work being unfinished by extenuating circumstances, each century redefines the word: unfinished in the 19th or 20th-century is different from unfinished now. A thousand years ago works were finished (off) by iconoclasts. Now anything can be reworked at some point, and even improved upon.
***
Post-script: The old idea of the songwriter at the piano creating songs for other performers was the norm pre-1980, as they knew that the provisional demo version would be finished by the performing artist.
