CHAD SKELTON -- Vancouver Sun

VANCOUVER - Sarah McLachlan's lawyer accused Darryl Neudorf yesterday of exaggerating his role in developing the songs on her first album, saying he served little more than a "coaching" role.

In the second day of Neudorf's cross-examination, lawyer Jennifer Conkie went through each of the four songs in dispute - Steaming, Sad Clown, Vox, and Strange World - challenging Neudorf on whether what he did was really songwriting.

Asked to describe the creation of the song Vox, Neudorf said McLachlan played a variety of "meandering chords" and notes with little structure or form and he selected which worked best. As she played, Neudorf recalled, he would say: "`That, stay with that, that sounds like a good chorus - go with that' .... We were tossing ideas back and forth."

Conkie suggested to Neudorf that wasn't really songwriting, merely helping shape McLachlan's own ideas.

"Had I not been in the room at the time, Sarah would have continued to meander," Neudorf replied. "She would have come up with something different. It was my selections ... that made it into the song it is today."

"As long as someone is in the room and says `That's great!' they're a co-writer?" asked Conkie.

"Not always. It really depends on the situation," Neudorf said.

At several points, Neudorf conceded he couldn't remember precisely what he had contributed to a particular song - only that he had collaborated on its creation. "I'm trying to really remember what I remember," he said.

In discussing the evolution of the song Steaming, Neudorf said he had changed the original melody McLachlan had in the first verse. He later testified that McLachlan then took his changed melody and "embellished" it in later verses.

Conkie accused Neudorf of applying a double standard.

"So when Ms. Mclachlan changes a melody, it's an embellishment and when you change something it's a new melody?" said Conkie.

"No, I didn't say that," Neudorf said.

Conkie also accused Neudorf or belittling McLachlan's talents with his constant references to her "meandering" song ideas.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you seem to be implying she was some kind of simpleton about these things," she said.

"Absolutely not," Neudorf said. "In no way am I saying that." Neudorf said that at the time, McLachlan was an "extremely talented vocalist, guitarist and keyboard player" and could play songs near-perfectly after hearing them only once, but that songwriting "was a struggle" for her.

Neudorf is suing McLachlan and her Vancouver record company, Nettwerk, for copyright infringement and breach of contract. The case continues today.