Volume 22, Track 13
“Drifter’s Escape” by Bob Dylan (1967) Containing only three verses worth of lyrics and clocking in at under three minutes long “Drifter’s Escape” has the musical feel of an old railroad song and the lyrical quality of old school country folk song. “’Oh, help me in my weakness’ I heard the drifter say As they [...]
Volume 22, Track 12
“4th Time Around” by Bob Dylan (1966) In its vinyl incarnation “4th Time Around” was the penultimate track on side three of Blonde On Blonde, sitting in between the playfully keyboard-driven “Absolutely Sweet Marie” and the playfully jangly guitar-driven “Obviously 5 Believers.” In between all of the playfulness is this track, which, structurally speaking, is [...]
Volume 22, Track 11
“You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” by Bob Dylan (1975) “Purple clover, Queen Anne’s Lace Crimson hair across your face You could make me cry if you don’t know Can’t remember what I was thinkin’ of You might be spoilin’ me too much, love You’re gonna make me lonesome when you go” Side [...]
Volume 22, Track 10
“Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” by Bob Dylan (1965) To the casual listener Bob Dylan can be a daunting artist to try and tackle and digest. Would anyone disagree? Depending on who you ask for their opinions and descriptions of his body of work and individual songs, Bob Dylan would seem to sound more like a [...]
Volume 22, Track 9
“The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest” by Bob Dylan (1967) Because Bob Dylan’s recorded basement jam session with The Band in 1967 was never officially released until 1975,[1] the casual Dylan (or music) fan would no doubt have been stumped by the sudden transition from Blonde On Blonde to John Wesley Harding in [...]
Volume 22, Track 8
“Absolutely Sweet Marie” by Bob Dylan (1966) One of the main reasons I think many rock critics and Dylan fans rank Blonde On Blonde as his best album is because it is so ambitious. It was the first studio double album ever released by any artist and in many ways it shows Dylan at the [...]
Volume 22, Track 7
“Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” by Bob Dylan (1965) When Bob Dylan is at his absolute best is when he is able to craft songs that are entirely poetic lyrically (yet still completely singable) and musically lush (as much as a Dylan song can be called “musically lush”). “Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues” represents the [...]
Volume 22, Track 6
“If You See Her, Say Hello” by Bob Dylan (1975) Musically speaking, I think “If You See Her, Say Hello” is one of Bob Dylan’s most beautiful songs. Everything about the music of this song is just remarkable and light and sunny which, of course, makes it the perfect foundation for a song about regret [...]
Volume 22, Track 5
“It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” by Bob Dylan (1965) In its original vinyl incarnation, side two of Bringing It All Back Home only consisted of four songs—”Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Gates of Eden,” “It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)” and “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” The first two songs are almost identical in terms [...]
Volume 22, Track 4
“Dear Landlord” by Bob Dylan (1967) On an album filled with minimalist-sounding folk-y country songs that have a kind of campfire quality to them,[1] “Dear Landlord,” the track that opens side two, sits in relief compared to the rest of the songs. To be sure, “Dear Landlord” is a minimalist track too—it consists of a [...]
Volume 22, Track 3
“Visions of Johanna” by Bob Dylan (1966) Songs that are complex by way of simplicity are hard to pull off, but when they are pulled off successfully I am a total sucker for them. “Visions of Johanna” is a song whose foundation is standard fare: it consists of a guitar, a bass guitar, harmonica, keyboard, [...]
Volume 22, Track 2
“It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” by Bob Dylan (1965) “It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry” is the middle track on side one of Highway 61 Revisited and it has big shoes to fill—in addition to following a masterpiece (“Like A Rolling Stone”) [...]
Volume 22, Track 1
“Tangled Up In Blue” by Bob Dylan (1975) “Tangled Up In Blue” is the opening track on Blood on the Tracks, the first album that Dylan released after the divorce from his wife Sara. The album’s name is a metaphor for the divorce and it lets you know up front that the album will contain [...]
Volume 22 Introduction
I am not really a fan of using the “there are two kinds of people in this world…” platitude[1] but when it comes to Bob Dylan the world really is probably separated into two kinds of people: people who love and appreciate Dylan and will defend his voice, and people who cannot get past his [...]
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