With the release of Dylan’s new album my son and I have been talking about Dylan’s lyrics. I found myself saying that when Dylan was good he was great, and when he was bad, he was very bad. Of course, Plan B Jr. asked for examples. The first examples of great were the opening of Highway 61:
Oh God said to Abraham, “Kill me a son”
Abe says, “Man, you must be puttin’ me on”
God say, “No.” Abe say, “What ?”
God say, “You can do what you want Abe, but
The next time you see me comin’ you better run”
Well Abe says, “Where do you want this killin’ done ?”
God says. “Out on Highway 61”.
And pretty much all of Forever Young. Don’t want to post the whole thing but the words are here:
On the awful side I have to think of* Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands * and Dear Landlord as settting a new standard for boredom. But OTOH I’m open to the idea that I don’t get either of those songs and maybe if I did I’d feel differently. Also pretty much any of his political stuff was bland and prosaic. Didn’t matter whether I agreed with the message or not. For example Masters of War felt about as poetic as a hammer pounding nails into a board.
I was going to post a thoughtful reply, but I see you beat me to both my choices. I love the “Abraham” verse in “Highway 61,” and loathe “Sad Eyed Lady…”
You used to ride on the chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain’t it hard when you discover that
He really wasn’t where it’s at
I have always hated this. The rhyme actually degenerates as the lyrics go along. The “Cat” with “Diplomat” sounds completely forced as it is, but rhyming “that” with “he really wasn’t where it’s at” really just takes the cake. It’s not clever or interesting, it’s just a desperate rhyme. The rest of the song is pretty good and is really hurt by this inferior verse.
I’ll add that I’m more impressed with, say, Modest Mouse than I am with Bob Dylan’s whole discography. Bob Dylan was the voice of a generation but not mine.
I love Bob Dylan, most of the time, but I always hated this line from “Sara”:
Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore.
You always responded when I needed your help,
You gimme a map and a key to your door.
Putting in the word “kelp” to rhyme with “help” causes me physical pain.
This is a hijack, but I feel like I need to say this because of Subterreneanus’s surprise that I’d describe Like A Rolling Stone as “pretty good.” I’m a fan of Bob Dylan as a musical luminary, but not as a musician. I’ve read Chronicles, Volume One and loved it, and I watched No Direction Home and was fascinated by Dylan’s stories and his insights about music and celebrity and everything else. If I had an opportunity to talk to him, I’d jump at it.
But his music doesn’t do it for me. And it’s not just his voice, it’s everything about the music. Throughout my life I’ve had various people - friends, my girlfriend, my sister - try to explain Dylan to me and tell me why I should like him, but I haven’t taken, I guess. His songs don’t ring that bell in my head that other music does. It just doesn’t feel like my world. I can’t relate to it. I can’t explain it any further than that. So I respect Dylan, but I can’t pretend to like his songs more than I do. Different strokes, I guess.
You know, that brings up the whole question about his music vs. his lyrics. I was thinking about starting out with questions about the music but I thought that might be too much for one OP. But as long as you mention it I don’t thinkk he wrote a whole lot of creative music. Maybe none IMHO.
I always thought “Blowin’ in the Wind” was rather trite.
“A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” has some striking imagery. I don’t care much for the tune, but the lyrics put me in mind of Eliot and Yeats with their evocativeness.
[QUOTE=Ogre]
I was going to post a thoughtful reply, but I see you beat me to both my choices. I love the “Abraham” verse in “Highway 61,” and loathe “Sad Eyed Lady…” :)[/QUOTE
Hey, come on…you must have a second best and second worst.
Pretty much all of “Idiot Wind”. It’s hard to pick just one quote, so here’s a few.
*I can’t feel you anymore, I can’t even touch the books you’ve read
Every time I crawl past your door, I been wishin’ I was somebody else instead.
Down the highway, down the tracks, down the road to ecstasy,
I followed you beneath the stars, hounded by your memory
And all your ragin’ glory.
It was gravity which pulled us down and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, you’ll find out when you reach the top
You’re on the bottom.*
The thing I like most about the song, is that after 7 minutes of vitriol directed at an unnamed woman, he doesn’t let himself off the hook at the end:
Idiot wind, blowing through the buttons of our coats,
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind, blowing through the dust upon our shelves,
We’re idiots, babe.
It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves.
Least favorite? Well, there’s this groaner from “Sweetheart Like You”:
You know, a woman like you should be at home,
That’s where you belong.
Some of my favorites …
“The only thing we knew for sure about Henry Porter is that his name wasn’t Henry Porter.” – Brownsville Girl
“I give her my heart but she wanted my soul” – Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright
“Yea! Heavy and a bottle of bread” – Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
“But even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked” – It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
"I had to say something
To strike him very weird,
So I yelled out,
‘I like Fidel Castro and his beard.’ " Motorpsycho Nitemare (My favorite song title)
“Yes, I wish that for just one time You could stand inside my shoes
You’d know what a drag it is to see you” – Positively 4th Street
“Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun” – Romance in Durango
“The pump don’t work cause the vandals took the handles” – Sub. Homesick Blues
“And I drove 42nd Street
In my Cadillac.
Good car to drive after a war.” Talkin’ World War III Blues
“I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,” – Tangles Up in Blue
"Man says, ‘Freddy!’ I say, “Freddy who?” He says, “Freddy or not here I come.” – Po Boy
I’m not a huge Bob Dylan fan. I have only one Dylan song on my iPod, his Oscar-winning “Things Have Changed.” Its lyrics are so cryptic and world-weary, and such an intriguing mix of non sequiturs, they make me smile. Of them all, my favorite is, “I used to care, but… things have changed.”
