Commentary Visions of Johanna is one of Dylan’s most ambitious lyrics, and for that reason alone it’s due much respect. By pop music standards Visions is an epic, a tragic opera that ruminates on how love can overcome the emptiness of our lonely and otherwise pointless existence. I don’t think it’s one of Dylan’s all-time …
Even after many listens, I’m not really sure what to make of Scarlet Town. It could be Dylan’s ominous vision of what America has become. Perhaps he’s remembering his hometown of Hibbing. Maybe it’s an update of Desolation Row. Maybe there’s some hidden coherence my wee brain can’t understand. Dylan’s best songs reward repeated listens. …
“What is this shit?” to quote Greil Marcus. I was excited when I heard about the new video of Dylan material, Odds and Ends. I’m always interested in hearing something new about my favorite artist. Sounded good to me. That doesn’t mean I wasn’t a bit skeptical. The early Bootleg Series releases were phenomenal, full …
“Crossing the Rubicon” means to have passed the point of no return. Once past, there’s no going back. Our narrator is ready to go, he has “painted his wagon.” Historically, the term crossing the Rubicon refers to Julius Caesar’s decision to cross the Rubicon River with his army, thereby entering Italian territory and kicking off …
“Nobody has ever captured the sound of 3 a.m. better than that album,” is how [Al] Kooper sums up Blonde on Blonde. – From Howard Soundes’ Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan “I think of Blonde on Blonde as opening up for us a whole new imaginative world. These places he sang from …
Commentary By 1965 Dylan had written many great songs: Blowing in the Wind, Hard Rain, Times They Are A’Chang’, and many others. Mr. Tambourine Man, arguably, eclipses them all. It’s one for the ages. Dylan knew he had done something special and unrepeatable when he wrote it. From an interview with Sing-Out magazine: There was one …
