Comments on: Greatest Dylan songs

By: Mr Ripley

Mr Ripley — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 06:56:48 +0000

I bought Love and Theft the day it came out, but was distracted by bin Laden for a few days before listening to it; I agree with Rolling Stone that, before the release date, it was easier to see it as a flip and comical album, while afterwards, the apocalypticness (exemplified in "High Water") came to the fore. Asked to name a Top Five, I'd say "On what day?" All kinds of less dramatic events and moods and arguments can affect one's Dylan preferences. After reading Dylan's Visions of Sin, I went back to The Times They Are a-Changin' for the first time in a dozen years and had a new appreciation of it. Okay, how 'bout using the arbitrary constraint of no more than one per album "Blind Willie McTell" "Desolation Row" "Sugar Baby" "I'm Not There" "Visions of Johanna" . . . Naw, five slots doesn't work: there's six or seven others that hit me just as hard as those five.

By: Ragshag Bill

Ragshag Bill — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 05:33:37 +0000

“I’m old Tom Moore I’m a bummer, shore, from the good old, golden, days they call me a bummer and a lot more too but what cares I for praise? I’ve rambled around, from town to town like some old wand’ring sign and the people all say, “There goes Old Tom from the days of ‘49.”

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 02:23:31 +0000

Are “Hard Rain” and “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” almost the same song? I keep trying to remember one and coming up with the other.

By: John Durkin

John Durkin — Thu, 04 Mar 2004 00:52:19 +0000

Visions of Johanna Hard Rain My Back Pages Stuck Inside a Mobile Idiot Wind

By: Chris

Chris — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 22:31:36 +0000

My Back Pages.

By: John Isbell

John Isbell — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 18:22:29 +0000

Nice explanations, Jeremy. I’ll just plug “Copper Kettle”, off New Morning. Beautiful. A better album than anyone says. Also, “Groom’s Still Waiting At The Altar.” He does apocalypse very well. What’s happpened to Claudette Ain’t seen her since January She could be respectably married Or running a whore house in Buenos Aires. That’s from the born again years.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 16:33:34 +0000

How about this: what would really interest me is seeing people list 5 songs and explaining why they would select each one; defending their lists. Here is my effort: 1. In My Time of Dyin’ This is quite simply, one of the finest songs ever recorded by anyone. Its haunting. Guitar work is breathtaking. Lyrics hang around in your head and wake you up at night. It is not properly speaking a “Dylan song” because (a) he did not write it and (b) it is so very different from the songs that make up the majority of his oeuvre, but it works very well as the archetype of “where Dylan is coming from as he starts his career”. Jesus gonna make up my dyin’ bed. 2. From a Buick 6 Marriage of Dylan’s cerebral lyrics with hard rockin’ beat. You can dance to it! Works great as a surrealistic painting too. If I’m goin’ down dyin’, you know she, bound to put a blanket on my bed. 3. Maggie’s Farm I like this song for similar reasons to “From a Buick 6”; but rather than a surrealistic painting, I think it is more of a naturalistic novel. They say, sing while you slave but I just get bored. 4. Queen Jane Approximately Resentment of an ex-lover is an idee fix in Dylan’s work. (It is also a factor in “Maggie’s Farm” I think.) And this song is its fullest realization. Plus, the beat is great. Won’t you, come see me, Queen Jane? 5. Ballad of Hollis Brown Haunting, eloquent. This song ties a lot of Dylan threads together. Somehere in the distance, there’s seven new people born.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 15:08:04 +0000

And when I say “4. On the Road Again”, I of course mean “4. Queen Jane Approximately”.

By: Jeremy Osner

Jeremy Osner — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 13:17:26 +0000

I guess I need to Listen to Love & Theft some more—I haven’t really figured it out yet. I bought it at the concert which was a pretty weak concert (with moments of greatness), that may be biasing me against really listening to it… John, what you say about laughing in a non-cynical way on reading the statement that Positively 4th is about friendship, captures my own reaction pretty well. Meanwhile… I’m thinking that maybe, just maybe, the songs that best capture for me the gestalt of Dylan are: 1. In My Time of Dyin’ 2. From a Buick 6 3. Maggie’s Farm 4. On the Road Again 5. Ballad of Hollis Brown Hollis Brown, he lived, on the out, side of town Hollis Brown, he lived, on the out, side of town With his wife and 5 children, and a cabin fallin’ down

By: John Isbell

John Isbell — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 12:35:06 +0000

Listening to Like A Rolling Stone; I’m playing it for Georgie if he loses in November. How does it feel?

By: John Isbell

John Isbell — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 12:21:36 +0000

No worries, msg. You’re always interesting. 60s Dylan is glorious, but he couldn’t write this: If you don’t believe there’s a price For this sweet paradise Just remind me to show you the scars. He was too young. Same goes for TOOM, though I found Love and Theft weak. Needs another listen. Well my baby went to Illinois With some bad-talking boy she could destroy A real suicide case but there was nothing I could do to stop it.

By: coder

coder — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 09:47:01 +0000

Another Motorpsycho Nightmare fan upthread, alright! To everyone who complains about his recent work, I really would urge you to check out his latest two albums, Time Out of Mind, and Love & Theft. They are both excellent albums. I count two nominations so far on this thread for songs from TOOM. Anyway, in no particular order: It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) Ballad in Plain D Tangled Up in Blue Subterranein Homesick Blues Romance in Durango

By: msg

msg — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 05:34:24 +0000

Point taken John. I need monitoring at times.

By: John Isbell

John Isbell — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 04:16:04 +0000

Nice to see You Ain’t Going Nowhere here. Strap yourself to a tree with roots. msg, I’m not cynical when I laugh about Positively 4th Street. As you say, it is indeed about a friend. Friendships have lots of parts, and Dylan covers more than one. Good to be reminded of that. He does that a lot with love songs. Maybe be less quick to judge.

By: catfish

catfish — Wed, 03 Mar 2004 03:49:07 +0000

My Back Pages Idiot Wind Isis Visions of Johanna Tangled Up In Blue