Bob Dylan at the Telewest tonight anyone going?
This'll be the third time I've seen him - he's in his cowboy chic phase I think. He dresses in a spangly suit, a ten gallon hat, a bootlace tie and he's got a pointy waxed tash.
] I've just bummed 'The bootleg series volumes 1-3' of one of my mates and might fine it is too. 58 acouctic songs, some shite but some are just superb, rush out and buy it.

There's a young feller in the office at work who when I said: 'I'm away to see Bob Dylan tonight' replied, 'That'll be good - is he black', sometimes I feel so old.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

Answers

The highlight of my concert watching life was seeing Bob Dylan at Newcastle on the Wednesday and then Stevie Wonder at the NEC on the following Monday. Two very different but amazing talents.

Both canny on the mouth organ

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

The Queen yesterday and the King today! I shall be there too also as well 'n'arl Heed.

Just got my ticket this morning at the Arena - restricted viewing - maybe I can swap it with a tout I know who said he'd be there.

This will be 4th Time Around - (Blonde on Blonde) for me and The Zimm. Saw him at Wembley in the 80's and twice at Earls Court in the seventies, once walking out half-way through a Geography exam at university to make the gig in time (got a good pass mark).

So here we are again with the great man just 16 days short of his 61st birthday, a colossus of rock, far and away the greatest artist of his generation and I'm thrilled at the prospect of seeing him again.

Accounts of his performances vary widely these days. Many concerts seem to be fairly desultory affairs but every once in a while he produces a gem of a show apparently, so you can never be sure what to expect. Selection of songs from the largest back catalogue in rock also varies. I discovered a web-site the other day where people were competing fantasy-league style over Dylan's tours. You select some songs and some albums and score points for the songs or the number of songs off an album.

I don't know how much longer this great troubadour can keep the "never-ending tour" going (actually it ended in 1995 according to Dylan) and this may be the last opportunity to see him in The Golden City, his 3rd visit here. I shall relish every moment. His amazing lyrics are constantly buzzing "through the smoke rings of my mind" (Mr Tambourine Man) and -

And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you,
Tangled up in blue.

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same,
We just saw it from a different point of view,
Tangled up in blue.

Enjoy jonno

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

Awesome! Dylan rocks.

More to follow possibly, but right now :-

My weariness amazes me
I'm branded on my feet ...

Cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it ...

Let me forget about today until tomorrow

-- Anonymous, May 08, 2002

Just fantastic, ooh me poor head!

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Heed in hands this morning then Heed?

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

I got there early and managed to exchange my ticket with a tout for one much closer to the stage. Dylan was brilliant. His band comprised 3 guitarists besides himself and drums. Dylan played guitar throughout and sometimes the harmonica (always to rapturous applause). Bob was wearing a very distinctive, off-white suit and matching cowboy hat.

After more than 40 years of some of the most gruelling and exhaustive performance schedules that any artist can ever have subjected themselves to, Dylan's voice is shot to pieces, but Dylan remains a superb singer, able to use whatever sort of voice he has to maximum effect. His use of voice has always been extraordinary. On his Nashville Skyline album he apparently waited until he had a cold before going into the studio and singing with a honeyed, mellow voice which had never been heard before.

The songs consist of some of the finest ever written, and Dylan fans know most of them word for word. His encore contained "Like a Rolling Stone" once voted by the NME as the best rock single of all time and probably still without peer. Great to hear almost the entire audience singing along with the "How does it feel" bits.

When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose
You're invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal.

How does it feel
How does it feel
To be on your own
With no direction home
Like a complete unknown
Like a rolling stone?

Uncomfortably close to reality.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Yes real ale for me last night, Black sheep or Sheep’s Head ale or something or other. We went to the Tut and Shive on the boundary of the Pink Triangle, it wasn’t full of wooftas but lots of young and old hippys on the way to the hall.
Dylan was smashing considering how ill he’s been in the last few years. Very dapper infact.
I agree jonno his voice is shot to bits and I found it strange the band didn’t sing with him indeed, the sound was very stripped back. No keyboards, no backing singers, no harmonies, just Fenders and beautiful acoustic guitars – that ‘to die for Taylor‘ retails at upward of £2000 I’d kill for one of them. That band, those guitarists were simply wonderful. The arrangements all night were a delight too. Kinda popy in places, Kinda country and when they when for it you could tell how happy they and he were.
I good night and a great man.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
And may you stay forever young
May you stay forever young

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
May you stay forever young


-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

For those of you who have missed out on the great man, all forty-odd of his official albums are still for sale - not a single one has ever been deleted which makes Dylan unique (although to be fair one or two ought to have been deleted!) The very first album gave The Animals their first two big hits with "Baby let me follow you down" and "House of the Rising Sun".

Most of his CD's seem to be selling for the amazing bargain price of £5-99. Start with "Blonde on Blonde" and "Blood on the Tracks" and you can't go wrong.

Last night took me back to the first time I saw him on British TV, with the shades on and the harmonica worn on his shoulder, rasping out songs the like of which nobody, but nobody had ever written before. I was blown away immediately. Till Dylan, most music was "Moon in June" stuff.

Oh but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now

BTW Heed, http://www.bobdylan.com/live/ has the playlist for last night plus a discussion forum about the show.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Having read all this I'm absolutely gutted I didn't go a long last night - especially as I've never seen the great man live. Sadly, I probably never will now.

I did consider it, but felt certain he would play a lot of new cr@p rather than his wonderful classics.

Having missed Dylan, I'm embarrassed to say I've taken over a spare ticket a friend has for tonight's concert at the Tyne Theatre by Eric Burdon - a blerk I have little respect for. All will be revealed.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Eric Burdon on his own? Not sure what that will be like, but interested to hear. I saw him with the Animals in the mid-80s. I expected a bunch of old farts tottering around onstage, and only went for a laugh since I like their 60s songs, but they kicked major amounts of @ss! Great show!

I did see Dylan when he did a tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers....probably mid-late 80s-ish. I went more for Petty as I've always found Dylan's voice to be like nails on a chalkboard, though I think his songs are amazing. I wasn't terribly impressed with the set portions where Dylan played alone(couldn't understand a word he sang), but when he dueted(sp?) with Petty, it was fantastic. I know...I'm a rock heathen, but I've tried, I really have. But I am glad those of you who are bigger Dylan fans had such a great time. No denying the man's songwriting talent and influence.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

The show was great ciara - he was smart enough to surround himself with great musicians. Having said that, he can still belt 'em out and attracted a full house - in fact they've added another show on Saturday night.

I can now say I've seen Eric Burdon singing "The House of the Rising Sun" live, and put it up there alongside The Who playing "Pinball Wizard", The Eagles signing "Hotel California" and "Desperado", Dire Straits doing "Money for Nothing" and "Telegraph Road" - and Barry Manilow doing "At the Copacobana"! ;0 {)

They were advertising an upcoming Lonnie Donnegan concert - which raises the intriguing possibility of adding "My Old Man's a Dustman" to my classic collection!!

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Sat'dy night. Tickets still available? Should I go? Sounds great. HotRS is one of my all-time faves

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

FYI Clarky, Mr Manilow is at the Telewest Arena later this month. I'll be giving that a wide berth I reckon.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Haven't seen Manilow or the Eagles, but did see Neil Diamond. I would see Manilow if someone gave me tickets, nto sre I'd go out of my way to buy a ticket, though I did like alot of his late 70s stuff. Also saw Jimmy Page do a solo instrumental of Stairway to Heaven at MSG. Never liked Zep before then, rushed out to buy LZ IV the next day.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Spookily enough, Neil Diamond is also scheduled for the Telewest arena in forthcoming weeks.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

No denying the man's songwriting talent and influence.

Ah yes, that song writing talent. Well if you'll allow me to indulge myself here (do we have a choice? - ed) then I can illustrate that with one of Dylan's most famous songs, A Hard Rain's A-gonna Fall. Dylan wrote this apparently during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 when Kennedy went "toe-to-toe with the Rooskies" and the world held it's breath to see if one of the superpowers would blink first or if we would be plunged into nuclear carnage. The "Hard Rain" of the title is of course the nuclear fall out which would have ensued, undoubtedly eliminating most, if not all, life from the planet.

Dylan said of the song that he felt, like so many others, that his death was coming soon. There were many songs he still wanted to write so he wrote the first line of all those songs and strung them together in this masterpiece. Undoubtedly, Dylan is using a fair amount of poetic licence in that tale, but the fantastic imagery of armageddon in this song is breathtaking. Dylan ranges across several themes, from pollution I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans / Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters through racism I met a white man who walked a black dog / I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin through to horrifying images of an apocalyptic future I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it / I met a young woman whose body was burning / I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children and on to the bomb itself I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin' / Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world and how those who protest against these nightmares will be crushed Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter / Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin. Dylan concludes by resolving to stand against these nightmares And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it, And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it. Notice that whoever presses the button to release this holocaust also gets a mention from deep within their bunker Where the executioner's face is always well hidden

It's an extraordinary and brilliant song even judged some 40 years after it was written. But how much more extraordinary judging by when it was written. It was released in 1963 and if you care to look at the singles and album charts of the day then it is hard to conclude anything other than that Bob Dylan simply arrived from another planet! He was so far out on his own - nobody was doing anything remotely similar and words like these grabbed the attention of a burgeoning youth culture and "the times they were a-changin". Rock would never be the same again.

BTW if a scintilla of interest is shown in this piece I shall be very surprised then I might do some more - you have been warned. :-)

Oh, where have you been, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, where have you been, my darling young one?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains,
I've walked and I've crawled on six crooked highways,
I've stepped in the middle of seven sad forests,
I've been out in front of a dozen dead oceans,
I've been ten thousand miles in the mouth of a graveyard,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, and it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin',
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded with hatred,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

-- Anonymous, May 09, 2002

Downright plagiarism, ah wrote that sang like!!!

:-(

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Well, it seems I've missed out on a lot. Ashamed to say I gave up on Dylan after the dreadful disappointment of John Wesley Hardin. It was such a let down after Blonde on Blonde - thought it had only one decent thing on it, All Along the Watchtower (and I preferred the Hendrix version to be honest). Reading the excellent stuff on here makes me feel like catching up.

Loved the deconstruction of Hard Rain, Jonno. If you want another challenge, how about It's alright ma (I'm only bleeding), it's in a similar vein (sorry). But please not the song that explained to me the secret of life the universe and everything late one night a long time ago - needless to say the revelation had gone by the morning, an occasional source of deep-seated unease to me ever since.

Well, must go and find Blood on the Tracks...

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Great reading Jonno. Certainly beats the standards of posting on the RTG & The Strawberry! I think I've seen Bob Dylan 3 or 4 times - including, if my memory doesn't fail me, at the Poly round about 1976 - could that be right? No seats so I just sidled up to the front - if it wasn't the Poly it was somewhere similar. Round about the time of Hurricane. He was in Brussels a couple of weeks ago but I couldn't get there. What a month for old fogies : Peter Green Bob Dylan Eric Burdon and Lonnie Donegan (some of the first songs I can remember were My old man's a dustman, Cumberland Gap, Does your chewing gum lose its flavour). It just occurred to me if Lonnie had used the same composition method as Bob, and taken all his first lines and made one song of them, what a song that would have been - surreal or what?

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

If I could be so bold as to suggest a way of ‘getting back into’ Bob Dylan, I would say buy two items: the first is the video The Last Waltz. A documentary by Martin Scorsese(sp?) about the final concert in Frisco by The Band – y’know Bob Dylan and The Band.
The film is brilliant, The Band are brilliant I mean Kick Arse brilliant! The concert showcases all the big stars from the late Hippy period; Joni Mitchell, Van Morrison, Eric Clapton, Neil Young and others – Dr John is superb.
Star of the show is Bob Dylan, at one time there was a thing as Bob Dylan Cool and the only other person I can think of to match his charisma is Mohammed Ali. He plays ‘Mama let me follow you down’ and ‘I shall be released’. If you’ve never seen it and you are interested in guitar based rock n roll as I am, then do yourself a favour.
The other item is The Bootleg Series volume 1-3 (1961 to 1991) Three CD’s of stuff not good enough for release at the time because a number of things: the producer drops bollox on a number of track, coughing, The Band dropping bollox, Bob Dylan dropping bollox, I swear the last 10 songs on Volume 2 are some , well I think their great. Simply a great collection of songs.

Well yonder stands a man in this lonely crowd,
A man who swears he not to blame.
All day long I hear him cry shouting out loud,
Calling out that he's been framed.
I see my light come shining,
From the west unto the east.
Any day now,
Any day now,
I shall be released.


-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Ooops! that's better

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

I thought that croaky old hippy was dead?

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

croaky old hippy was dead

You're remarkably badly informed Bobby, unless you were meaning me in which case that's three and a half correct out of four. :-)

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Ever thought of teaching music history, Jonno? Considering there won't be much Toon-related stuff to discuss over the next 2 months, it's a good time for posts of this type.

I Shall Be Released is a great arena concert song. Is Knocking on Heaven's Door also by Dylan? I tend to find I'm more a fan of his songs as done by other artists. I've yet to see all of The Last Waltz, just bits and pieces. The Band were great though. Got to see many of those musicians in various all-star charity gigs and guest appearances at various shows in NYC in the 80s. It was a great era as there were so many people who knew and respected the musicians. There was hardly a show at Madison Square Garden in particular where somebody didn't turn up. The most predictable regular, though, was Ron Wood. It was more newsworthy when he didn't turn up for a show. ;-)

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Thanks for the feed back on that piece guys - much appreciated. "Knockin on heavens door" is Dylan's Ciara. Wonderful song. You can picture the soldier, crawling back from the front line, wounded, dying, and sick of the whole hellish business :-
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can't use it anymore

Dr Bill, John Wesley Harding is not the most accessible of Dylan's albums but it is a great album, with "All Along the Watchtower", "Dear Landlord", "I dreamed I saw St Augustine" among other fine songs. The amazing thing about the album was Dylan's audacity in bringing it out at that particular time. The rock masterpiece "Blonde on Blonde" had preceded it and Dylan decided to suddenly take one of his many fearless changes in direction. So with all the albums of that year coming out with psychedelic covers and elaborate music (Sgt Pepper, Pet Sounds etc) Dylan returned to a simple acoustic format and an LP cover with a black and white photo on it. Any of you with the original 33 rpm cover will find the heads of the 4 Beatles if you invert the cover and look closely at the top of the tree trunk. (Not a lot of people know that).

I'll come back on the "It's all right Ma" request a little later. As for Desolation Row I've been listening with great interest since you mentioned it and I love it! It's brilliant. I've not discovered the great insight you had on that momentous night, but in the unlikely event you should ever be presented with this vision again, the important thing is to maintain your blood/alcohol ratio in the exact same proportion until you are sober enough to write it all down. (Catch 22 revisited with a vegeance there!)

Anyway, today's Dylan tribute is a song that needs no analysis, although it's structure and use of language are the work of a master craftsman. It's a true story and if you look up the names of the principal characters on the web you'll find that Dylan's account of the story is very accurate. Although the song does not mention the fact, it is the case that Hattie Carroll was black. Well without further ado read it, savour it, and see how far you get before "tears of rage" fill your eyes. (I can never manage to sing it beyond the third verse without choking up)

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll

William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
At a Baltimore hotel society gath'rin'.
And the cops were called in and his weapon took from him
As they rode him in custody down to the station
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years
Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres
With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him
And high office relations in the politics of Maryland,
Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders
And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was snarling,
In a matter of minutes on bail was out walking.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

Hattie Carroll was a maid of the kitchen.
She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children
Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage
And never sat once at the head of the table
And didn't even talk to the people at the table
Who just cleaned up all the food from the table
And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level,
Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane
That sailed through the air and came down through the room,
Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle.
And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger.
But you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Take the rag away from your face.
Now ain't the time for your tears.

In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel
To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level
And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded
And that even the nobles get properly handled
Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom,
Stared at the person who killed for no reason
Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin'.
And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished,
And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance,
William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence.
Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears,
Bury the rag deep in your face
For now's the time for your tears.

Careful not to short out those keyboards there.

-- Anonymous, May 10, 2002

Great, Jonno. I think he does these reportage / social commentary songs really well. Like "Hurricane" too. Another good song in a similar vein though by Dan Fogelberg not BD is "Tucson Arizona", and Elvis Costello has done many too - "Shipbuilding" probably being the best.

There's a good book called "Are you ready for the country" about the history of country music which includes a very good chapter on Bob Dylan and the making of John Wesley Harding, Nashville Skyline etc. The author, Peter Docherty I think, has a bit of a Gram Parsons fixation - he might have been good, but not that good, but he made the best career move of all - dying young and having his body snatched by his roadie who cremated it on a funeral pyre in the Mojave Desert.

I remember last year there was a thread about music books where various book recommendations were made, but I don't know how to find it - anyone know how? I am coming back to the North East next week and this thread has rather inspired me to buy another couple of music books.

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2002

Anyone into music could do a lot worse than have a look at www.allmusic.com . They've got the most comprehensive review guide I've seen on the net, some superb articles and spot-on guides to anyone you've ever, or never, heard of.

I've just downloaded a load of Charley Patton songs...

I'm with Ciara on Dylan. I almost always prefer other people's versions of his songs. That said, I've got his unplugged album and he can definitely communicate.

BTW, House of The Rising Sun was a traditional song that Bob covered. He can't have credit for everything!

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2002

Steve T, I realise that House of the Rising Sun was traditional. I just noted that The Animals were inspired in their choice of their first two hits by Dylan's first album. Neither of the two songs was written by Dylan and in both cases the Animals' versions are very definitive and owe nothing to Dylan's acoustic versions.

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2002

I didn't doubt for a second that you knew that, Jonno! Just making sure everyone else did...:)

HOTRS has a very unusual chord structure for a trad. song doesn't it? I'm no expert but I haven't seen any others like that.

The Animals were partially responsible for my discovery of soul music. For that I will be eternally grateful to them...

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2002

“If you go to Lowestoft, and ask for the Rising Sun, there you’ll find two old whores, and my old woman’s one.” c.1950 - don't ask me how I knew that :-)

-- Anonymous, May 11, 2002

Reading the comments about Dylan's singing intrigues me. All I can say is, if you don't get it you're missing something (in the same way as I'm probably missing something in Opera or the like). One of the great things about Dylan is that he is a performer, a troubadour, and a great one at that. Although it is his lyrical powers which have raised him to a stature way beyond other artists of his times, it is to be remembered that he did not make his start in the business by writing the great songs, they came slightly later. He was spotted by John Hammond in Greenwich Village, a place where the folkies played, and won his first recording contract on the strength of his performing technique on blues and folk standards. To my ear, Dylan is a wonderful singer, able to convey great ranges of emotion and this was obviously noticed before the writing genius emerged. As regards cover versions of his songs, some great stuff has been made. His tunes are often uncomplicated and lend themselves to different interpretations. Hendrix's "Watchtower" is brilliant. I don't think it detracts in any way from the Dylan original with it's mournful harmonica but is a wonderful performance in it's own right. I love to hear both. I always feel the song would benefit slightly by repeating that amazing first line at the end as well as the beginning "There must be some way outta here, said the Joker to the Thief" turning the listener in the full circle and spelling out that there is indeed no "way outta here", but then maybe that would be too obvious. :-)

Dr Bill - re Desolation Row, if you're still searching for further insight on that one you may be intrigued by a critique of it written by Greil Marcus, who compares it to a chaotic painting by James Ensor "Christ's Entry into Brussels" (yeah - it knocked me sideways as well!) but Greil's analysis must have struck a chord, because the owners of the picture, the Getty Museum in LA, actually publish a book with the lyrics and parts of the picture combined. I don't know how many coffee tables you would need to have in your house, before this volume occupied one of them, but you might want to check it out. I do warn you that the critique is - erm - heavy - man! http://www.threepennyreview.com/samples/marcus_sp00.html for the critique and http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0892365528/ref=as_pt/104- 3259391-6653504 for details of the book.

Dylan in a 1965 interview said that he knew what all his songs were about. Some were about 3 minutes, some were about 4 minutes and some were even about 5 or more minutes (!) but as he also says on "The Ballad Of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest" (John Wesley Harding), Nothing is revealed

And to close this piece a couple of favourite verses from one of the druggie songs "Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again", Blonde on Blonde. Quoted in the brilliant drug novel "Fear and Loathing in Las vegas". I find this stuff hilarious, and love that wonderful phrase "where the neon madmen climb".

Now the rainman gave me two cures,
Then he said, "Jump right in."
The one was Texas medicine,
The other was just railroad gin.
An' like a fool I mixed them
An' it strangled up my mind,
An' now people just get uglier
An' I have no sense of time.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.

Now the bricks lay on Grand Street
Where the neon madmen climb.
They all fall there so perfectly,
It all seems so well timed.
An' here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again.

"Now people just get uglier and I have no sense of time" I think we've all been there, on alcohol at the very least! :-)

-- Anonymous, May 13, 2002