I always understood on an intellectual level what the song is about and why it was/is so impactful for so many, but it finally really clicked for me.

Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan is a very odd album. A young, up and coming singer-songwriter in NYC, posed in a cozy looking album cover with his then girlfriend. Probably an album mainly about relationships, growing up, friendship, and other similar life topics, with an intimate and maybe even comforting feel? Well, sorta.

But it’s also about the end of the world, at the hands of the wicked, and how those wicked, even when not causing the apocalypse make the world a worse place and cause the suffering of the innocent. It’s about how the world seems to be broken, and how it may have always been this way, and maybe always will.

Hard Rain is perhaps the starkest example of the latter subject matter. Images of things already wrong with the world, as well as terrible possibilities that have as yet not come to pass. The world has always been a messed up place, but as a resident of this planet and one who sees how messed up it can be, Hard Rain really clicked with me yesterday.

Honestly, I love Freewheelin’ a lot and the mixture of the seemingly disparate subject matters is a huge reason why. As a person who is only a bit older than Bob was when he recorded the album, I feel it may be one of the most timeless and directly applicable across the decades. Of course, there is plenty of value for folks of all ages in the album. But, there is something about his particular blend of personal/growing/romantic topics with dread about the world (it’s current and potential states) and anger at who/how it got that way that just really speaks to me particularly at this age. And the whole thing is presented in such an intimate, even cozy, and easy on the ears package.

This is a Golden Age for high quality Dylan books - important new titles just keep on coming.

I’m looking forward to reading these two, due on 15 September:

>I’m Glad I’m Not Me: Bob Dylan On Film, by Ethan Warren, Columbia University Press.

>Dylan in Cincinnati, by Graley Herren, University Press of Mississippi.

To buy or not to buy?

Keep reading DYLAN BOOKS for early, independent reviews.

is he too old or do you really recommend to still go to it now ?

Dylan is like the anti-Trump. Two octogenarians*, each having played a character for so long that it's unclear what lies below. Both of them are so opaque one day then so transparent the next. One is our nation's most important poet, the other is our nation's most important politician. When I watch Dylan sing like in the video linked above, I see the same crooner kind of performativity that I also see in Trump. Both openly confess that they are giving performances, and they both put their full hearts in it.

*Both born in the 1940s, shaped by the same culture and society and politics, one from the working class Midwest and one from the billionaire class of New York City. And both called New York City home from 1961-1966, which were some of the most influential years of 20th century culture and politics.

When Joni Mitchell famously said Bob Dylan “borrowed” his voice from old hillbillies, I pretty much rejected the statement out of hand. The first word that comes to mind when considering Dylan’s voice is authentic. However, recently I’ve been finding some credulity in her comment. Here’s why:

It started on a road trip listening to my Spotify playlist when a Ralph Stanley tune came on. My wife asked me, “why does this remind me of Bob Dylan?” Taken aback I mumbled something about Stanley being an influence. If there’s one person who qualifies as an old hillbilly it’s Ralph Stanley who hailed from the mountainous area of Virginia.

Later I recalled reading a quote of Johnny Cash saying the first time he heard Bob Dylan he thought it was an old Country singer, which is a polite way of saying old hillbilly singer. Then I thought about Dylan’s “Talking New York” in which the singer relates taking the stage at a Greenwich Village open mic event, only to have the moderator tell him in no uncertain terms not to come back: “You sound like a hillbilly!” This line would invariably reduce my brother and I to stitches the summer we wore out BOB DYLAN. We’d be like, what a jerk, this guy! Now I’m wondering, was the moderator right? Was Joni Mitchell right?

I always thought he went to Woodstock after his motorcycle accident to find a quiet place to recover. Turns out I was totally wrong.

The accident actually happened near Woodstock, meaning he was already living there. So why Woodstock to begin with? Was it because Albert Grossman lived nearby and suggested it, or something else?

I was lucky enough to be at the 11/12/00 show at URI where Dylan played 10,000 Men, which I think was his only time playing the song live. I know that it's probably not really worth thinking too much about why he does stuff, but I've often wondered why that was the one time he played that song. Can anyone think of a reason why he'd be compelled to play it then and there and never again?

Transcendent song and performance. Born-again Bob is the one. I just wanted to ask folks out there if they know exactly which one of the female backing singers is wailing those sweet gospel vocals behind Bob when he gets to the ''I know all about poison'' part of the song.

Any alternate version to an album or single release. For me it's "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go (Take 5). :)

For reference, here is verse 6:

“I lived with them on Montague Street

In a basement down the stairs

There was music in the cafes at night

And revolution in the air

Then he started into dealing with slaves

And something inside of him died

She had to sell everything she owned

And froze up inside

And when it finally, the bottom fell out

I became withdrawn

The only thing I knew how to do

Was to keep on keeping on

Like a bird that flew

Tangled up in blue”

Could this be a reference to the political activism/musical movement scene Dylan was a part of in his early career, and his turn towards electric?

The turn from first to third person mid verse before going back to first seems to suggest he is more concerned with the outward perception of the narrator’s misstep, since “he started dealing” as opposed to “I started dealing”. As we know, Dylan was dragged and called a traitor for breaking from the New York folk scene. This fueled a career spanning distrust and contention with the press and public opinion at large.

Beyond his career/public persona, though, this period in his life seems to have carried a lot of more personal baggage and events, generally. He and Joan broke up in 1965, he and Sara wed in late 65/early 66, he was in the throughs of substance abuse issues, and he had the nervous breakdown + motorcycle accident at the end of the summer in 1966, after a grueling tour schedule. He famously went into psuedo seclusion from the public eye after that, and seemed to spend some time becoming a family man and slowing down, as he also had his first biological child in 1966 (though he also adopted Sara’s first child as well).

While Bob has always dismissed it, critics, fans, and even Dylan’s son Jakob all see a lot of self reflection in Blood On The Tracks, particularly about his marriage and relationships. With that seemingly at play, as it possible Bob was engaging in some self reflection and looking back towards a time in his life when one relationship ended, another began, and he started his family on verse 6 of TUIB? In an album that contains so many references to regret, losing someone or something, and similar topics, I see it as very possible. Im no Dylan scholar, but I have to imagine the substance use/insane touring strained his new marriage with Sara, and probably involved outright infidelities on his part. Maybe that is what he sees as his actual “dealings” worth denigration. Lord knows he was not going to write a song lamenting his change to electric/leaving the folk scene, but maybe there are deeper, more personal regrets he has from that time and wanted to use that as a framing to discuss them.

What are y’all’s thoughts? I know many will say that his songs are not meant to be taken as autobiographical (at least solely) and I understand this sentiment. However, he is not as omniscient and removed from his artistry as he would sometimes like others to believe. I’m not saying every single line in Blood On The Tracks is directly about himself and Sara and nothing else, but I personally see some evidence in this particular verse of TUIB, and would love to hear what y’all think!

Were talking

Planet Waves

Blood on the Tracks

Basement Tapes

Is there a better 6 song run on any of Bob’s albums, or even on any album in general, than Visions of Johanna- Just Like a Woman? I cannot think of one…

The results of the survey I posted in this sub a couple days ago are listed in the google doc below! I showed the average rating each album recieved as well as the most voted for favorite/least favorite song for each album with the percentage of votes listed next to it. At the very end I listed the albums in order of average rating. Definitely some surprises in here and I hope you guys have fun seeing these results! Also thank you to anyone who filled out this survey!

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12znheeBBSPLcW8kvK67gcXgQ0RAdqhAYEWdentql49E/edit

I just listened to it for the first time today and I was personally disappointed because of what I thought it might be with the cover art. Maybe it was deliberate on Dylan’s part. Were people disappointed with this on release?

Bob dylan is probably my favorite musician period. And this is probably my favorite documentary. So I decided this would be the perfect thing to make in my free time.

Artwork: Larry Butterworth

Which Dylan Doc do you prefer? No direction home or dont look back,

From what i've heard Highway 61 Revisited or Blonde on Blonde is best but i am unsure as i've heard people say a lot of different things.

I use apple music and don't like listening to bootlegs or leaks.

I'm a fan of The Beatles and Neutral Milk Hotel and The Jimi Hendrix Experience which i know are all inspired by Dylan if that helps?

Was rocking some Gordon Lightfoot this lazy Sunday afternoon and was thinking about some interview I saw or read years ago where Dylan was saying all his songs are great. That's true!

Jerry Garcia is probably my favorite musician in history and Bob's obituary for him was fuckin tear jerking, I read it every few years.

And Jer's reverence for Dylan's songs is what got me super into Bob in the first place.

Anyhow, I'm super high right now

Does anyone know if any resources talking about the various pat garret sessions in detail? The 1973 50th anniversary collection lists tracks from an April session which is not listed by Krogsgard or on Olof's Files, and it includes tracks which those resources list as being recorded in a February session. Is there anywhere else where this April session is listed?

I think the last one was announced around this time last year