Dylan Ping
Posted on 04/13/2009 8:04:27 PM PDT by pissant
Bob Dylan, the poet laureate of rock music, has written some of the greatest songs of all time. Whether in the form of a send-off to a former friend, a protest song, or a feel-good ballad immortalizing a good relationship, Dylan consistently delivers interesting, often timeless music. The following is a list of some of Dylan's best from early in his career.
10) Lay Lady Lay, on the country music album Nashville Skyline, features a softer-voiced Bob Dylan (he had temporarily quit smoking during his recuperation from a near-fatal motorcycle accident). It is a very interesting and very, well, strange song. At once haunting and tender, it is one of his best. One thing about Bob D: his most impressive or hardest-hitting songs, rhetorical-wise, are about women. Lay Lady Lay is one of the tender, mellow ones. More on this later.
9) Masters of War (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan), is an unabashed protest song. No rhetorical or lyrical pussy-footing here. Dylan lays out exactly how he feels about war and the concomitant wartime profiteers. No oblique or cryptic lyrics to be found in this song. It resonates today.
8) Ballad of a Thin Man on Highway 61 Revisited, Bob Dylan's second electric album. People did not know how to take it. The lyrics are about as cryptic and surrealistic as you can get, yet are interesting and make sense, sort of. Pounding piano and a strong organ riff carry the song, but amidst the whirlpool of sound, Dylan's delivery and timing shine.
7) Blowing in the Wind (The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan), perhaps Dylan's most famous song, is a cry for peace, love, and equality in the generalized, vague, and all-encompassing vein of John Lennon's later Imagine. I mention it because it is a great song and one worth listening to.
(Excerpt) Read more at associatedcontent.com ...
In no particular order:
Idiot Wind
Tangled Up in Blue
Romance in Durango
Blind Willie McTell
Every Grain of Sand
Visions of Johanna
Brownsville Girl
One too Many Mornings
Tomorrow is Such a Long Time
Chimes of Freedom
Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues
Queen Jane Approximately
Absolutely Sweet Marie
I threw it all Away
Forever Young
When I Paint my Masterpiece
Is Your Love in vain
Slow Train Coming
Angelina
Cold Irons Bound
Knocking on heaven's Door
ping
One too many mornings, yeah, I love that one. There’s not much he’s written that I don’t like.
Tangled Up in Blue
That one is enough for me.
Neighborhood bully
He’s got a few stink bombs, but when you write for 45 years, your bound to.
Put me in a very blue mood, that one does.
Best assessment of Israel ever put to song.
Anything Blood on the Tracks
Thanks Scott
One of the best love songs of all time...
I’ve seen love go by my door
It’s never been this close before
Never been so easy or so slow.
Been shooting in the dark too long
When somethin’s not right it’s wrong
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Dragon clouds so high above
I’ve only known careless love,
It’s always hit me from below.
This time around it’s more correct
Right on target, so direct,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Purple clover, Queen Anne lace,
Crimson hair across your face,
You could make me cry if you don’t know.
Can’t remember what I was thinkin’ of
You might be spoilin’ me too much, love,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Flowers on the hillside, bloomin’ crazy,
Crickets talkin’ back and forth in rhyme,
Blue river runnin’ slow and lazy,
I could stay with you forever
And never realize the time.
Situations have ended sad,
Relationships have all been bad.
Mine’ve been like Verlaine’s and Rimbaud.
But there’s no way I can compare
All those scenes to this affair,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m doin’,
Stayin’ far behind without you.
Yer gonna make me wonder what I’m sayin’,
Yer gonna make me give myself a good talkin’ to.
I’ll look for you in old Honolulu,
San Francisco, Ashtabula,
Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know.
But I’ll see you in the sky above,
In the tall grass, in the ones I love,
Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’,
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red.
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough.
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through,
Tangled up in blue.
She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess,
But I used a little too much force.
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best.
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin’ away
I heard her say over my shoulder,
“We’ll meet again someday on the avenue,”
Tangled up in blue.
Yep, I wore out a couple BOTT albums.
Hurricane
Rainy Day Women
Stuck Inside of Mobile...
Shelter From the Storm
Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts
a few more off the top of the noggin
She was workin’ in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer,
I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear.
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I’s just about to do the same,
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, “Don’t I know your name?”
One that never makes anyones list but mine is Black Diamond Bay from Desire
Not Dark Yet
Highlands
Man in the Long Black Coat
Dignity
Series of Dreams
Foot of Pride
Jokerman
The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar
In the Garden
Solid Rock
You Gotta Serve Somebody
I Believe in You
...as far as the post-70s tunes not already mentioned goes.
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