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 ...
Ye Shall Be Changed
Every Grain of Sand
When You Gonna Wake Up
Property of Jesus
Chimes of Freedom
Absolutely Sweet Marie
With God On Our Side
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carrol
When the Ship Comes In
When He Returns
Obviously I have a lot on my mind these days ;)
I got Tell Tale Signs - Bootleg Series volume 8.
Some great stuff on there, including Series of Dreams alternate take without the Daniel Lanois overdubbing crap.
Bob Dylan = friend of Pete Seeger.
Pete Seeger = friend of Stalin.
Pete Seeger + Springsteen = friend of O’s.
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=pete+seeger+dylan
“Bruce Springsteen, Bob Dylan and others will pay tribute to the great Pete Seeger and will celebrate his 90th birthday with a big concert in New York. ...”
Most excellent list. For me the best song is Visions of Johanna. The contenders for second place are many.
Good stuff. I could do a different top 10 every day for two weeks, I’m guessing.
I left off To Ramona, darn it!
Only difference is Bob ain’t no commie. In fact Seeger felt very betrayed by bob becoming the anti-hippie during the Vietnam war.
That is the personification of ‘stream of consciousness’ writing.
It’s a very visual song - both in terms of how he paints pictures with words but also in terms of the direct references to visual art in the song.
Knocking on Heaven's Door
Lay Lady Lay
All Along the Watchtower
And the cover versions are better except for Lay Lady Lay, which was very heavily produced for a Dylan song.
The Jelly faced women all sneeze. LOL
I’ve never heard a cover by anyone that does it as good as Bob’s original. Even Hendrix’s All Along the Watchtower, though good, is damn near a completely different song.
Have you heard Cross the Green Mountain from the God’s and Generals soundtrack (also on Tell Tale Signs). Most excellent
“To Romana” is my favorite Dylan song ... it may not be his “best” from a song writing craft perspective,but it’s just such a beautiful, personal song.
Ramona, come closer,
Shed softly your watery eyes.
The pangs of your sadness
will pass as your senses will rise.
The flowers of the city
Though breathlike, get deathlike sometimes.
And there’s no use in trying
to deal with the dying
though I cannot explain that in lines.
Your cracked country lips
I still wish to kiss,
as to be by the strength of your skin.
Your magnetic movements
Still capture the minutes I’m in.
But it grieves my heart, love,
To see you tryin’ to be a part of
a world that just don’t exist.
It’s all just a dream, babe,
a vacuum, a scheme, babe,
that sucks you into feelin’ like this.
I can see that your head
has been twisted and fed
with worthless foam from the mouth.
I can tell you are torn
between staying and returning
on back to the South.
You’ve been fooled into thinking
that the finishing end is at hand.
Yet there’s no one to beat you.
No one to defeat you,
except the thoughts of yourself feeling bad.
I’ve heard you say many times
That you’re better than no one
And no one is better than you.
If you really believe that,
you know you have
nothing to win and nothing to lose.
From fixtures and forces and friends,
your sorrow does stem.
That hype you and type you,
and making you feel
that you gotta be just like them.
I’d forever talk to you,
but soon my words,
would turn into a meaningless ring.
For deep in my heart
I know there is no help I can bring.
Everything passes,
Everything changes,
Just do what you think you should do.
And someday maybe,
Who knows, baby,
I’ll come and be crying to you.
I muttered somethin’ underneath my breath,
She studied the lines on my face.
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe,
Tangled up in blue.
She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
“I thought you’d never say hello,” she said
“You look like the silent type.”
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century.
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.
The Man In The Long Black Coat
People that don’t know Dylan don’t realize how many simple, yet powerful love songs he wrote.
Great one, and pertinent.
Bump!
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