I never liked Dylan, never got him. I always thought his music was basicly devoid of meaning, even when I was a hippy radical. In the sixties, my college friends would spend hours analyzing his poetry. I thought it was mostly meaningless rhymes.
I may have to take another look at him.
Check out the albums Time Out of Mind ('96) and Oh Mercy ('88).
While you're at it, check out his lyrics for the song "Property of Jesus":
Go ahead and talk about him because he makes you doubt,
Because he has denied himself the things that you can't live without.
Laugh at him behind his back just like the others do,
Remind him of what he used to be when he comes walkin' through.
He's the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You've got a heart of stone
Stop your conversation when he passes on the street,
Hope he falls upon himself, oh, won't that be sweet
Because he can't be exploited by superstition anymore
Because he can't be bribed or bought by the things that you adore.
He's the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You've got a heart of stone
When the whip that's keeping you in line doesn't make him jump,
Say he's hard-of-hearin', say that he's a chump.
Say he's out of step with reality as you try to test his nerve
Because he doesn't pay no tribute to the king that you serve.
He's the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You've got a heart of stone
Say that he's a loser 'cause he got no common sense
Because he don't increase his worth at someone else's expense.
Because he's not afraid of trying, 'cause he don't look at you and smile,
'Cause he doesn't tell you jokes or fairy tales, say he's got no style.
He's the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You've got a heart of stone
You can laugh at salvation, you can play Olympic games,
You think that when you rest at last you'll go back from where you came.
But you've picked up quite a story and you've changed since the womb.
What happened to the real you, you've been captured but by whom?
He's the property of Jesus
Resent him to the bone
You got something better
You've got a heart of stone
I think it's worth another look. Lots of symbolism and metaphors... Of course the problem with symbols and metaphors is they are not obviously concrete. They can be co-opted to mean just about anything anyone wants which of course is the problem with poetry... or sometimes even "Mission Accomplished" banners. To some the banner praised the hard work of air craft carrier personnel while to others the banner represented well, just about anything Kerry (or Michael Moore, or Dan Rather) happened to be thinking at the moment.
Dylan's answers were always "blowin' in the wind" and it took even him many years to try and understand what he really meant. That's fine, part of the territory with poetry. Likewise, it's part of the process of aging. He was "...much older then but he's younger than that now". As are we all.
Yeah, I never got it either. It all sounded very pretentious to me.
It's funny that the press hailed Springsteen as the new Dylan, but it wasn't until Bruce shook off the Dylan influence that Bruce became listenable.
Maybe "Born in the U.S.A" is what Bob could have been if he threw off his own pretensions and wrote about what really mattered to him 8-)
You apparantly were correct. Mr. Dylan seems to have been in it for the money (good reason) and not for the philosophical BS that was so prevalent at the time. My friends were so into Dylan and Thoreau and every other type of anti-establishment type, Jerry Rubin, Mao's red book, etc.... I couldn't take it any more! and joined the MARINE CORPS!!!!!!!
listen to the song "Tangled Up In Blue."
I don't know if it's genius or what, but I have no idea how he can create such emotional, intense, original images with just a few seemingly vague or random words.
like this:
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.
or this:
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.
CANNOT get past that whiny nasally voice.....for that period, give me David Ruffin or aretha Franklin any day!!!!!
Lots and lots of drugs helped the understanding, back in the 60s. Been there, did that, got the t-shirt.
I didn't like Dylan but then I worked on his CD-Rom...Highway 61 and realized he's one of the best songwriters of all time. For you to say his songs were devoid of meaning, you best look at them again...I think you will change your mind.
A Fool Such as I
A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
A Satisfied Mind
Abandoned Love
Absolutely Sweet Marie
Ain't A-Gonna Grieve
Ain't No Man Righteous (No Not One)
Ain't No More Cane
Alberta #1
Alberta #2
All Along the Watchtower
All I Really Want to Do
All Over You
All the Tired Horses
Angelina
Apple Suckling Tree
Are You Ready?
Arthur McBride
As I Went Out One Morning
B
Baby, I'm in the Mood for You
Baby, Let Me Follow You Down
Baby, Stop Crying
Ballad For A Friend
Ballad in Plain D
Ballad of a Thin Man
Ballad Of Donald White
Ballad of Hollis Brown
Band Of The Hand (It's Hell Time Man!)
Belle Isle
Bessie Smith
Big Yellow Taxi
Billy 1
Billy 4
Billy 7
Billy (Main Title Theme)
Black Crow Blues
Black Diamond Bay
Blackjack Davey
Blind Willie McTell
Blood in My Eyes
Blowin' in the Wind
Blue Moon
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Bob Dylan's Blues
Bob Dylan's Dream
Bob Dylan's New Orleans Rag
Boots of Spanish Leather
Born in Time
Broke Down Engine
Brownsville Girl
Buckets of Rain
Bunkhouse Theme
Bye and Bye
C
California
Call Letter Blues
Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?
Can't Help Falling in Love
Can't Wait
Canadee-i-o
Cantina Theme (Workin' for the Law)
Caribbean Wind
Cat's in the Well
Catfish
Changing of the Guards
Chimes of Freedom
Clean-Cut Kid
Clothes Line Saga
Cold Irons Bound
Coming From The Heart (The Road Is Long)
Copper Kettle
Corrina, Corrina
Country Pie
Covenant Woman
Cry A While
D
Dark Eyes
Day of the Locusts
Days of 49
Dead Man, Dead Man
Dear Landlord
Death is Not the End
Delia
Denise
Desolation Row
Diamond Joe
Dignity
Dirge
Dirt Road Blues
Disease of Conceit
Do Right to Me Baby
Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight
Don't Think Twice, It's All Right
Don't Ya Tell Henry
Down Along the Cove
Down in the Flood
Down the Highway
Drifter's Escape
Driftin' Too Far from Shore
Dusty Old Fairgrounds
E
Early Mornin' Rain
Emotionally Yours
Endless Highway
Eternal Circle
Every Grain of Sand
Everything is Broken
F
Farewell
Farewell Angelina
Father of Night
Final Theme
Fixin' to Die
Floater (Too Much To Ask)
Foot of Pride
Forever Young
Frankie & Albert
Freight Train Blues
Froggie Went a Courtin'
From a Buick 6
G
Gates of Eden
George Jackson
Get Your Rocks Off!
Girl of the North Country
Go 'Way Little Boy
God Knows
Goin' to Acapulco
Going, Going, Gone
Golden Loom
Gonna Change My Way of Thinking
Gospel Plow
Got My Mind Made Up
Gotta Serve Somebody
Gotta Travel On
Guess I'm Doin' Fine
Gypsy Lou
H
Had a Dream About You, Baby
Handy Dandy
Hard Times
Hard Times in New York Town
Hazel
He Was a Friend of Mine
Heart of Mine
Heartland
Hero Blues
High Water (for Charley Patton)
Highlands
Highway 51 Blues
Highway 61 Revisited
Honest With Me
Honey, Just Allow Me One More Chance
House Carpenter
House of the Rising Sun
Hurricane
I
I Am a Lonesome Hobo
I and I
I Believe in You
I Don't Believe You (She Acts Like We Never Have Met)
I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
I Forgot More Than You'll Ever Know
I Pity the Poor Immigrant
I Shall Be Free
I Shall Be Free No.10
I Shall Be Released
I Threw It All Away
I Wanna Be Your Lover
I Want You
I'd Hate To Be You On That Dreadful Day
I'd Have You Any Time
I'll Be Your Baby Tonight
I'll Keep It with Mine
I'll Remember You
Idiot Wind
If Dogs Run Free
If I Don't Be There By Morning
If Not for You
If You Gotta Go, Go Now
If You See Her, Say Hello
In My Time of Dyin'
In Search of Little Sadie
In the Garden
In the Summertime
Introduction by Kris Kristofferson
Is Your Love in Vain?
Isis
It Ain't Me, Babe
It Hurts Me Too
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
J
Jack-A-Roe
Jet Pilot
Jim Jones
Joey
John Brown
John Wesley Harding
Jokerman
Just Like a Woman
Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
K
Katie's Been Gone
Kingsport Town
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
L
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie
Lay Down Your Weary Tune
Lay, Lady, Lay
Legionnaire's Disease
Lenny Bruce
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
Let It Be Me
Let Me Die in My Footsteps
Let's Keep It Between Us
Let's Stick Together
License to Kill
Like a Rolling Stone
Lily of the West
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
Little Maggie
Little Sadie
Living the Blues
Lo and Behold!
Lone Pilgrim
Lonesome Day Blues
Long Ago, Far Away
Long Time Gone
Long-Distance Operator
Lord Protect My Child
Love Henry
Love Is Just A Four-letter Word
Love Minus Zero/No Limit
Love Sick
M
Maggie's Farm
Make You Feel My Love
Mama, You Been on My Mind
Man Gave Names to All the Animals
Man in the Long Black Coat
Man of Constant Sorrow
Man of Peace
Man on the Street
Mary Ann
Masters of War
Maybe Someday
Meet Me in the Morning
Million Dollar Bash
Million Miles
Minstrel Boy
Mississippi
Mixed Up Confusion
Money Blues
Moonlight
Moonshiner
Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine
Most of the Time
Motorpsycho Nightmare
Mozambique
Mr. Bojangles
Mr. Tambourine Man
My Back Pages
N
Nashville Skyline Rag
Need a Woman
Neighborhood Bully
Never Gonna Be the Same Again
Never Say Goodbye
New Morning
New Pony
Night After Night
Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street)
No More Auction Block
No Time to Think
Nobody 'Cept You
North Country Blues
Not Dark Yet
Nothing was Delivered
O
Obviously Five Believers
Odds and Ends
Oh, Sister
On a Night Like This
On the Road Again
One More Cup of Coffee (Valley Below)
One More Night
One More Weekend
One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)
One Too Many Mornings
Only a Hobo
Only a Pawn in Their Game
Open the Door, Homer
Orange Juice Blues (Blues for Breakfast)
Outlaw Blues
Oxford Town
P
Paths of Victory
Peggy Day
Percy's Song
Playboys and Playgirls
Please, Mrs. Henry
Pledging My Time
Po' Boy
Political World
Poor Boy Blues
Positively 4th Street
Precious Angel
Precious Memories
Pressing On
Pretty Peggy-O
Property of Jesus
Q
Queen Jane Approximately
Quinn the Eskimo (The Mighty Quinn)
Quit Your Low Down Ways
R
Ragged & Dirty
Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
Rambling, Gambling Willie
Rank Strangers to Me
Restless Farewell
Ring Them Bells
Rita May
River Theme
Rocks and Gravel
Romance in Durango
Ruben Remus
S
Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
Sally Sue Brown
Santa Fe
Sara
Sarah Jane
Saved
Saving Grace
See That My Grave is Kept Clean
Seeing the Real You at Last
Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Series of Dreams
Seven Curses
Seven Days
She Belongs to Me
She's Your Lover Now
Shelter from the Storm
Shenandoah
Shooting Star
Shot of Love
Sign Language
Sign On The Cross
Sign on the Window
Silent Weekend
Silvio
Simple Twist of Fate
Sittin' on Top of the World
Sitting on a Barbed-Wire Fence
Slow Train
Solid Rock
Someone's Got a Hold of My Heart
Something There is About You
Something's Burning, Baby
Song to Woody
Spanish Harlem Incident
Spanish is the Loving Tongue
Stack A Lee
Stage Fright
Standing In The Doorway
Standing On The Highway
Steel Bars
Step It Up And Go
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Sugar Baby
Summer Days
Suze (The Cough Song)
Sweetheart Like You
T
T.V. Talkin' Song
Take a Message to Mary
Take Me as I Am
Talkin Hava Negeilah Blues
Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues
Talkin' World War III Blues
Talking Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues
Talking New York
Tangled Up in Blue
Tears of Rage
Tell Me
Tell Me, Momma
Tell Me That It Isn't True
Temporary Like Achilles
The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
The Ballad of Ira Hayes
The Boxer
The Death Of Emmett Till
The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
The Man in Me
The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down
The Shape I'm In
The Times They Are A-Changin'
The Wandering Kind
The Weight
The Wicked Messenger
They Killed Him
Things Have Changed
This Wheel's on Fire
Three Angels
Tight Connection to My Heart (Has Anybody Seen My Love)
Til I Fell In Love With You
Time Passes Slowly
Tiny Montgomery
To Be Alone with You
To Ramona
Tombstone Blues
Tomorrow is a Long Time
Tomorrow Night
Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
Too Much of Nothing
Tough Mama
Train A-Travelin'
Trouble
Trouble In Mind
True Love Tends to Forget
Trust Yourself
Tryin' To Get To Heaven
Turkey Chase
Tweedle Dee & Tweedle Dum
Two Soldiers
U
Ugliest Girl in the World
Unbelievable
Under the Red Sky
Under Your Spell
Union Sundown
Up on Cripple Creek
Up to Me
V
Visions of Johanna
W
Walk Out In The Rain
Walkin' Down the Line
Wallflower
Walls of Red Wing
Wanted Man
Watching the River Flow
Watered Down Love
We Better Talk This Over
Wedding Song
Went to See the Gypsy
What Can I Do For You?
What Good Am I?
What Was It You Wanted?
Whatcha Gonna Do
When Did You Leave Heaven?
When He Returns
When I Paint My Masterpiece
When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky
When the Ship Comes In
When You Awake
When You Gonna Wake Up?
Where Are You Tonight?
Where Teardrops Fall
Who Killed Davey Moore?
Wiggle Wiggle
Wigwam
Winterlude
With God on Our Side
Woogie Boogie
World Gone Wrong
Worried Blues
Y
Yazoo Street Scandal
Ye Shall Be Changed
Yea! Heavy and a Bottle of Bread
You Ain't Goin' Nowhere
You Angel You
You Changed My Life
You Wanna Ramble
You're a Big Girl Now
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go
You're Gonna Quit Me
You're No Good