Daily Dose Of Dylan

“Tombstone Blues” by Bob Dylan

I did a seminar with my students for two days on seven Bob Dylan songs and they were particularly taken with this song. At length, they discussed the line about how “the sun is not yellow, it’s chicken”. I commended them for tackling the most difficult line in the song. They, in turn, looked at the rest of the song and discovered in the chorus that the gender roles were reversed (ma in the factory, dad’s looking for food) while the narrator was “in the kitchen with the tombstone blues”. Some suggested that it was an indication that the younger generation was not making positive contributions to society while others looked at it as possible PTSD after seeing so much death on Korea and/or Viet Nam. Either way, they identified a clear distinction and separation between the generations which is inherent in much of Dylan’s music. They then tied that back to the chicken and sun by indicating that much of what we see is not real but only our own perception or what we want to see which is dependent upon our experiences and/or socio-economic class. From there, they looked at many of the other Dylan songs in the same manner and understood the 60s.

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“Scarlet Town” by Bob Dylan

This is the song that ended last night’s episode of Defiance. And they couldn’t have chosen a better pairing. Good to see Dylan songs getting some prime-time TV love.

In Scarlet Town, you fight your father’s foes
Up on the hill, a chilly wind blows
You fight ‘em on high and you fight ‘em down in
You fight ‘em with whiskey, morphine and gin
You’ve got legs that can drive men mad
A lot of things we didn’t do that I wish we had
In Scarlet Town, the sky is clear
You’ll wish to God that you stayed right here

(Source: Spotify)

“Mr. Tambourine Man” by Bob Dylan

I know I haven’t posted much music lately because I have been otherwise occupied. Currently, I’m  trying to navigate the long-distance completion of my thesis and all of the paperwork involved. Additionally, I’ve been setting up a field trip (two actually) for most of the sophomore class to go see The Great Gatsby when it comes out which includes its own set of meaningless and redundant paperwork. Finally, I am trying to organize the end of the school year and figure out how I’m going to teach all of the material on the final exam that we had to hand in a month ago. 

With all of this going on, I’m having a hard time remembering whether I’m the horse or the pony, trying to keep straight whether the I’s or T’s get crossed or dotted, and exactly which hoops I’m, supposed to jump through. 

Simply, and in terms of Dylan, I’ve been feeling like I’m following the silliness and futility of the tambourine man every jingle jangle morning. Someday, these things will all be complete and I will look back on these days as necessary to the ends, but right now they’re just mean(s). 

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“Rainy Day Women #12 & 35” by Bob Dylan

This version from MTV’s Unplugged series is a refreshing and more upbeat change from the song that gets a bit too much play. Check it out - acoustic with a great slide guitar.

And follow the Daily Dylan playlist at Spotify.

(Source: Spotify)

“Red River Shore” by Bob Dylan

An outtake from the Time Out of Mind sessions.

Well, I’m a stranger here in a strange land
But I know this is where I belong
I’ll ramble and gamble for the one I love
And the hills will give me a song
Though nothing looks familiar to me
I know I’ve stayed here before
Once, a thousand nights ago
With the girl from the Red River shore

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“Mutineer” by Bob Dylan

While Dylan often played and recorded songs by others, most of them were  old or traditional folk songs. However, one of the artists of whom he was most fond was Warren Zevon. When Zevon died of cancer in 2002, Dylan took to playing his “Mutineer” live as a tribute. One recording would eventually be included on the Zevon tribute album Enjoy Every Sandwich.

(Source: Spotify)

“Lay, Lady, Lay” by Bob Dylan

This has always been a bit of an anomaly for me in the Dylan catalog. It’s always been like a lost and curious teenager trying to find its place. I’m 100% sure it’s because of the vocals. They are much deeper and don’t have the typical nasal wail that makes Dylan’s songs so identifiable. It was hard for me at first to believe it was Dylan singing at all until I heard the rest of Nashville Skyline and the song seemed to find its place for me. There, it made sense; there is some place for everyone.

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“A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall” by Bob Dylan

It’s been a few days since I posted on here, causing some to ask “where have you been, my blue-eyed son?” Well, the answer to that is neither as interesting nor as exciting as the varied answers given by this song’s hero. Let’s just say that, like Dylan’s hero, there’s been a lot going on (or rather a lot that I’m trying to get done - mostly school-related stuff because of the change of marking periods) and, also like Dylan’s hero, I am persevering in the month of hard rains.

Ok, so I’m being overly dramatic. But isn’t that what the internet is for?

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“Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream” by Bob Dylan

Thank you for your responses to yesterday’s question about what songs I should include in my lesson on Post-Modern Bob Dylan songs. I was already figuring on including “Desolation Row”, and “Ballad of a Thin Man” and “Visions of Johanna” were already heading my list, but it was good to see them confirmed. The hands down winner, though was “Subterranean Homesick Blues” (another song that was on my “probables” list), but the surprise was “Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream”, not because it was a rare suggestion, but because it was suggested at all; it wasn’t even on my list of possibilities, and because it fit so perfectly. Thank you, the-half-boy!

Oh, and also because it’s the source of dailydoseofdylan’s matriarch’s Tumblr name.

I was riding on the Mayflower
When I thought I spied some land
I yelled for Captain Arab
I have yuh understand
Who came running to the deck
Said, “Boys, forget the whale
Look on over yonder
Cut the engines
Change the sail
Haul on the bowline”
We sang that melody
Like all tough sailors do
When they are far away at sea.

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“Workingman’s Blues #2” by Bob Dylan

With all of the posts about Margaret Thatcher and her vilification of the poor and working classes, I couldn’t help but think of some of the lines in this song. Dylan, long a defender of the working class and the politics of cooperation (instead of corporation), tells a tale of a man who is struggling to get by in a system rigged to keep the working class poor enough to be too busy to protest and hopeful enough to be thankful for what little they have.

Well, they burned my barn, and they stole my horse 
I can’t save a dime 
I got to be careful, I don’t want to be forced 
Into a life of continual crime 
I can see for myself that the sun is sinking 
How I wish you were here to see 
Tell me now, am I wrong in thinking 
That you have forgotten me? 

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“Born in Time” by Bob Dylan

Sunday night needs a nice, mellow version of this song which would later appear on Under the Red Sky.

Also, I’ve been compiling the songs I post here in  a playlist on Spotify. Feel free to follow - the playlist is called Daily Dylan.

(Source: Spotify)