Recommended Readings

I recently wrote an article on some great articles from RollingStone that I think any Dylan fan should read. These would be the “Immortals”, “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, and “The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time”. These are just three features in the magazine that I would recommend to someone. The cool thing about these articles is that not only do they have information on Dylan but also other great artist that anyone would like to read about. This would include the greatest like The Beatles, The Dead, Hendrix, Elvis, and so much more. Dylan got some great honors in these features. His song “Like A Rolling Stone” was voted the number greatest song of all time; a amazing honor and I can’t say that I disagree. Although not my personal favorite song, it is one of the best. When it came to the albums he got two in the top ten and only the Beatles had more albums than he had. Albums included Blonde on Blonde and Highway 61 Revisited just to name a few. Me personally I like to read things about Dylan that compliments him, it assures me that my obsession is justified. The most intriguing article is the one naming Dylan the second greatest artist of all time, again the Beatles beat him, but that is ok with me. The thing that I love about the article is that the Boss Bruce Springsteen writes it. This is just a few articles that RollingStone has written about Dylan and for the past ten years they have stood the test of time in my book. So if you want to read the full articles there are links on my website and a more in-depth review of the articles.

Perfect Dinner Guest

People have often asked me if I could have dinner with any one person alive or dead my answer always seems to be the same. Bob Dylan. I don’t knot what it is about this man but he has always caught my eye. His life has been nothing but a conundrum and it has consitelantly intrigued me. Many of my friends are often confused by this. They know what a huge Dylan fan I am but they also know what a huge history buff I am. Many people I know would think that I would say someone like Genghis Khan JFK or Jimmy Hoffa. The truth is as much as those are some of my favorite historical figures and as much mystery there is surrounding their lives I can’t help but want to pick Dylan’s mind. He has done so much for music in his career and affected so many others there are just so much I want to know. The only problem is that I am not even sure if I could get him to talk if I had the chance. Many use the word open book to describe people, well Dylan is a closed book, and the only problem is that he is an encyclopedia. He has so much knowledge and I just would like to hear. I know he has written books and I have read many of them, and although they have great information I would just puffers to ask the question I want to. There are so many things I would want to know I don’t even know if he could answer them. But yeah if had a pick of anyone to spend a day with eat dinner all that jazz it is no doubt Bob Dylan.

When the Ship Comes In

When the Ship Comes In is a fantastic song off the Album The Times Are a Changing. Another one of my favorite songs of Dylan. The song is basically about how people will eventually get what they deserve. Not only to people get what they deserve they get it bad and those around you wont care. The story of this song as I heard from a Joan Baez interview was that Dylan was once giving a hard time about staying in a hotel because of his look, Dylan was not famous as of yet. Once the incident was over he went upstairs and wrote the song in a matter of minutes. When listing to the song you can tell that it is a basic screw you. You can see the nerve it struck with Dylan because of the in depth description he gives of the demise of them. It is a great song and a great song to listen to when you really want to tell some screw you.

Oh the time will come up

When the winds will stop

And the breeze will cease to be breathin'

Like the stillness in the wind

'Fore the hurricane begins

The hours when the ship comes in.

And the seas will split

And the ship will hit

And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking

Then the tide will sound

And the wind will pound

And the morning will be breaking.

Oh the fishes will laugh

As they swim out of the path

And the seagulls they'll be smiling

And the rocks on the sand

Will proudly stand

The hour that the ship comes in.

And the words that are used

For to get the ship confused

Will not be understood as they're spoken

For the chains of the sea

Will have busted in the night

And will be buried at the bottom of the ocean.

A song will lift

As the mainsail shifts

And the boat drifts on to the shoreline

And the sun will respect

Every face on the deck

The hour that the ship comes in.

Then the sands will roll

Out a carpet of gold

For your weary toes to be a-touchin'

And the ship's wise men

Will remind you once again

That the whole wide world is watchin'.

Oh the foes will rise

With the sleep in their eyes

And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin'

But they'll pinch themselves and squeal

And know that it's for real

The hour that the ship comes in.

Then they'll raise their hands

Sayin' we'll meet all your demands

But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered

And like Pharaoh's tribe

They'll be drownded in the tide

And like Goliath, they'll be conquered.

Pat Garrett

When I was thinking about the song “knocking on Heavens’ Door” I could not help but think how well that song goes with the scene in the movie. I know yesterday I said that it was one of the most touching scenes of the movie but it really is true, it almost brings a tear to my eye. The scene opens with Garret coming to get help from a sheriff and his wife whom he calls mama. They went down to try to find Billy and come across a shoot out. The sheriff, played by Slim Pickens is mortal injured in the battle in which the music starts. As Garrett finishes out the gun Battle Sheriff Baker staggers toward a near by pond, in which he sits a stone. Looking over the waterfront as the sun begins to set and he looks over to his wife and the line “takes this badge off of me” is said. Pickens just sits their with a look of confusion on his face as he realizes that his time is done as the music continues not much changes in the scene until it is eventually flashed forward. There is another version of the movie that is just as powerful. The kid walks into a room thinking that his woman is there and it turns out to be Garrett. Garrett shoots him before the Kid even knows what happened and again the sun sets as the Kid meets his final demise. The movie is a favorite of mine and that is just one touching scene among a bunch of great fight scenes and witty comments.

Dylan Covers

The other day I did a post on a new Dylan cover by My Chemical Romance. It got me thinking about other Dylan covers. There have been hundreds of Dylan covers and some of them are pretty good, some even think well than the original (I would disagree). I was listing them in my head and I must say that there have been some very good ones so I thought I would do a quick list on the most known Dylan covers out there. This is not an extensive list, Dave Matthews, the Dead, Johnny Cash have all had great covers but when I think of Dylan covers their three songs that come to my mind almost immediately.

3. “Mr. Tambourine Man”- The Byrd’s: The Byrds have been known for their multiply covers of Dylan songs, but this seems to be the most popular. I must say when I hear this song on the radio I think I am just as likely if not more likely to hear the Byrds version of Dylan’s. Although I do think it is a good song I don’t really think that it is better than the Dylan version.

2. “Knocking on Heavens’ Door”-Guns n Roses: A great cover of the song that Dylan wrote for his 1974 movie Pat Garret and Billy The Kid a western about the cat and mouse game played between Garret and the Kid. A fantastic song and the moment it is played in the movie are actually a touching scene and one of my favorites of the movie. This version is a little longer, and one I enjoy but again have nothing on the original.

1. “All Along the Watchtower”- Jimi Hendrix: Not much I can say about this song that hasn’t been said before. An amazing cover with amazing guitar and drums on it. Hendrix knows this song there are many out there who don’t even known that Dylan did the orginal. Easily the best cover, and although I like the Dylan version better this is a very close second. I can listen to either or depending on my mood and I never gets sick of either of them,

Desolation Row

The other day I was in the car with a friend of mine and then all of a sudden a song came on the radio that caught my ear. It was the song Desolation Row the only thing was that it wasn’t by Dylan; it was by a band called My Chemical Romance. Apparently the song was created for the movie Watchman that came out over a year ago. When I told my song that it was a Dylan cover they were shocked. She said that the song was one of her new favorites and that she had no idea. Now the song itself is ok it is only two and half minutes taking only a portion of the song. It is a rock song, some would consider it almost pop punk, and it is loud, fast, and screamed. It obviously isn’t the best Dylan cover but I’m sure it is not the worst. The one thing that I like about the song is that it helps get Dylan music out to a younger generation. Even though I am only 22, young I know, but this band reaches out to people in grade school. It is important that people get into Dylan’s music young so they can have a strong base for his music when everyone else is listing to the newest pop song. I looked up an interview about the band and they said that they were huge fans of Dylan and that he was a big influence on them something I found shocking seeing that their music is very different from Dylan’s. If there is one thing I like to see it is Dylan across many ages.

Parenthood

Dylan’s music is everywhere once again. The other day I was in the other room of my apartment when I heard Forever Young coming from the TV. I walked into the room to see what was on. To my surprise the song was being used for a theme song for a new TV show. The show is called Parenthood; it is on NBC on Monday at 9 pm. Being the weirdo that I am I decided to watch the show just because the opening song was a Dylan song. It turned out to be pretty interesting so I looked up so info on the show. I found out that it is based off a Ron Howard movie by the same name. The show is all about the troubles of raising a family on all levels. It follows a family of four siblings, their children as well as their parents. The show covers just about every topic imaginable from divorce to masturbation and everything in between. The show has actually become one of my new favorite show and I have since not missed an episode. In a matter of fact I saw that the movie, which was made in 1989 a year after I was born, was on so I watched in and liked it. It is amazing what Dylan can lead me to, just because of a song that was an intro into a TV show made me want to sit down and watch it and I am glad that I did. Now I’m not saying that I like the show because of the song, but hearing that song made me give it a chance, which in the long run I am glad that I did.