Rather than vote for the biggies, I've gone for We Better Talk This Over. Always felt this was an overlooked track, especially the line 'like the sound of one hand clapping'. And the single NET performance from 2000 is great fun too.
Isn't it a composite/collage of human past and future in nine scenes? At least every verse seems to be set in a different time and place. Of course, it has to be a double exposure. Most of the best works of (post)modern art are. I must confess, Dylan's performance is so sincere and sad and resolute I often break down and cry while listening. There aren't that many songs that do that to me.
Your explanation makes sense to me, although I don't know much about post-modern art. I would like you to be more specific about "human" are you saying its metaphorical for the human race or just for the singer telling us the story? I'm also emotionally moved by the song. Every time I listen to it.There is no doubt that Dylan is feeling the words, as actors do, and he conveys the sense that something terrible is pursuing him and will eventually catch up. The last verse offers transcendence, but not hope. He told an interviewer -- I never keep a record of where I read these things in entertainment -- that the song was hovering in the air for hundreds of years before he finally took it down. He said it was like taking dictation. Might have been one of those Rolling Stone interviews. He's made those comments about his early songs before.
Where Are You Tonight - one of those great 'build up' songs...Carribean Wind is also in this camp. bob and the band are feeling it Sound never bothered me unless I really cranked it, is bob at his nasaliest? maybe tied this with Slow Train.
Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power). Got to see him do it live once in my 15, 16 times seeing him. Was absolutely phenomenal.
I dunno, I just see the verses as vignettes, glimpses of different people in different times and situations. There's a kind of a "past lives" vibe which brings to my mind Waltari's novel 'The Etruscan' for some reason. It's fully plausible that Bob himself is none the wiser about that song's "meaning". And that's part of what makes him such a great songwriter, I think.
This is a great album. Underated in my opinion. There are personal reasons that this is high upon my list, one I will keep to myself but it also reminds of the phenomenal Blackbushe Picnic I attended. Probably my all time favourite gig. To me it is a very consistent work and always brings a smile when it gets a spin. Thanks Debs.
Listening to "Changing of the Guards" right now takes me right back . . . to the time when I "discovered" Dylan. Love the melody, the fantastic lyrics, the call and response (all over this album, and new for Dylan at the time). Street-Legal, when push comes to shove, remains my favourite Dylan album (actually, quite easily). And, to think, Greil Marcus called it "utterly fake." Yeah, right. Pearls to swine, and all that.
I haven't been able to get into this album, don't know why. I've listened to Changing Of The Guards but it didn't click with me.
Senor, just over changing of the guard, because of its atmosphere. Possibly my favorite Bob album or the one that gets the most plays.
I thought so too until I picked up a Canadian pressing ,which is so different from the crap nz pressing I had which was way worse then the cd.
It's about Dylan's music career as a songwriter and iconoclast and what it means to him to release 16 records in 16 years (at the time he wrote the song), and watch each of these albums go out into the public where they are nothing but fodder for his fans and predators. He says this right up top in the opening lines. By the time he introduces the "she" character in the song, it's pretty clear that he's talking about the physical manifestation of his passion as an artistic creator. Namely a record. He speaks of her as having an ebony face, as vinyl records are indeed black. I could go through the entire song and explain how all of the symbolism works in this way.
One of the best commentaries on "Changing of the Guards" was an essay posted on BobDylan.com a few years back. It's since been taken down, unfortunately, and I never made a copy--wish I had. Contained a really fresh, insightful analysis of the imagery. Anyone else know the one I mean?
. . . One thing I vaguely remember the Bobdylan.com article drawing my attention to was the contrast between above and below, rising and falling, that seems to permeate much of the imagery of the song.
My favourite Dylan LP. I am sorry but I cannot separate the opening song, Baby Stop Crying and Is Your Love In Vain? They're my front three but when I think about it, all the songs are good aren't they.
I don't care much for horns... or overbearing backup singers, and the recording sounds like sh** But this is one of my favorite Dylan albums
Not saying this isn't a valid interpretation, but it does kind of turn a sweepingly poetic song into a bit of petty bitching. Also I find it hard to believe that Dylan ever kept track of how many records he'd made, particularly during this manic year.
"Where Are You Tonight?" is one of the top 5 greatest Dylan songs ever. By far his most underrated closing track, and I may go as far to say his best closer ever. I definitely find myself returning to it more frequently than Desolation Row or Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands.