Bob Dylan in Five Songs...

A friend of mine asked me to write something about Dylan and what makes him great for his blog. Trick was I had to do it through five songs. These aren't necessarily my favourite Dylan songs I just wanted to highlight certain aspects. See what you all think....

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Very nice piece of writing “ Arthur”
Picking just 5 songs is not easy.
I doubt anyone on here would pick the same five!
I’ll give it some thought and report back.

peace and love✌Dave

 

Very well said. I think you nailed it.

 

Exactly

 

Picking 5 songs to give a flavour of Dylan to the uninitiated, very hard but here’s mine ( today anyway)
Desolation Row
4th Time Around
The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar
Idiot Wind
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again


peace and love✌Dave

 

It's impossible to pick just 5 songs, but I think Visions of Johanna and Tangled Up in Blue should be in that list.

 

My choice would be:

Blowin' In The Wind
Mr Tambourine Man
Like A Rolling Stone
Visions Of Johanna
All Along The Watchtower

 

Blowin' In The Wind
The Times They Are a-Changin'
Chimes Of Freedom
Mr. Tambourine Man
Like A Rolling Stone

 

Blowin’ In The Wind
Times They Are A Changin’
Mr. Tambourine Man
Like A Rolling Stone
Every Grain Of Sand

 

Impossible to do, and I'd quite easily list another 5 lists of 5 but here's what I feel is a good representation for now ..

Masters Of War (topical / social Bob)
Desolation Row (60's surrealist Bob)
The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest (enigmatic, back-to-basics Bob)
Abandoned Love (largely unknown, incredible Bob)
Not Dark Yet (mortal Bob)

 

as everyone has said, impossible task! But as attempts at impossible tasks go, this is an admirable one Nice piece of writing

 

Dylan the storyteller: Tangled Up In Blue
Dylan the dreamweaver: She's Your Lover Now (piano version)
Dylan the romantic: My One & Only Love
Dylan when he's angry: Idiot Wind (Hard Rain version)
Dylan when he's feeling spiritual/introspective: Red River Shore


Why a cover? Because covers have long been a critical component of the Dylan story, particularly if you're a collector of his live material. Why no "protest" material? Because Bob's always at his best when he's singing about personal, or spiritual, or philisophical matters.

 

Terrific. I enjoyed that...thanks very much.

I thought you might have gone with Every Grain of Sand, but I Believe in You was quite the inspired pick!

 

Dylan in five songs, ok:

I Believe In You - Is it sung to a higher power, or to a woman ? Even in his born-again phase, he creates an enigma.

Not Dark Yet - The best song about growing old, written in late middle-age, and with a wealth of experience behind him.

I&I - All about looking for a relationship for all the right reasons, plus some amazing biblical imagery when wanting to get to know someone in the biblical sense.

What Was It You Wanted ? - What's the answer to such an enigmatic question.

Restless Farewell - Sums up the wondering minstrel, travelling on, always creating, and always moving like Dylan himself.

 

Many mornings I find myself saying "Oh Mama Can this Really be the End?" so Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again is on my list.

 

that is excellent!

 

Desolation Row
The Ballad Of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest
Just Like A Woman
Positively 4th Street
Percy's Song

 

Not sure I can even try to pick 5 songs but if
It's All Over Now Baby Blue isn't one of them then not sure I'm listening. Hopefully any new converts will have the same glee Donovan had on his face when Dylan played it in Don't Look Back.

 

Mr Tambourine Man
Like a Rolling Stone
Tangled Up in Blue
Series of Dreams
Girl from the Red River Shore

 

Nice bit of writing.
(Very hard to encapsulate with such restrictions...but well done.)