Street Legal-Dylan’s most underrated release?

POLL: Bob Dylan's Street-Legal - your favourite track?

Bob Dylan's Street-Legal piano demos – are we actually sure these EXIST?

 

I think I posted much of it in another thread. At the time Dylan wrote this, he had been in the music business and public spotlight for 16 years. One of the reasons the references throughout the song seem so cryptic, even universal symbols, is they’re viewed through the narrator’s very personal and poetic prism of these 16 years.

The sixteen banners of course represent the albums released at the time he wrote the song:
Bob Dylan (1962)
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan (1963)
The Times They Are a-Changin' (1964)
Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)
Bringing It All Back Home (1965)
Highway 61 Revisited (1965)
Blonde on Blonde (1966)
John Wesley Harding (1967)
Nashville Skyline (1969)
Self Portrait (1970)
New Morning (1970)
Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973)
Dylan (1973)
Planet Waves (1974)
Blood on the Tracks (1975)
Desire (1976)

The desperate men and women divided are Dylan’s own fans, predators (perhaps music critics or record producers) and disciples. Dylan introduces the themes of predation and senescence. The spreading of the wings conjures the image of the desperate men and women as raptor-like predators, and the falling leaves suggest an imminent ending to things, as the autumn months lead to winter. The implication may be that Dylan views his art as fleeting and evanescent.

Dylan opens the second stanza by going back to the beginning of those 16 years when fortune called. He casts himself as an opportunist, motivated and lured by money to shed his anonymity for a record contract with Columbia and stepping out into innumerable performances. The merchants and thieves represent the record industry that has profited from the narrator’s gift. The last deal gone down builds on the imagery of the predators “spreading their wings ‘neath falling leaves."

From there, the song introduces the "she" character and things get even more abstract. She could be the muse, the artist's act of creation, where his real artistry lives. In contrast to the warmth of the sweet-smelling meadows of creative fertility and the midsummer eve, Dylan then describes a cold-blooded moon. This merciless image shines down upon him as the captain, or shepherd who has created a new record for his flock.

With each new record, there is a celebration of its release with posters, promo materials and pageantry of the artist--all of which ultimately have nothing to do with the art. Dylan brilliantly refers to the "she" character as having an ebony face. This is the commercial manifestation of Dylan’s creative gift. In other words, her physical manifestation is that of a record album.

Despite being the object and documentation of his creativity, the record is beyond communication. All it can do now is serve in a commercial capacity, not an artistic one. Dylan’s allure for the “she” character in the song is descriptive of the intrigue of an artist to his commercial appeal. Dylan sees what happens to his artistic creation after it is released as a record and churned out for critics and fans to discover, past the point of inspiration and creation.

Dylan characterizes the consumers and purveyors of his music as betraying him, as the theme of the Changing of the Guards is for the release of music to by definition betray the creativity and feelings that inspired and informed the act of creation itself. Thus, any attempt to act as a Dylan disciple would necessarily result in failure, betrayal and treachery, until the guard changed with the next release. The song continues with messianic undertones, and one can imagine scenes from Christ’s betrayal.

Dylan likens his predicament of service to the merchants and thieves as a palace of mirrors. He has been rewarded with fame and fortune for churning out manifestations of his artistry that are but shadowy reflections of himself. The line also conjures images of the hall of mirrors at the palace of Versailles.

In the penultimate stanza, addressing the renegade and treacherous followers, representing the music industry and consumers who prey on the physical manifestations of his artistry, Dylan says he doesn’t need it. He casts himself as, "shining their shoes" in the way he lines the pockets of everyone at his record company, the radio stations and record stores, and brings meaning to his fans. The true art–the creative process that gave rise to his songs–is unavailable to his followers. Hi is just polishing a superficial vestige of the spirit that inspired his work.

 

very interesting!

but I still think there is a predominate spiritual desperateness to this album.....an internal crossroads
exactly where Dylan was at the time

 

Thanks so much...

...I just love this album.


I just received it and it sounds so good!

 

Thanks for taking the time to write your interpretation. I follow the drift.
It makes sense up to a point, and then I don't know. But I think the song
has another and very different layer to it.

 

If the SACD version of Street-Legal is not an option, which CD version is the second best option? Would it be the 2004 release? I read somewhere the 2004 reissues are equivalent to the CD layer of the Hybrid SACD.

Thanks for your help.

 

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In my personal ranking of his 38 studio albums so far - Street Legal is currently # 15.

Some writers and music critics rank it higher: for example the renowned Michael Gray in his comprehensive Dylan chronicle 'Song & Dance Man III' calls Street Legal the second-best Dylan album of the seventies right after Blood on the Tracks.
I'm not going so far. From that particular Dylan-decade, I rank not only 'Blood on the Tracks' (1975) but also 'New Morning' (1970) plus 'Desire' (1976) higher than Street Legal (1978).
That said, Street Legal contains one of my favorite all-time Dylan songs







.................................

 

Street Legal has some of the most enigmatic lyrics of any of his albums. I just love "Senor" and "Changing of the Guard". Underrated? Nah. I'd say any of the Jesus records are more underrated than the former. The Jesus albums were terrific. They don't receive enough credit.

 

I salute your bravery to express your opinion and display that heinous flag. I detest that flag so much. In fact, I hate it. At the same time, I would die for the right for you to express your truth. Folks from other walks of life who choose not to ask questions about anything and just judge people will not be so forgiving.

 

Street Legal is middle to lower-tier Dylan for me.
But Where Are You Tonight is a real keeper.
Absolutely love that one.

 

Top 5 Dylan song for me

 

Wasn't this songwriting period when Dylan visited Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer? I've been to the Camargue, but I've never attended the festival honoring Sara la Noire. Dylan was clearly at a very soul searching part of his life when he wrote the songs for this album. The lyrics don't always have to make sense. (In fact they're better if they don't follow a formulaic narrative.) This lp sounds better when a girl is burning incense in the room with you.

 

Not underrated. Just not that good.

 

Street Legal did not feature one of his stronger backing ensembles.

 

I'm quoting myself from a couple of years ago because I now have The Complete Albums CD box and Street Legal has clicked with me over the last year. I like it a lot now, all of it. The CD in this box, using the original mix, sounds great to me too. My favourite Street Legal.

 

I like Street Legal but it tends to be well fought of generally in UK where it was well received. I like all the songs on it.

Reading this thread and Infidels didn't get a mention. I love this record but could that go down as underrated or is it already highly regarded? Shot of Love also very good with a top tier Dylan song in Every Grain of Sand.

I find with Dylan when I go back through his albums again I always end up liking one I didn't like previously which I did with New Morning recently. One I just can't get into (out of his well received ones) is JWH.

 

Tempest is Dylan's most underrated album.

Street-Legal wasn't that well received at the time, at least not in the US. I always thought it was better than the initial reaction to it was. But I wouldn't call it a great album. "Senior" and "Changing of the Guards" are interesting, though I'm still not really sure what they're about. And despite the woe-is-me sense of put-upon victimization and almost condescendingly sexist pleading that pervades some of the relationship songs on side 2 (Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow?/Do you understand my pain?.... ugh, can you imagine a relationship with the guy singing that!?), they are intriguing. I'd put the album among Dylan's third tier of work though.

 

I must chime in here. Huge Dylan fan and this album has to be one of his best. It's certainly one of my personal favorites. As a huge Dead Head as well, I've always thought Jerry Garcia should of covered Changing of the Guard, as it has the most incredible lyrics & energy; but then again, he did cover Senior and boy, was did he.

Zafu

 

A Top 5 Dylan for me. So different, but full of insights, as always.

“Can you cook and sew, make flowers grow, do you understand my pain?”

Well that’s my wife to a T and after the health scare I’ve had this week, I appreciate her more than ever.

 

Not the best production perhaps, but one of my fave 70's Dylan albums.
Wasn't to do a good one in my opinion till Oh Mercy.

 

I never had any problem with the singing, when these albums were coming out, I don't remember ever thinking, oh, he's singing differently. And I certainly don't have any problem with the big band. I live big band orchestrated rock -- Elvis's '70s bands where you get the TCB band AND the show band players AND male and female gospel vocal backing, is one of my favorite rock sounds in the world. First time I saw Dylan was on this tour, and while some of the show band arrangements were overly cute, as I recall, on the gig, the band rocked.

I think I was a little harsh calling Street-Legal "third-tier," it's really more middle of the pack Dylan. I do think "Senor" and "Changing of the Guard" are two of Dylan's most fascinating, compelling, cinematic, but ultimately elusive songs. (Changing of the Guard is one of those Dylan songs you can watch in your mind's eye like a movie, I've returned to the lyrics a lot, that verse that begins "The shaved her hair...." just always sticks with me like something out of Federico Lorca), And I like most of the relationship songs on side two even if I'm sometimes discomforted by the sexism and neediness -- but you can't listen to Dylan unless you listen around women as either magical objects of desire, or harlots and temptresses and man-devouring women, and the dream of why can't they just cook and sew and make flowers grow and understand his pain. It's a little bit like listening to Kanye West at his best -- you don't necessarily like the performer or what he's saying, but he's showing you something that coming from inside that you can't turn away from.

I think there's too much not very good stuff on there, monotonously arranged, mostly packed onto side one --- "No Time to Think," "New Pony" and "Baby, Please Stop Crying" are songs that are just middling at best (I do like the arrangement and performance on the latter, not so much the song). And on side two I think "We Better Talk This Over" is subpar.

But boy, I really do like those two high points on the album a lot.

 

I think a lot of the following albums are as good or better. Slow Train Coming is as good or better than Street-Legal. Shot of Love is one of my favorite Dylan album; that one, to me, is among Dylan's most underrated albums. Over the last 25 years that might be my most played Dylan album. Infidels is one of those what-could-have-been albums had it included "Blind Willie McTell" and "Foot of Pride" and "Lord Protect My Child" instead of "Neighborhood Bully," "Union Sundown" and "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" (which is the type of material that could have been written for Street-Legal), but some of the stuff that's on there is among my favorite Dylan -- "Jokerman," "License to Kill," "I and I." I think Infidels is similar to Street-Legal in having a couple of really great things on it and then some off-putting stuff.

 

Slow Train is decent, far the others lyrically weak or too religious in kind which is not my thing.

 

if there ever was a song as a metaphor for "the moment of Salvation"
it is Senior.
Dylan was close to that "hotel experience" and he was definitely being pursued by "the hounds of Love"
His lyrics reveal his awareness to "being close" to "a decision.
I know in some interviews he throws you a curve ball as to the meaning of the song but he always does that LOL
To my ears (and we all hear what we want to hear, don't we?) this album is the REAL start to his conversion.
or............."Changing of the Guard"

 

One of my favorites but always sounded like it was recorded inside a cardboard box. The Remix rescued the recording.
I think Senor was based on Carlos Castaneda, most of the album is informed by New Age ideas prevalent at the time, not Christianity.