Red River Shore is another standout track from the new Fragments release. (An excellent accordion-heavy version was included on Tell-Tale Signs.) Two versions are included. The first sounds more like a demo than something that would be seriously considered for the album. Daniel Lanios plays some ragged, heavy-handed guitar. Dylan’s voice is ok but not […]
Most reading this are probably familiar with the work of Dorothy Parker, the short story writer, poet, theatre critic, New Yorker staffer, and member of the Algonquin Round Table. One of my favorite of her many famous witticisms: “This wasn’t just plain terrible, this was fancy terrible. This was terrible with raisins in it.” I
Most of us want things to be neat and tidy, to follow a set pattern, perhaps because our teachers beat that idea into our heads from an early age. Or maybe because most of the childhood storybooks and Hollywood movies we grew up with follow a typical pattern. However we got indoctrinated, we have a
Bob Dylan and Hafez Read More »
Is it possible that Dylan is describing his hometown of Hibbing, Minnesota in this song? Perhaps I’m falling into the trap of assuming the lyrics of a song are necessarily autobiographical. Of course, that’s not always the case. However, I do think most everything an artist does is partly about themselves. It’s unavoidable. There’s really
Scarlet Town Analysis – Part 3 Read More »
I going to do a little trainspotting In this post. Dylan has a delightful habit of tossing into his lyrics sly references to all sorts of things: songs, books, poetry, literature, and of course, the Bible. It’s a lot of fun trying to identify them. Songs I’ve already discussed the traditional folk song, Barbara Allen.
Scarlet Town Analysis – Part 2 Read More »
Ever feel the need to track down a Dylan lyric to its blues roots? Check out the concordance below. Prewar Blues and Bob Dylan – A Concordance
Prewar Blues and Bob Dylan – a Concordance Read More »
Most serious Dylan fans know that his lyrics are heavily influenced by the Bible. Bert Cartwright published one of the first books on the subject (long out-of-print). Check out the link below to read up on Damian Balassone’s efforts to do the same.
Dylan and the Bible Read More »
I haven’t visited this site in many years, but I thought some readers might be interested. It’s a valuable site, I hope it doesn’t go away. The fact that it’s on the old GeoCities platform is not a good sign. Film Dialogue in the Lyrics of Bob Dylan
Dylan Site – Film Dialogue in Dylan Lyrics Read More »
I was reviewing Andrew Muir’s Homer the Slut Volume 4 today, which contains a long series of excerpts from various Dylan books about the song, Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right. The authors express some surprisingly varied ideas of what the song is about. Is it a love song?Or is it something more akin to
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right Read More »
Welcome to the inaugural post for the new Dylan Commentaries blog. Today’s lunch hour was reserved for reading Homer the Slut Volume II, the fanzine published by Andrew Muir back in the early nineties. Muir recently published an updated version of his book – Razor’s Edge, renamed One More Night – about his experiences following Dylan’s
Desolation Row – Excerpt from Homer the Slut Fanzine Read More »
