One of the great 20th century poets also happens to be one of its greatest popular musicians as well, Bob Dylan. His music and lyrics have pervaded 6 decades of culture and few can claim authorship of more music in a single lifetime. In spite of a career that began before my parents were even born, I was able to see Dylan live in 2009, a feather in my cap as a longtime fan.

420 to 30: A Music Retrospective

60 Weeks to 30 Years-Old, with 420 Songs by 60 Different Artists


Here's 7 of my favorites from Bob Dylan.

Week 5: BOB DYLAN

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#029/420 - Bob Dylan, “Jokerman”

(originally from 1983, Infidels)
(no YouTube link available at the time of posting)

One time I was on an island that I wasn’t supposed to have been on and I made a new friend on a bus and we went on an adventure and her and I ended up in a bar by the beach and there was a guy doing cover songs on his guitar and he said he was going to play a Bob Dylan song and then he played this song and I thought, huh. Really? Jokerman? You’re just a guy with a guitar, also you have a harmonica (I didn’t mention yet, but yeah, he had a harmonica) could have gone with any Dylan song and you went with Jokerman? I mean, of all the Dylan songs to pick? Jokerman?

Well, you know what, sir. I’m going with Jokerman too. Because it's that Bob Dylan song I always forget about but then whenever I hear it, I'm always like, huh, I forgot I liked this song. Good song. Wait, how long is this song?

So cheers, beach man and cheers, Jokerman.

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#030/420 - Bob Dylan, “Blind Willie McTell”

(originally from 1991, The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991)
(no YouTube link available at the time of posting)

Some of Bob Dylan’s best songs are his sagas. “Hurricane”, “Tweeter and the Monkey Man”, “Jokerman”, all quite long and detailed accounts of these characters. Recorded in 1983 and almost unreleased, my favorite of these sagas is “Blind Willie McTell”.

When I saw Bob Dylan live in 2009, I never imagined he would play “Blind Willie McTell”, but just like I never imagined that guy at the beach would play “Jokerman”, color me surprised because he did and it was the highlight of the concert for me. You expect to hear certain songs, but when musicians go for the deeper tracks, I always appreciate it as a fan. While his voice was no longer very impressive after what sounds like a lifetime of cigarettes and I was barely able to recognize even “Like a Rolling Stone”, I consider it a real privilege to have seen a musician so legendary he was already in the history books when I was a kid and, at least 10 years ago, he was still able to do this song in particular justice.

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#031/420 - Bob Dylan, “Lay, Lady, Lay”

(originally from 1969, Nashville Skyline)

While Nashville Skyline is a bit more twangy and country than I normally go for, I really enjoy the flow of this song and the instrumentation. The beat here is created with a mixture of rapping on the bongos and a cowbell with such a light delivery and nice texture to it. From what I hear, Dylan also quit smoking before recording this album (something that obviously did not last) and you get some really warm and different vocals from him here as a result as well.

It’s a pleasant song. I’m not sure I’ve ever really known what a brass bed is, I guess just a bed with a brass frame, but if I had one, I’m quite sure I’d want to invite a nice lady to lay there with her man awhile as well.

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#032/420 - Bob Dylan, “Tangled Up in Blue”

(originally from 1975, Blood on the Tracks)

Poetry, nasally vocals, acoustic guitar, harmonica, and clocking in at over 5 minutes long, it’s everything Dylan is known for rolled up, or rather “tangled up”, into one emblematic song.

“I muttered something underneath my breath, she studied the lines on my face. I must admit, I felt a little uneasy when she bent down to tie the laces of my shoes. Tangled up in blue.”

The lyrics manage to say so much and yet so little. What is even going on in this song? Difficult to say but the words certainly jump out at you and there’s a certain brightness to the guitar-playing and energy to Dylan’s voice that really make this song roll along. One by Bob Dylan to always come back to for sure on an all-around great folk rock album and his best from the 1970s in my opinion.

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#033/420 - Bob Dylan, “Positively 4th Street”

(originally from 1965, “Positively 4th Street/From a Buick 6”)
(no YouTube link available at the time of posting)

I love it when a song comes crashing in to grab you in its very first second. “You got a lot of nerve to say you are my friend” is an equally strong opening line to follow. This I find to be one of Dylan’s most relatable compositions to my life. “You just want to be on the side that's winnin’” is a line that cuts deep with me from many times in my life where I’ve felt very alone in my pursuits and struggles or abandoned, when I may have entered into something thinking I had people by my side. Any major pursuit will have its ups and downs, but few people can handle the downs to see it through.

“I used to be among the crowd you're in with” is a line that speaks to how quickly a group will chew up and spit out their own. It’s something I’m sure many of us can relate to, especially the more outspoken among us.

"The one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with" is such a good, cryptic, tight description of the type of people I increasingly encounter in my life who try to keep others away from ideas they believe me to have expressed that they never have bothered to actually listen to fully for themselves. The way that any of us try to censor controversy. It's what people like Dylan faced in the 60s and that many of us face today for the exact same types of ways of thinking.

This was recorded during the Highway 61 Revisited sessions, but released as a single afterwards. I actually like it even better than that whole album, but I mention it because nonetheless it is a great album. And since we can make our own playlists, why not cheat a little and tack this song at the end.

“Yes, I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes, you'd know what a drag it is to see you.”

If you could see things from my point of view, you’d think you were a piece of shit too. I hate your stupid face. Yep. A great closing line to a great song.

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#034/420 - Bob Dylan, “Blowin’ in the Wind”

(originally from 1963, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan)
(no YouTube link available at the time of posting)

One of the great American songs. What are the other “great American songs”? I’m not sure, but whatever they may be, this is surely one of them. Both spiritual and based on a spiritual, it’s one of Dylan’s earliest and finest works. I’ve enjoyed it since I was a kid and it’s one of the songs most associated with Bob Dylan for good reason.

Dylan himself said, “There ain't too much I can say about this song except that the answer is blowing in the wind.”

And that’s about all there is more to say.

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#035/420 - Bob Dylan, “It Ain’t Me, Babe”

(originally from 1964, Another Side of Bob Dylan)
(no YouTube link available at the time of posting)

My favorite from Dylan is one of his simplest but one that taps into a theme that I can’t think of a comparable song for. The lyrics and mood capture a feeling that confused me as a kid, but I came to understand all too well as an adult.

Sometimes you are greater in someone else’s mind and heart than you are in reality.

I will keep it simple, too.

Bob Dylan is a legend.

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Next week, I’ll be revisiting further legends who do not currently have their stuff blocked on YouTube, one of the greatest of all time in rock and roll, Led Zeppelin.

420 to 30: A Music Retrospective

60 Weeks to 30 Years-Old, with 420 Songs by 60 Different Artists

Week 1: Johnny Cash
Week 2: The Jackson 5/The Jacksons
Week 3: A Tribe Called Quest
Week 4: Weezer

View the full list of "420 Songs" here: https://tinyurl.com/y8fboudu (Google spreadsheet link)