Maybe Bob Dylan's Greatest Song?

I am a lonesome hobo from his masterpiece John Wesley Hardin

 

I don’t know. Reminds me of Bill Shatner reading MacArthur Park. Couldn’t listen all the way through. Too rambling.

 

Don’t think so

 

Best not to say anything.

 

I didn’t mean to single you out for any particular reason. I know people’s tastes vary. I might blame the bourbon.

 

So i might blame the wine....

 

I kind of felt the same way too! Talk about timing!

I've gotten pretty used to Bob's kind of ' one note, monotone, dark ramblings over some kind of music' delivery of his recent recordings so this song is kind of the same.

Plus when you think of it, say with his using of Woody Guthrie's ' talking blues' songwriting style, or Bob using blues templates for lyrics in earliest recordings- Bob has been writing like this forever.

Murder Most Foul could have an additional 15 minutes and I'd be fine with it- it's a trance.
He sounds pretty emotional ( for him) in this song.

 

Visions of Johanna - but, the rollicking early unreleased version with The Hawks (The Band).

Sounds like Bob keeps looking over his shoulder thinking “Jeez guys, take it easy !”

Makes the one we all know from Blonde on Blonde sound like a funeral dirge.

 

I listen to Masters of War and War Pigs a lot lately. Their content is really similar.

I've never actually sung Masters of War but I play a lot of Dylan songs at home, just to learn the original guitar parts.

Just an FYI for other Dylan nuts:

Masters is one of 3-4 songs that have low E tuned down to D, capo on 3rd fret, and played in Dm or D. So real pitch is F.

Other examples, are:
Hollis Brown ( one of the saddest songs I've ever heard- pure dread and despair- I love it!)
It's Alright Ma, I'm Only Bleeding
Rocks and Gravel

 

I made it through 2 minutes and gave up. Later, I saw someone had posted all the lyrics. There are some good lines here and there, but it mostly seemed like a litany of riffs on pop culture songs that didn't even exist in '63. To me, it comes across as a convoluted mash up.

 

Have we had a “What is a Song?” thread?

 

He acted alone.

It’s more boring but - that’s the way it happened.

unless of course the mob was involved. In which case the conspiracy problem (too many witnesses/people who know something) doesn’t apply.

no one cares anymore anyway Bob...

 

Can’t do 17 minutes or whatever anymore. Sad Eyed Lady was excellent at 11.

 

Heck, the entire first side of the Beatles “Something New” is about 15 minutes.

 

Personally,if a piece of music grabs me,then time doesn't matter. What it is,means more than how long it lasts. Ask your wives.

The track moved me and he encapsulated an era in 17 minutes. That's a pretty short film.

 

I love Dylan, and I'm really glad he won the Nobel Literature Prize, but this song isn't doing much for me.

 

I don't mind at all. My point is the song is so much deeper than the obvious. Perhaps it is because I'm a history junkie reflecting back on where our country was in 1963 and where it is today. A subtle hint.

 

Street Legal and Slow Train Coming are both totally excellent. Only song that is not at least really good is Man Gave Names to the Animals. That song is best skipped, but the rest are all great. Great, I say.

Where are You Tonight (Journey Through White Heat) is particularly awesome IMHO.
“If you don’t believe there’s a price, for this sweet paradise, just remind me to show you the scars.”

 

I agree with everyone saying they’d rather listen to any number of Dylan songs before this. But I just don’t see MMF as a “song”. Far be it for me or anyone to try and figure out Dylan’s thoughts or intentions. Anyone who does is almost always wrong. That said, when I heard this it felt more like a painting than a song; throwing things on a canvas that when scrutinized seem strange, silly, whatever. But when you step back and look at the whole it becomes strikingly powerful. Dylan’s a nutty guy but he’s a damn smart guy. And that line, “...Son, the age of the antiChrist has just begun...” is, I think, really powerful.
And chilling. I don’t think he’s staying up nights wondering about the Kennedy killing. I just think he came of age around that time/event so it’s a good milestone and metaphor for the sweeping, slow decline of our culture, society, whatever, as he sees it. Point is, what he sees is not good. And even though his references go back to the ‘40’s for the most part it feels like he’s talking about his time in the spotlight, where it began and where it lead. Which all makes me think this is the perfect creative statement for which to say “Goodbye”. I hope that’s not what he’s doing but it sure feels like it.