Bob Dylan, "Blood on the Tracks"

Ken blows some wind

, and

Nov 24, 2021

Ken’s Pitch:

If I’m being 100% honest, up until I was about 15 years old I thought “Blowin’ In The Wind” was a Peter, Paul & Mary song, I thought “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “My Back Pages” were by The Byrds, and “All Along The Watchtower” was a Jimi Hendrix classic. Of course, in some ways I was right. But as I came to find out, they were all penned by the greatest singer-songwriter-poet of the modern music era, Bob Dylan.

In the early ‘60s, Dylan established himself in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village as an A-list folk singer, and it can’t be overstated how popular his first few albums became. But it was in 1965 at the Newport Folk Festival that Dylan consciously made the decision to turn the folk world upside down by marrying it with rock ‘n roll. A lot of people say that the world of music was on the precipice of those two worlds colliding anyway, but for me...Dylan made it happen.

Once Dylan went electric, there was simply no going back to rockin’ around the clock, we had put away all the chantilly lace, and The Beatles’ John Lennon went from having a hard day’s night all the way to being a nowhere man. Everything had changed virtually overnight. The simplicity of early rock ‘n roll got a little more complex, and in turn launched a whole new generation of rock.

For the next decade, Dylan inspired countless numbers of the most popular bands around the globe. If they weren’t attempting (successfully or unsuccessfully) to achieve the depth in his lyrics, the cadence and phrasing of his music, or even the length at which songs were written and performed (prior to Dylan, most rock songs hovered around 3:00), they were covering his songs directly and taking them to the top of the charts.

He did what he wanted, when he wanted, and how he wanted and the world ate it all up and asked for seconds. In 1975, what he wanted was an outlet for the pain of his increasingly tumultuous marriage to his then wife Sara. And while it didn’t end well for Bob and Sara (they divorced in 1977), we became the beneficiaries of his brilliant, moving dialogue of their dissolution with Blood On The Tracks.

The album reads like a book you just can’t put down, with the opening chapters being “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Simple Twist of Fate”, telling the story of a serendipitous meeting to almost a tragic reflection on what could have been. There’s a moment in “You’re a Big Girl Now”, a true breakup song, where Dylan yells “I can change, I swear” and I’ve heard it hundreds of times, and every time I can feel the pain. Every piece has a different feel and a unique style, from the old-school folk “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” to the bluesy “Meet Me In the Morning”, to the simple and reflective highlight of the album “If You See Her, Say Hello”, it’s a walk down a lonesome road of love and loss.

Dylan’s pain comes up in almost every track, but if there’s one thing he does better than almost anyone in the history of the music industry, it’s saying the most eloquent and poetic FUCK YOU! If you’ve heard “Positively 4th Street” or “Masters of War”, then it’s no secret that Blood On The Tracks’ “Idiot Wind” is as good a slap in the face as any song he’s ever written.

Musically, Dylan has more eras than China had dynasties, but for me this one is the most complete. Early coffee-house Dylan was a man, a stool, a guitar and a microphone, and it was amazing. In the ‘80s, there were some full-band albums that were hit or miss, but in the mid-’70s he seemed to capture the greatness of having a backing band, while still hanging on some of the minimalist aspects of his early work.

I’ve taken the stance many times that music as we know it today would be very different if not for Bob Dylan. We’ll never know if I’m right or wrong, but the times were definitely-a-changin back then, and Dylan took the wheel of the ship and steered us all in a new, exciting direction. I’m extremely grateful for him, and of all the artists that now sit proudly upon the shelves of the Newbury St. Collection, let’s make some room for a man and an album that is truly deserving.

CJ’s Response:

I used to work with a guy who listened to Bob Dylan all day, every day. And when he wasn’t listening to Bob sing, he was listening to Bob’s Theme Time Radio Hour show on satellite radio. For my co-worker, Bob Dylan was a religion. And like most religions, it seemed fanatical to those of us on the outside.

For me, Bob Dylan has always been hit or miss. I can listen to “Hurricane” anytime and never grow tired of it. On the other hand, if I never hear “Lay, Lady, Lay” again that would be just dandy with me. What I did learn from my co-worker was an appreciation for the depth and breadth of Dylan’s catalog. I was exposed to songs that true fans loved and casual fans overlooked. Deeper cuts, deeper roots.

Blood on the Tracks is one of Dylan’s most widely-known and critically-acclaimed albums. “Tangled Up in Blue” happens to be a favorite of mine both for the story it tells and the literary technique it employs. When he gets to the end of a verse like this,

I muttered something underneath my breath

She studied the lines on my face

I must admit I felt a little uneasy

he uses the next line to finish the rhyme in the stanza and simultaneously give us a bridge to the chorus.

When she bent down to tie the lace…of my shoe

Tangled up in blue.

It’s that kind of dexterous songwriting (he does the same thing in “Hurricane”) that’s drawn me to my favorite Dylan songs. It’s also the kind of thing that gets him into trouble on bloated songs like “Jack of Hearts” and “Idiot Wind”. Boy, is he ever mad at the lady in “Idiot Wind”. Did she steal something from him? (Checks lyrics) Yup.

The rest of the album, both the familiar (“Simple Twist of Fate”, “Meet Me in the Morning”) and the unfamiliar (“You’re a Big Girl Now”, “Buckets of Rain”) read like a classic novel. And while I may never be a Dylan acolyte, there’s certainly more than enough here to make a grizzled writer tip his ink-stained cap.

Pitch Successful (Judas Priest took their name from Dylan’s “Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest”. The metal world thanks you, Robert.)

Mitch’s Reponse:

In a time long since past, my parents were visiting and my Dad was poking around the CD collection. He paused at a certain point and asked: “who is this Bob Die-lon?” A hush fell, people were dumbfounded, and the room felt slightly out of sync with reality. The moment ended abruptly, when my American Bandstand-loving Mother hilariously declared: “You idiot. That’s ‘Bob Dillon'. Even I know that!”

Such was the power of Bob Dylan, a musician so famous that he broke through culture to people who had no interest in ‘60s folk-protest-rock or whatever the hell he was serving up at the time. More than a mere musician, Dylan was an artist.

A big part of the Dylan mythos is his enigmatic persona that gives him permission to do anything and make it seem like a profound, intentional, artistic statement (think Victoria’s Secret commercial). He wears mask upon mask, and few people know who the real Dylan is or what he really thinks. We can guess, based on a close reading of his work, but that’s a fool’s game, because who’s to say his art is any more truthful than his persona? He’s the Trickster, the Jokerman, a professional liar.

Blood on the Tracks is a much-loved Dylan album precisely because it creates the impression that he’s finally dropped the mask and revealed the true, angry, heart-broken, lovelorn man underneath the myth.

I don’t buy it.

Blood on the Tracks in yet another mask, yet another conceit, Dylan’s perverse take on the confessional singer-songwriter style that was popular at the time. And while I don’t believe he’s showing the real him at last, the milieu suits him well. The album is chock-full of delicious melodies, delightful turns-of-phrases, and dominant vocals. It also contains one of his finest compositions in “You’re a Big Girl Now”. It’s a legendary album with an even more legendary mystique.

Tell old Jack Frost that I’m not falling for it, but I’m still falling for it.

Pitch Successful (look both ways before crossing)

Ken’s pitch was successful and Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks has been added to the Newbury St. Collection!

Don’t think twice, it’s alright for you to roll and tumble over to the comments section and let us know if you think Blood on the Tracks is a masterpiece or if it’s not for you.

Exile on Newbury St.

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