the line about books in Idiot Wind is brutal
― beef richards (Mr. Que), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:38 (eleven years ago) link
his cover of the boxer is pretty mean.
― tylerw, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:40 (eleven years ago) link
this bit from "Is Your Love in Vain" makes me laugh out loud. He's so damn sincere about it tool
All right, I'll take a chance, I will fall in love with youIf I'm a fool you can have the night, you can have the morning tooCan you cook and sew, make flowers growDo you understand my pain ?Are you willing to risk it allOr is you love in vain ?
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:41 (eleven years ago) link
Don't Think Twice
― 乒乓, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:46 (eleven years ago) link
would go with Idiot Wind
so cruel
― Force Boxman (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
thinking of the 1964 live arrangement which is just so venemous
http://open.spotify.com/track/0H9ZzwIBJSxOJT3HVuAsjW
― 乒乓, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:48 (eleven years ago) link
Gotta Serve Somebody
this strikes me as an odd inclusion. who is this mean towards, exactly? this song makes me laugh a lot.
― Force Boxman (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:49 (eleven years ago) link
yeah thats what n/a said
― beef richards (Mr. Que), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:50 (eleven years ago) link
aargh, my skimming is not what it used to be.
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
But goodbye’s too good a word, galSo I’ll just say fare thee wellI ain’t sayin’ you treated me unkindYou could have done better but I don’t mindYou just kinda wasted my precious timeBut don’t think twice, it’s all right
― 乒乓, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:51 (eleven years ago) link
sounds like a crackpot on this song. It's my problem with most of the xtian stuff. It's not what Christ has done for him – it's what he thinks of you for not choosing Christ.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:53 (eleven years ago) link
yeah it is a funny way to begin his first born again album. "hey i just found the lord a couple weeks ago -- WHY HAVEN'T YOU????"
― tylerw, Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:54 (eleven years ago) link
The song is funny in retrospect, sure. Unlike "Is Your Love in Vain," which is pathetic.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 8 November 2012 17:56 (eleven years ago) link
yeah my first thought was "idiot wind" too. but i was listening to "like a rolling stone" the other day and that is one bitchy jam for sure.
― idiot man-child (strongo hulkington's ghost dad), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:01 (eleven years ago) link
"Ballad of a Thin Man" should be on the list.
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:03 (eleven years ago) link
'like a rolling stone' is maybe the best karaoke sound
and the live versions are so venomous
(can't stop using the word venomous today)
― 乒乓, Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:04 (eleven years ago) link
I've been listening to a lot of both Idiot Wind and Pos. 4th St. lately. This is my favorite line:
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth, Blowing down the backroads headin' south
― how's life, Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:16 (eleven years ago) link
this rewritten live version of if you see her say hello is pretty meanhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZILewH38ASc
Well I know she'll be back someday, of that there is no doubtAnd when that moment comes Lord, give me the strength to keep her out
― tylerw, Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:20 (eleven years ago) link
Idiot Wind seems so much more biting and personal than the more abstract imagery in Rolling Stone imho
― Force Boxman (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:22 (eleven years ago) link
I was going to vote for Idiot Wind and may still but
You hand in your ticketAnd you go watch the geekWho immediately walks up to youWhen he hears you speakAnd says, “How does it feelTo be such a freak?”And you say, “Impossible”As he hands you a bone
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:24 (eleven years ago) link
^^^gay
― Force Boxman (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:33 (eleven years ago) link
You should be made to be wearing earphones, Shakey.
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:38 (eleven years ago) link
So sorry
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:39 (eleven years ago) link
j/k I have always found the gay imagery/subtext of Mr. Jones interesting is all
― Force Boxman (Shakey Mo Collier), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:40 (eleven years ago) link
BOB DYLAN WAS A HERO TO MY PARENTS' GENERATION BUT HE NEVER MEANT SHIT TO ME
― king louie riel (rennavate), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:50 (eleven years ago) link
mf him and history mayne
― Do You Like POLL Music? (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 8 November 2012 18:51 (eleven years ago) link
Ballad in Plain D is shitty mean. from the wiki:
Dylan, when asked in 1985 if he had any regrets about "Ballad In Plain D", replied: "Oh yeah, that one! I look back and say "I must have been a real schmuck to write that." I look back at that particular one and say, of all the songs I've written, maybe I could have left that alone."
― Dick Townwolves (Captain Ahab), Thursday, 8 November 2012 22:08 (eleven years ago) link
that story upthread about the cops not knowing who bob dylan was is like something out of a bob dylan song.
'like a rolling stone' kind of transcends ordinary meanness; the sound is so exuberant and generous and full that i can't really hear it as a hateful song. whereas 'idiot wind' feels genuinely spiteful and petty and uncomfortable, like listening in on somebody's worst argument with their spouse.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 9 November 2012 01:13 (eleven years ago) link
That's exactly why I omitted it. I interpreted Dylannesque "meanness" as a pinched, sour lack of generosity, the more I think about it. "Positively 4th Street" is in the "Like a Rolling Stone" category, while "Is Your Love in Vain" and "Gotta Serve Somebody" and "Neighborhood" are in the former.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 November 2012 01:29 (eleven years ago) link
Do you think there's any song you could name that us haters might enjoy? I have tried, but I just don't hear the good in there. I just hear boring music with self-absorbed, extra-boring singing on top of it. I want to UNDERSTAND what you're on about
― eep, Friday, 9 November 2012 01:35 (eleven years ago) link
some of the best mean ones are indeed the you're-going-to-hell ones; they're like deliberately funny chick tracts. some kind of decadent philistine fortune-telling prostitute in "foot of pride":
she'll do wondrous works with your fateshe'll feed you coconut breadspice bunsin bedIF YOU DON'T MIND SLEEPIN WITH YOUR HEAD FACE DOWN IN THE PLATE!!!
there's a lot of bitterness in "someday baby" (WHEN I HEARD YOU WAS COLD / I BOUGHT YOU A COAT AND HAT / I THINK YOU MUST HAVE FORGOTTEN BOUT THAT) even if i don't think he actually breaks up w you.
ultimate "idiot wind" version meanwise is the one from hard rain, where sara is in the audience and he just ladles sarcasm upon "and it makes me feel SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO SORRY."
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 9 November 2012 02:20 (eleven years ago) link
"gotta serve somebody" makes perfect sense as the first track on his first christian album: it's an explanation.
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 9 November 2012 02:25 (eleven years ago) link
It's a splutter.
― the little prince of inane false binary hype (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 9 November 2012 02:35 (eleven years ago) link
It's not "mean" in the personal sense a lot of you are going with, but "Masters of War" is pretty vicious:
And I hope that you dieAnd your death’ll come soonI will follow your casketIn the pale afternoonAnd I’ll watch while you’re loweredDown to your deathbedAnd I’ll stand o’er your grave’Til I’m sure that you’re dead
Dag.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 November 2012 02:54 (eleven years ago) link
And of course, preceding it:
Let me ask you one questionIs your money that goodWill it buy you forgivenessDo you think that it couldI think you will findWhen your death takes its tollAll the money you madeWill never buy back your soul
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 9 November 2012 02:55 (eleven years ago) link
Masters of War was the song that turned me into a Dylan freak. The hair on my neck stood up first time I heard it, and my mind was blown. This song is not funny, but a lot of Dylan stuff is very funny and it's one of the things I've come to like best about his stuff.
Upthread Bob Shaw mentioned Dylan's delivery. He has superb delivery, though he's not what I call a "technical singer". The only thing indefensible about Dylan is the goddam harp.
― Doctor Flange, Friday, 9 November 2012 04:11 (eleven years ago) link
I think of "She's Your Lover Now" as a pretty mean song, probably because it alternates nasty asides to her current flame ("And I see you're still with her, well / She'll be standing on the bar soon, with a fishhead and a harpoon / You'd better do something quick ...") with sad sincere regretful memories ("Your mouth used to be so naked, your tears used to be so few").
"Idiot Wind" does this too, some of it is beautifully wistful but then "I can't even touch the books you read," damn.
― boxall, Friday, 9 November 2012 04:45 (eleven years ago) link
idiot wind is pretty mean, but he does turn it back on himself at the end there -- "we're idiots, babe"
― tylerw, Friday, 9 November 2012 17:09 (eleven years ago) link
and YOU -- you just sit around and ask for ASHTRAYS; can't you REACH?
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 9 November 2012 17:28 (eleven years ago) link
haha, one of the best lines. that whole song is so amazing.
― tylerw, Friday, 9 November 2012 17:31 (eleven years ago) link
Where to put this ... ?
http://img.gawkerassets.com/img/1961l9kkpz4iujpg/ku-bigpic.jpg
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 12 November 2013 04:11 (ten years ago) link
The Welding Minstrel
― lorde willin' (upper mississippi sh@kedown), Tuesday, 12 November 2013 14:50 (ten years ago) link
bob dylan is one busy 73-year-old.
― tylerw, Tuesday, 12 November 2013 15:47 (ten years ago) link
"Mmm...this is how Lou did it, right?"
― Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 12 November 2013 15:50 (ten years ago) link
Don't tempt fate there
― Thomas K Amphong (Tom D.), Tuesday, 12 November 2013 15:53 (ten years ago) link
Bob Dylan will outlive every musician of note save Ringo.
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 12 November 2013 23:13 (ten years ago) link
When I Fabricate My Masterpiece
― i wish i had a skateboard i could skate away on (Hurting 2), Tuesday, 12 November 2013 23:37 (ten years ago) link
He had good album closers imo
― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 19 April 2020 12:08 (four years ago) link
I would probably swap Restless Farewell and I'll Be Your Baby Tonight with Cats in the Well and Wedding Song. What do you have against Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight?
― Fetch the Bolt Thrower (PBKR), Sunday, 19 April 2020 12:45 (four years ago) link