As with last year's piece about Springsteen's Born to Run, in order to keep this from being a novel, we'll dispense with the bio--it's Bob Dylan, excuse me Nobel Laureate Bob Dylan, for Christ's sake. There have been dozens of biographies that can expound upon his career much better than the single paragraph I usually devote to the week's featured artist.
In addition to having arguably the greatest album title ever (think of the many, many ways the word tracks can be interpreted and then add blood to it--genius), Blood on the Tracks is widely considered Dylan's best album (myself included). It reached #1 (with a bullet!) on the Billboard 200, and was named the sixteenth best album on "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All-Time" (I'd be hard pressed to name fifteen albums better than this one). Dylan's son Jakob has described the album as "my parents talking" but Dylan himself has said the album is not autobiographical. As the LP was released about the time Dylan's first marriage was ending I have my doubts, but as I don't know the man personally, I'll take his word for it (wink, wink, nudge, nudge).
Without further ado:
Tangled Up in Blue--A series of vignettes about failed relationships and the ones that got away--with zero sentimentality. The characters often seem to be from long gone eras, drifting along from place to place, life to life. There's some wonderful acoustic guitar playing driving the song from beginning to end. Favorite line: "So now I'm goin' back again/Got to get to her somehow/All the people we used to know/They're an illusion to me now..."
Simple Twist of Fate--Boy meets Girl, has short relationship, Girl leaves Boy, Boy never forgets Girl...blame it all on a simple twist of fate. A recurring theme--lots of catchy as all hell acoustic guitar, with ample emaycee fave harmonica parts as well. Favorite line: "He hears the ticking of the clocks/Walks along with a parrot that talks..."
You're a Big Girl Now--Boy meets Girl--this one is more first person and a lot more heartfelt. It's the tale of a broken heart, and the acceptance of what the hearbreaker has become. Favorite line: "Love is so simple, to quote a phrase/You've known it all the time, I'm learnin' it these days..."
Idiot Wind--If this was Jakob Dylan's parents talking...you're probably glad you weren't there to witness it. I'm not sure an angrier song about the dissolution of a relationship has ever been written--or even been close. Surprisingly enough, it's sheer brilliance. Meanest line ever written: "Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth/ You're an idiot, babe/It's a wonder you still know how to breathe..."
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go--...and he follows it up with a song that's not only one of the longest titled pop songs ever, but is about the simple and overpowering joy of love. And therein is the enigma that has always been Bob Dylan. This was my first favorite song on the album and the one that made me listen again and again. Favorite line: "I've seen love go by my door/Never been this close before/Never been so easy or so slow..."
Meet Me in the Morning--Dylan does the blues--with the classic story of "My Baby Done Left Me." Probably the one song that's least like the others on the LP, but the narrator's pragmatic acceptance of his loss is a departure from the romanticized loss seen in some of the other songs. Favorite line: "Look at the sun sinkin' like a ship/Ain't that just like my heart, babe/When you kissed my lips..."
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts--Nine minutes of imagery surrounding a rich man, his wife and mistress, his eventual murder, and his wife's execution, without really knowing if she was guilty or not. And it's all the fault of the Jack of Hearts. The music is kind of bouncy, in an almost honky tonk kind of way. Not a bad song, but my least favorite on the album.
If You See Her, Say Hello--The polar opposite of "Idiot Wind"--every now and again people have relationships that fail and leave a broken heart, but still remember kindly their lost love, wishing them only happiness. A reminder that the bittersweet exists in love, too. Favorite line: "Sundown, yellow moon, I replay the past/I know every scene by heart, they all went by so fast..."
Shelter from the Storm--Probably my favorite Dylan song, though I came to appreciate it much later in life than when I first heard it in my teens. A man remembers the kindness of, and the peace he felt being with, a now lost/distanced love. I think the song is often misinterpreted (thanks to the chorus) as being a lot more romantic than it actually is. Lots of references to Jesus, too. And I absolutely adore both the rhythmic acoustic guitar and subtle harmonica playing in this one. Favorite line: "Well I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line/Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine/If I could only turn the clock back to when God and her were born..."
Buckets of Rain--Like "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" (which on the album was the last song on side one), Dylan closes side two and the album with another heartfelt paean to both the joy and misery of love. Appropriately enough as it's the last song, this one came to be appreciated last by me, though now it's one of my favorite songs from the album. Love the acoustic guitar in this one as well. Favorite line: "Life is sad/Life is a bust/All ya can do is do what you must/You do what you must do and you do it well..."
And therein lies the end of an album that warms the hearts of old fart folkies across the globe. A masterpiece (album lyrics found here) of the nuances of relationships, both the sad and the glorious.
I wasn't able to find a Youtube video for the album, but there's a link to the album on Spotify (if you've got the time to give it a listen) below the album photo. Enjoy:
Listen here.
Fuck Donald Trump,
emaycee
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