Okay fine....I'm having trouble...but I'm asking for help!

Some might have noticed over the few months that I've asked for a lot of advice regarding Dylan. Earlier this year I decided that I'd finally start to look into his music--never owned an album or knew more than 3 songs from the guy.

So I bought "Blood On the Tracks" "Blonde on Blonde" and "Highway 61 Revisited". Enjoyed them all. Realized from the get-go that Dylan isn't someone you put on the stereo and just leave in the background (or can he??). He needs to be listened to and his music is like a movie...you can't just leave it on in the backgroudn while you do the dishes or chores around the house; you have to sit and listen intently. I got it (at least I thought I did).

Saw Bob Dylan in concert earlier this month----BLEW me away. Loved it...played a lot of my favorite songs. Band was sounding GREAT. Made me want to look up some good Dylan live stuff.

I posted here asking for best live Dyaln. I bought "Hard Rain" "Rolling Thunder Revue 75" and downloaded a couple boots. I'm getting into Dylan even more.


But after all that....I'm still confused! I find myself liking what I'm hearing coming out of my speakers--but I feel completely dumb listening to it. Musically, my favorite songs are the ones that---(as dumb as it sounds) just sound fun to listen to.

Things Have Changed
Stuck Inside Mobile...
Positively 4th Street
Don't Think Twice... and on and on....


One big hurdle is that most of the time---I dont' know what the heck Bob is talking about! I get the lyrics...appreciate the great lines here and there...but the amount of lyrics he's spitting out is OVERWHELMING. And I constantly get the feeling that I'm missing something. I fee guilty that I'm listening to him just on a MUSICAL level and completely missing out on the message and the ideas he's portraying.

One thing's for sure...when I listen to the Stones....I'm in love with the riffs, the groove, the beat and the vocals. Who isn't right? But I listen to Dylan...everything sounds more complicated and it seems that I just CAN"T allow it to be that easy. It's more than a song with a beat or a nice melody.

Here's my big question: Am I taking this WAY TOO SERIOUSLY??


How do you guys listen to Dylan? Are you guys in like meditative states when you hear his songs? Do you stop what you're doing and just sit and listen? Do you treat a Dylan song just like any other that pops up in your shuffle?


My love for Dylan is growing--no doubt. But I'm just weary as to HOW I'm listening to him. I don't know if I'm listening to him correctly...for lack of a better word. I've bought a bunch of books like the Dylan Enclopedia, another book that gives stories/backgrounds to many songs hoping that it will give me more of an idea.

Still...I'm trying to sift through the jungle that is Bob Dylan but it's getting darker and darker.....



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-18 19:56 by Justin.

No, you're not taking it too seriously, Justin - some Bob recordings doesn't allow you to do much else than sit and listen. Then again, I don't use any music as "background music"...if the music doesn't steal my attention, it's not worth listening to. But some performances/music demands more attention than others...also among the top-shelf-stuff

This reminds me of Tom Waits. I just got a couple of CD's of his. Although it has some lovely arrangements , His music is really lyrics heavy. You have to sit and really listen to it and do nothing else.

But then again I rememember when I first got albums like Let It Bleed, and Exile I would sit and listen to those without doing anything else either.

No, Bob is not background music. He's an artist one has to savor.
I think following his journey is one way to appreciate him. Mood swings from savage to joy...Incomparable words for the "boomer" generation and those who follow.

Early songs give you a sense of the great wordsmith and sage he is. I can't tell you how significant it was to hear "Like a Rolling Stone" on radio stations across America. It just grabbed any young person with a mind. The strength of "Highway 61" and "Maggie's Farm." Not to mention "Masters of War" "Hollis Brown" etc.

Later...the epic quality of "Senor," "Changing of the Guard" etc. etc.

Feel everything I just wrote is so banal! But I'm in a hurry...Try to find time to savor the listening for,say half an hour every weekend...it will allow you to join Dylan on the journey. And you'll find ways to spend more time listening.

I listen to Dylan after following his advice from Rainy Day Women #12 & 35. If I follow it enough times, even Self Portrait starts to sound pretty good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-18 20:29 by ohnonotyouagain.

I think what is most important is: allow yourself the time you need to really get into the music and the lyrics.

I still remember, for instance, that I didn't like Blonde On Blonde the very first time round. But I went back again and again, and each time it revealed more of its beauty, its genius... call it what you will.

The lyrics of course can be very hard to understand. Again, I can tell you about my own experience. Songs like Desolation Row or Visions of Johanna or It's alright, Ma... you won't be able to get the message immediately. It is a very slow process, and I mean really slow! It took me years of repeated listenings during which I gradually created my own idea what Desolation Row is about. Today I have a coherent idea of what he's singing about because I was able to make a connection between my own experiences, things I've read and the actual lyrics. Of course I understand that everybody will have a different idea, will see different images when he hears the song (which is the very good thing about vague, abstract lyrics; they leave enough room for your fantasy).

Sometimes there are lines in songs you can't relate to at all, just to find that months, years later they suddenly make sense. Maybe because of something you have read in a book or something you have experienced... those songs need time to grow. If you start liking them musically and then start to slowly develop an understanding of the lyrics... well everything's fine then, isn't it?

Quote
Justin
Here's my big question: Am I taking this WAY TOO SERIOUSLY??

yes.


IORR............but I like it!

You have a few choices -

1. radio

2. CD

3. iPod

etc

It took me a little while to get into Dylan. Growing up I listened to all kinds of music from the 60s and 70s and Dylan was probably the last from that group I got into. Like someone said above, don't take it too serious. Just enjoy it. I often have Dylan playing in my house these days, I don't sit there and analyze his lyrics, but I will catch a lyric and be amazed at how clever it is.

Reading his book also made me want to listen to his cds cause he explains where ideas for certain songs came from. His book is just as brilliant as his lyrics. Its almost poetic. Another thing about Dylan is he has gone through so many phases that a person can be turned off by him by certain parts of his career, yet he always seems to come back and do something amazing.. I think his music at least for me gets better as I get older, maybe I just appreciate it more.. I even like his album Self Portrait a lot.

A lot of Bob's 65-66 stuff after he went electric is wordplay, with very little literal meaning. "Don't Look Back" was on TV last night. Watching it I realized how much Bob has always created a mystique for himself by mixing a lot of jibberish into what he says. Back then he also did it just to fook with people. All that said, he quite often composes some very literate and moving poetry in his lyrics. But IMO if you really want to find something literate and intelligent, rock music is not really the best place to look.

[www.dylanradio.com]

it took me a while to dive into Dylan too, apart from Highway 61, which I always liked. Part of it is that the whole folk movement had some problems, viewed from today. But of course Dylan felt the same way and went beyond that basis early on. I really started to enjoy his music through his 70s albums, Planet Waves in particular. It's a modest record but, with The Band, a very musically strong one. From there, I looped back into the 60s material, starting with The Basement Tapes and JWH, then going back. I still don't listen to the pre-Bringing It LPs all that often, but the unofficial material from that period is great.

you can take it as seriously as you feel--with Dylan, you wouldn't be the first. But it's not accidental that aside from his amazing lyrics he has also made great music, which I think is often overlooked.

Bruce Langhorne's guitar accompaniments on the 2nd side of BIABH never fail to give me the chills.

I like to listen to BD when I'm on the interstate for a while; gives me time to listen and not be distracted by things going on around me [other than driving of course]

I usually have a harmonica in my hand when I listen to Dylan.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-19 00:06 by Lukester.

"How do you listen to Bob Dylan?"

Preferably with your ears?

Vilhelm
Nordic Stones Vikings

Quote
Lukester
I usually have a harmonica in my hand when I listen to Dylan.

That was your harmonica? I guess that explains why that girl was blowing into it.

Lay down, turn off the lights and listen to Desire, I love it anyway...

With yer freakin' hear wide open...Just listen to "With God On Your Side"...if you arent moved, yer dead

bd

Dylan is in my top 5 artists / bands. The one thing though is I like to listen to music really loud most of the time. I find with Dylan one needs to kill the treble & up the Bass but the harmaonica is often piercing nonetheless esp at really loud volume. Not sure if its the key but harmonicas of others I love, Bruce, neil Young & Sir Mick not that piercing??? But anyway I digress, Enjoy the sage as you can! MEZ

''Stoned''...but clear

yeah, id say that with some artists you have to pay extra attention to the lyrics but any artist worth listening to is worth giving your full attention to. Its only after your really familiar with their recordings that you can listen to them as "background music".



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2008-09-19 04:19 by ryanpow.

I got three words for you:

THE BASEMENT TAPES.

Get 'em.

IMO Dylan (and The Band) at their best!

Very valid arguments have been made over the years that without the basement tapes -recorded in 1967, belatedly abridged and released in 1975- there would possibly be NO "Beggars Banquet", "Sweethearts Of The Rodeo", "Let It Be" and quite a few other late sixties classics...that's how influentual these recordings are.

is Quiinn the Eskimo (the mighty quinn)" from the basement tapes?

Quote
ryanpow
is Quiinn the Eskimo (the mighty quinn)" from the basement tapes?

Yes.

Quote
ryanpow
is Quiinn the Eskimo (the mighty quinn)" from the basement tapes?

Yes, along with "Tears Of Rage", "I Shall Be Released", "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere" and a bunch of other goodies. They recorded over a hundred songs in the basement of The Band's house -"Big Pink"- back in the Summer Of Love, using a two track 7" tape recorder and about six microphones. The bootlegs actually sound better than the official album, 'cos they're in stereo and not mono like on the record. Lots of old folk and country covers, and a fair bit of screwing around was recorded for posterity as well. Dylan's originals -some of which they were making up as they were going along- comprise about half the material, including some of his greatest unreleased songs, such as "Sign On The Cross". A full basement tapes set would make a fine addition to Bob's "Bootleg Series" set, but oddly neither Dylan nor Robbie Robertson (who assembled the 1975 album, throwing a handful of early Band demos in for good measure) can be bothered, really. Too bad...

Justin,
I'm a serial monogamist, so when I go into a Dylan phase everyone in the house better look out, cuz it's gonna be all Dylan all the time. Home, car, when driving my daughters around (9 year old loves "Moonlight" from Love and Theft), even in my head when nothing's playing.

The magic for me is that he writes great lyrics yes, but I always have to be drawn in by the music first. His melodies just stick in your head. Once you've settled in the groove, then you start to embrace the lyrics.

I think of him as akin to Miles Davis in the number of changes he's made in his career -- in subject matter sure ("protest", Christian phase etc), but also in the sound and style of his music -- solo acoustic, electric, bigger band, gospel, rock n roll, and most recently these incredible records that span the history of American Music. There are times when certain records make perfect sense to me and other times when that same record won't make sense at all. It took me until last year to really get "Street Legal" for example.

Then throw in that phenomenal boot site "Expecting Rain" and you realize that this guy is on a constant search to find new meanings and reverberations in his own songs. I mean, how many performers or bands go to the trouble to find utterly new ways to inhabit old songs -- and not just a few of them -- but all of them? He's in the tradition of the ancient Greek storytellers who told and retold stories like the Iliad and the Odyssey; they were the same basic story, but the details and the way it got told changed with every retelling.

Sorry, I got rolling there. Maybe I take it too seriously. More than anything, what I feel is this sense of awe that leaves me utterly inarticulate. It's almost like being a parent. You can't put into words the beauty of the experience, but you feel it in a profound way. That's what Dylan is all about.

ROCKMAN

I understand you so well Justin! I was pretty much in the same possition as you were - not having any album, knowing just a couple of the well-known songs and with this I went to his concert in 2005, expecting to see the legendary Bob, performing his hits. Looking back, I have to laugh. It was a disaster, I recognized 1 song. I hated the show. But I still had a feeling that there must be something about Dylan, so I bought a couple of CDs (pretty much the same ones you listed) and I started to like them almost immediately. Then I bought his last 3 records, which are quite differen, but the new stuff started to grow on me very fast. And so I started to be a fan, liking him more and more. I went to his concert this year again and had a splendid time of course...I am so happy I "discovered" him for myself. Okay, that is my confession.

Now to the problem of "propper listening". Again I know what you are talking about - the lyrics are sometimes very complicated and for people like me, who are not native English speakers, it is even more difficult. It just takes time, but it is worth it. You write that you enjoy listening to his music and that is, I think, the most important thing. Don't trouble yourself thinking so much about different levels of listening, just listen. The way one listens to songs changes with time, the "other levels" will come...

STARTING WITH "BLOOD ON THE TRACKS" (that's one of the cut off/new phase points) these are the CD's I would get -

DESIRE - This one's a MUST HAVE for sure
STREET LEGAL - Last secular CD before his born - again Christian period (it's been Remixed, SOUNDS GREAT - totally underrated, almost a classic
SLOW TRAIN COMING - if you are into his 3 album "Christian Period" - SAVED is #2 - get this one
SHOT OF LOVE - another cut off point. Last of the Born Again Christian Albums
INFIDELS - Mick Taylor's all over this one, ALMOST a classic, just missed
Biography (Box Set)- another cut off point
KNOCKED OUT LOADED
OH MERCY - just short of a classic, great songs
UNDER THE RED SKY (maybe)- another cut off point
TIME OUT OF MIND - Certified Classic
LOVE AND THEFT - released on 9/11/2001 - almost as good as TOOM
MODERN TIMES - Almost as good as LAT
TELL TALE SIGNS (2 or 3 Disc version) - Not out yet

Yeah, you gotta give FULL ATTENTION to BOB and then his art/genius becomes part of you. I went through a very heavy "LISTENING" period sleeping on a friends Living room (salon) floor (well, actually on top of a thick blanket folded up) in their little apartment in Paris for months and months. Went to sleep listening to BOB every night (Helped A LOT, was going through some rough times and a sort of brake up with a GF) with headphones and a CD walkman (custom disc - Helter's picks) Straightened my ass right out after a few months - BOB'S THE MAN !!!! HE'S A F**KING PROPHET, all there is to it.....

Helter, where are Blonde on Blonde and Highway sixtywhaaaa? These are great! Bring It All Back Home is another graet one.