I said it then and I’ll say it now. Bob Dylan’s music was so hypnotic because it had soul. It was not just his lyrics, it was how he phrase his singing style. It made you recognize and feel every line like, “yeah, I lived that. I know exactly what he’s talking about.” It’s just a gift.
It's fantastic that a young (hip hop) & dare I say Millennial guy is listening to & appreciating the genius that is Bob Dylan... I am 65 & live in UK England a place called South Shields... I have 49 Albums & various bootleg recordings on cassette tape of him & He is my all time MUSIC HERO I was just a mere 12 yr old boy when I first heard his music coming from my older brothers bedroom on the record player he had... & It just blew my mind full stop.. from that day I literally fell in love with the guy, his words, lyrics, music, the whole concept of him all together... Right up until this day... So Keep on listening to his music & albums ( not all r brilliant) but lyrics wise incomparable... & 1 day when your 65... You can tell ur story of how you became A Bob Dylan Fan .. young man I applaud you.. 👏🏽
The way people hate his singing at first is always crazy to me sense I love his art so much. But I have to remind myself that I too found his vocals weird when I started listening to him. No one like him and probably never will be
My friends and I always listed Dylan as one of the best "bad voices" in music history (and yes, that's a huge compliment--not having the chops of, say, a Lou Gramm, Don Henley, or Levon Helm, but still managing to sound uniquely great) along with David Byrne and Chrissie Hynde.
Dylan is a very very deep rabbit hole. There are entire college courses devoted to his lyrics, and Dylan’s fans are possibly the most fanatical of them all, infinitely obsessing about the songs, his differing lyrics to the same songs over the years and what the subtle shifts and changes mean. It’s no wonder he’s the only songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, he really is that great, that profound. I always took this song to be aimed directly at the heart of the American complacency and stagnation. But the brilliance of Dylan is that he often deliberately leaves room for multiple interpretations, he leaves room for you to inhabit his songs too. He can also be incredibly tender, and yet not at all sentimental - Love Minus Zero is a good concise example of that.
Some songs. In context Highway 61 Revisited ( album) is consistent with a revolutionary scathing attack on the madness of contemporary American culture. Written right as America inyensified Vietnam involvement "Rovin' gambler, he was very bored Tryin' to create a next world war He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor "I never did engage in this kind of thing before But yeah, I think it can be very easily done" "We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun Have it on Highway 61" Can't get more savage (or precise) than that. "We destroyed the city in order to save it."
His voice is iconic, it was unique and memorable, wouldn't be the same without that strangeness; those wishing someone else had sung it are too critical for their own good, or being unreasonably judgmental!
That being said (am a HUGE Dylan fan) Brian Ferry does a FABULOUS covers album called Dylanesque. His voice has the same sneery quality to it and it's really, really well done. It's all on YT and live BBC sessions with AMAZING band. Recommend.
Lol. I just got into an argument on RUclips with someone who really hates his voice. I mentioned this song and said that when we were kids my friends and I would enjoy trying to imitate the way he sang on it. I couldn’t picture anyone else singing this, actually. It’s so peculiarly, individually unique, so iconic.
@@MsAppassionata I do really recommend Brian Ferry's "Dylanesque" album. His voice suits Bobs work very well and the album is phenomenally good. I do a passing imitation of Bob, I'm told!
I think Dylan’s voice absolutely fits with the songs he writes. It makes the song what it is along with his beautiful and unexpected way of phrasing. That is one of his trademarks and is apparent in so many of his songs.
This song is from "Highway 61 Revisited" album. It is mostly an electric blues album. This is the transformation for acoustic folk to electric blues rock. I think Dylan could see that the time for folk music had faded out and electric rock was the wave of the future. He was ahead of his time as a folk musician.
Yes, Dylan invented folk-rock. Then the Byrds took it and ran with it. In those bygone days there was folk music which was for serious people and intellectuals and there was rock ',n Roll, for the dumb teenage masses. What Dylan did by going electric was to combine all of it and created rock and roll as we know it today. Thank you Bobby, EVERYONE owes you a debt of gratitude. for without Bob....
I agree with you but I think for him it was not mental. I think he was following his gut and where he wanted to go. At the time, the move cost him dearly emotionally. Now we recognize this album as his greatest achievement. My God is it fantastic.
I'll ALWAYS click for Bob Dylan. Literally anything by him is worth listening to at least once. I think reactions to his material tend to get claimed a lot, though, unfortunately. For truly scathing lyrics, I'd suggest 'Idiot Wind.' I don't think I've ever heard another song that's quite so derisive. For a different vocal style, I'd say try almost anything from his album Highway 61 Revisited, as it's really more of a blues album instead of folk. 'It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry' features what I think are some of Dylan's best vocal style. Dylan has always gone through phases in his career. He left his "strict folk" phase around 64 or 65, and then went into some country-folk in the late 60s for a bit, then leaned into more rock/folk-rock in the 70s, then got into a heavy Christian Revivalist phase in the late 70s and through part of the 80s (which most people hate, but I don't mind at all). In the late 90s he had a huge comeback Grammy winning album called Time Out Of Mind, which doesn't have 1 single bad song on it - you've probably heard Adele cover the song 'Make You Feel My Love' from this album. In the 2000s he went into more of a blues phase when he did Together Through Life - I'd recommend 'I Feel A Change Comin' On' as it's probably his best track from this period I think. Point being, his voice is definitely an acquired taste, but there are also a lot of different flavors available.
Expecting something folky, acoustic guitar? Not so electric? Search online for Dylan Newport Folk Festival. Watershed moment in rock'n'roll. Also, I recommend any song from the "Blood on the Tracks" album, including "Idiot Wind."
@@edprzydatek8398 Haha! I remember when he said thar. It was just before the Nashville Skyline album was released and he said it was because he quit smoking! Thanks for the memory 😃
I think, as do many others, that this is the most important song in the history of rock music. In an era where songs on radios were usually 2 minutes long, this was over 6 minutes. It was released the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school and it amazed me.
Nice enjoying this song with you. I remember watching a TV documentary on Dylan, and an Irish musician ( I believe one of the Clancy brothers) recalled when Dylan first arrived in Greenwich Village - the epicenter of beat poetry and folk music- from his home Minnesota, with his guitar on his back- he said when Dylan first sang into a microphone: “how many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man”, he was so shocked and awed, he began to weep.
PISSED OFF is often a great co-writer. So glad you did this one, Syed. Enjoyed your reaction and discussion. Few people know Dylan’s only #1 hit came out just 2-3 years ago and is 17 minutes (!) long. It’s called “Murder Most Foul.” It’s about the Kennedy (JFK) assassination and is thorough romp through culture and history from about 1950 forward.
There's probably multiple reasons Bob Dylan wrote this song. Though the story I heard, he wrote it about a NY socialite named Edie Sedgwick. She was a protege of the late Andy Warhol. While she was riding high it was said she looked down on those who were less fortunate. Andy, the silent genius, used her for what he could and dumped her as she fell deeper and deeper into drug addiction. It was said Dylan wanted to rescue her from the destructive scene but she rebuffed him, so he moved on. I think he had mixed feelings about her but was ultimately turned off by her snobbery and self destructive ways.
Interesting observation, I'm a lifelong Dylan fan, and a musician myself. I'd always heard that Edie was the inspiration for "Just Like a Woman"...but Like a Rolling Stone could fit, too....
@@thephroggs4916 Like a Rolling Stone definitely fits more for Edie Sedgwick. I think that "Just Like a Woman" is an amalgam of a number of women -- the lyric where he talks about the "falling from your ribbons and your bows," I think is definitely Edie. But the final lyric, where he says "Well I just can't fit -- well I believe it's time for me to quit -- when we meet again, introduced as friends, please don't let on that you knew me when, I was hungry and it was your world" -- and then, in a sign of much greater regard and respect than in the previous choruses, instead of "she takes just like a woman" -- he finally says "Ah, YOU take just like a woman" -- there, he is certainly talking to Joan Baez.
@@Kairon111161 - Agreed. I also think "Just Like a Woman" is about more than just one woman, but the last verse is clearly about Joan Baez, and as you say, conveys great respect and affection for her. He was hungry (just starting out) and it was her world (she was the reigning Queen of folk music) when they first met in that folk music scene in New York. She was the huge star, he was the up and coming prince...heir to the throne...and they did a lot of amazing work together. Yeah, the "ribbons and bows" line sounds like Edie Sedgewick. As for "Like a Rolling Stone", that sounds 100% like Edie Sedgewick (plus a lot of other people in that whole pretentious scene around Andy Warhol and elsewhere at the time..."all the pretty people"). I think Warhol is the "diplomat who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat". He used Edie Sedgewick because she had the youthful blonde look he was always after, and he abandoned her to her fate after he'd "taken everything he could steal".
He was a fierce social critic and he even took his own generation down for being shallow and took them down a peg. I guess he didn’t care for people who think they are superior or better than other people. Dylan’s aim was true and he was merciless. This songs a classic and one of my favorite lines is your invisible now you got no secrets to conceal. And you went to the finest schools but you only got juiced in it. In other words, you didn’t take school and life seriously and blew your opportunities and now you’re on the street hustling and poor with no direction home. Brutal but honest criticism by Dylan. He didn’t mince words or sugarcoat anything. In other words, you weren’t ready for the real world and the real world is ruthless! Good reaction and you got the lyrics right as usual. Good analysis!
@DJ Thanks but it’s SBTs analysis of the lyrics that I find to be on point. He’s really good at figuring out what songs are about and from which perspective. I gave up my amateur critiques after I heard him the first time. He explained things in songs that I never would have thought of even. He’s brilliant and highly educated and now I understand my shortcomings. I’m not highly educated and dropped out of College so now I’m paying the price. I occasionally have a decent insight or take on a song but I can’t analyze lyrics the way SBT does. I defer to the better critic. And he usually praises what he’s hearing but that’s only because he’s covering the Classic bands and best Rock songs ever done. He’s actually explained what they mean to me and it’s like a key 🔑 opening a locked door 🔒 in my mind. It’s made me appreciate those classics even more. After 40 years of hearing those songs and not really understanding them, it’s been an eye 👁 opener! Or should I say an Ear👂🏻opener? I’m really bad at understanding lyrics and interpretation so that there are several Stones songs that I’m only getting now. Because Jagger mumbles his lyrics deliberately and I never bothered to look at a lyric sheet to figure out what he’s actually singing. What a shock when I actually heard the right lyrics! Rape, Murder! It’s just a shot away! I never heard it before. I thought he sang Hey, Baby! it’s just a Shout away! After forty years of hearing it wrong! So I will just listen to SBT from now on and keep quiet for the most part unless I think I can add something. Thanks! SBTs the best. And Doug the Music composer is pretty damn good at analysis as well. He’s done some great Pink Floyd reviews.
I just recently discovered your SyedRewinds and have been pleasantly taken in with your reactions to Dylan. Your reaction to his music is how I still react when I listen to any of his music. Having older sisters who constantly listened to music I was exposed to a variety of styles. I was 10 or 11 when I first heard him and although I was too young to understand what he was talking about I understood, on some level, that he was worth the listen. Almost 72 now and one of the blessings I count in life is being able to still listen to him. I indulge in his music on a daily basis. Thanks for doing this on your channel.
If you want too hear a dude rapping many years before rap was even a thought, then check out from his 1965 Lol "Bringing It All Back Home" "Subterranean Homesick Blues" an electric number and he's doing some serious rapping on this one and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) which is just him on acoustic guitar and his harmonica. This album was the first one where he went electric. The album is like half acoustic folk and half electric. I promise you that these two songs will blow you away. In 1964 when he heard The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the radio he said it was a revelation and he knew right there that this was the wave of the future. Dylan and The Beatles were huge influences on one another. In September of 64 when The Beatles were on their first US tour and were in NYC, Dylan wanted too meet them. They were staying at the Delmonico Hotel where he went to meet them and he brought along his good friend named marijuana and introduced The Beatles to reefer for the first time. There are some great funny stories about this first meeting between the two. The Beatles became huge potheads after this meeting and their music changed almost overnight after that. They all became pretty good friends but Dylan and George Harrison became really good friends all the way up until George's Death in 2001. When George did his Concert For Bangladesh in 71 he had all kinds of famous musicians there that night but Dylan was his special guest and on the three album set one side is all Dylan and it's incredible. This was the first concert in history held to raise money for a humanitarian cause. Go down the Dylan rabbit hole, but be warned, it's a deep one. The man is amazing ! Dylan has been awarded "The Pulitzer Prize" for his contributions to popular music for his powerful lyrical content. He was awarded "The Nobel Prize" in 2016 after turning it down for years. President Obama put the "American Medal Of Freedom" around his neck in 2011. Name the award and he has it. He was named America's Poet Laureate in 1963 and still has that title. This man is easily the greatest American poet of the twentieth century and no doubt the world. ☮️✌️💕👌
Hope you get back in the RUclips groove again soon. Listening to and watching your Dylan reviews adds another dimension to my personal Dylan universe. I listen to his lyrics and let them wash over me like a wave at the sea shore. After several listens, the meaning becomes like a baptism into another world. Much love, brother!
Dylan's voice changes with the song he sings. Check out such songs as Lay Lady Lay, Girl From the North Country - a much smoother, finer delivery. In this song, and many others, his cadence and delivery change to more dramatically bring home the meaning of the vocals. His poetry is unparalleled and recites the times of our lives.
This is song is inspired by a very good and wealthy friend of his who fell in with the Andy Warhol crowd and got taken to the cleaners, losing everything she had.
Glad you found this to react to. I've only listened to the hiphop you have suggested. I always imagined hiphop as being very much a product of the mean streets so I thought this song would be close to the content in some hiphop.The song is an attack on the 1%. It's tearing away the fancy clothes and mansions to reveal, at heart, they're just like the rest of us. The band is all top flight musicians of the time. BTW - I'm faveddave05.
There's a great clip of Dylan live in Manchester in 1966. This is the infamous incident where a member of the audience (part of the contingent that didn't like him playing electric music) shouts out "Judas!" Dylan replies: "I don't believe you, you're a liar", then turns to the band and you can see him mouthing: "Play it fucking loud!" And then they go into this song. He gives a pretty intense and obviously angry performance...It's pretty cool...
Probably the greatest live concert he ever recorded. Was a famous bootleg for a long time. Acoustic set is phenomenal also. Only rival for me is some of the Rolling Thunder Tour stuff. Electric "Hard Rain" is incredible.
@Pontiac Soviro he was nearing the end of a long world tour, being booed across the world. Being mobbed by the same people who were booing him. No wonder he was stoned.
This track and the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" were released at almost the same time. I have often heard it said that they were the first two rock songs (as distinct from rock ´n´roll). Like many such claims, that can be disputed, but they certainly had an enormous impact on the way music developed afterwards.
This is Dylan telling his generation to grow the fuck up. In 1965. Yes, it probably was spurred on a personal level by his relationships with women from rich families who frustrated him and broke his heart, but it was really directed at his fans. It was revolutionary, but in a way completely different from what that word meant to any other rock musician at the time. This was not about sex or love or drugs or surfing or nature or politics or war or peace or some simplistic distillation of “eastern” religion: it’s about being honest with yourself, stopping thinking that you’re someone special or magical for whom the rules of life don’t apply, being honest and respectful in your relationships, and being conscious of your class privilege and how that skews your judgment and perspective of others. It was the song that ushered in his electric phase, and he did it for a reason: he realized that his acoustic guitar was lulling people into a sense of self-congratulatory complacency, no matter how blistering his lyrics were, and he needed to raise the volume and differentiate himself from the other folkies. While pop songs were generally associated with alcohol or drugs or hedonism, this song is stone-cold sober. It’s clearly what everyone needed to hear at that time, and still needs to hear.
I don't think he had such relationships. Suze Rotolo was a working class young woman whose parents were Communists and Baez's family was part Latino and Ministers who became Quakers. Baez suffered from racial slurs growing up. Like a Rolling Stone has some similarities to "Stuck Inside of Memphis" "Now the senator came down here Showing ev'ryone his gun Handing out free tickets To the wedding of his son And me, I nearly got busted And wouldn't it be my luck To get caught without a ticket And be discovered beneath a truck" Blonde on Blonde inverts that attack outward of BIABH and Highway 61 Revisited and now it is the artist himself who is caught.
This is the first time I have had one of your videos recommended in my feed. And I can’t pass by a Dylan reaction, as he is my favorite artist, and I love seeing people discover him. And yes, it is his lyrics that I love the most about him. But I also love his raw nasally voice too! This song was a breakthrough for a lot of reasons. One of them was simply the length of the song. When it came out radio stations played pop songs that were formulated to be 2 1/2 to 3 minutes long. This song broke through that barrier and allowed artists to see that they didn’t have to stick to that limitation. I think you had a pretty good take on the meaning of the lyrics. Another feature of the song that I didn’t hear you mention was the electric organ. A young musician named Al Kooper, who didn’t have a background on the organ, joined in on the recording session. Dylan loved the sound of the organ and had it turned up in the mix. It is considered part of the iconic sound of this song. It also helped to make a reputation for Kooper as a sessions musician. He was later invited by Mick Jagger to play the French horn and piano on the Stones iconic song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Dylan‘s catalog is huge and his style varies greatly over the years. I see that people have already recommended several great songs of his for you to check out. If you want to hear Dylan‘s voice at its best, I HIGHLY recommend my favorite Dylan album Blood on the Tracks. It came out a full decade after Like a Rolling Stone. I think that Dylan‘s voice is at its most melodic on that album and the instrumentation complements it, with what I consider a very lush sound. The album came out when he was breaking up with his wife Sarah. So it contains a lot of very emotional, but beautiful songs. It also has another song that people consider very scathing, in the same manner as Like a Rolling Stone. In fact, I would call it even more hard hitting. That song is called Idiot Wind. Whatever direction you go in, I believe that a hip hop fan will find a lot to love in Dylan‘s music. As far as the meaning of the title, Like a Rolling Stone, it comes from an old saying - a rolling stone gathers no moss. And you were pretty correct in your assessment of the meaning. It is about the fact that some thing in motion is not going to put down any roots.
one of my favorite lyrics from Dylan came from his song "Highway 61 Revisited". God said to Abraham, kill me your son, Abe said , man you must be putting me on, God said no, Abe said What, God said you can do what you want, Abe, but the next time you see me you better run. Abe said where you want this killing done? God said out on Highway 61.
John Sebastian, the leader of The Lovin' Spoonful, once said that Dylan in his folkie days was like a harsh truth teller, saying "Everything you know is wrong" and his job was to tell you why you were wrong (in regards to various social issues of the day). Sebastian added that Dylan then transferred that technique over to writing love songs, which is why songs like this one, Don't Think Twice It's Alright and Positively 4th Street (among others) are so scathing to the person to whom they're addressed.
It sounds the sincerest when Mr. Dylan sang his own songs! Singing not always about impressing fans; sometimes the imperfections are a key factor in telling the tale! Hendrix knew this very well, also! Just ask Janice; I think she'll know😉
Great to be reminded of what a good song this is. Brings to mind the Pulp/ Jarvis Cocker song: Common People, which has a similar attitude but focusses on pre-downfall. Some could argue that both are mysogynistic.
Love this…takes me back. Dylan has to be listened to--the words are important. Love it all- his voice, the words, the harmonica, the tambourines….nothing else is like him.
Bob Dylan's voice is very powerful and capable. He has a tremendous ability to express emotion and wit. People who suggest Dylan could not sing well don't have an ear for his style. Dylan delivers his own songs better than any cover I have ever heard, especially Hendrix. Listen to "Idiot Wind" or heck, the entire Blood On The Tracks album. Dylan's vocal abilities and performance are truly sensational.
Some of the best lyrics ever written. This is where you see Bob's "Folk" roots show. There is simply no one like this man, who has influenced so many other artists and Bands of the 1960s and 70s.
Only one close is Leonard Cohen, especially later Cohen, who is an incredible lyricist but he never had Dylan's influence. From the great "Closing Time" Check it out. ruclips.net/video/7-0lV5qs1Qw/видео.html "Ah we're lonely, we're romantic And the cider's laced with acid And the Holy Spirit's crying, 'Where's the beef?' And the moon is swimming naked And the summer night is fragrant With a mighty expectation of relief So we struggle and we stagger Down the snakes and up the ladder To the tower where the blessed hours chime And I swear it happened just like this: A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss The Gates of Love they budged an inch I can't say much has happened since But Closing Time
From what I've read this song is about a girl (young lady) named Edie Sedgwick who was in with the Andy Warhol crowd and got used by a lot of people until she finally ended up on the street and unfortunately died young. Something like that
One of those songs I've heard my whole life. It evokes a definite period in time for me. I think you would get a kick out of his song, " Positively 4th Street. " I've actually sang it to annoying people ! haha...
This sound was far from a typical "rock" track of the time when it came out, and not just for the fact that it busted the "two minute, fifty second" barrier for airplay, either.
ps- i was there in real-time when this came out: was quite simply the most exciting thing to hear at the time, all over radio. some stations even cut it in half, due to radio's 3-min. time-limits! (& kudos to the ones who played it in full)
Rumor had this was written about Edie Sedgwick, one of Andy Warhol's crowd. And it fits her time with Warhol, her affair with Dylan and her fall from grace with society. I wouldn't want Dylan to write a dis track about me!
I think Bob Dylan's voice is perfect for this track, and generally for the studio versions of his work. It's in his live performances that he goes so far out of tune that it loses its appeal, for me at least. But there are indeed a lot of great covers of his songs by the likes of Joan Baez and many others.
Yes. And the Byrds, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix, Pretenders, Ziggy Marley, Patti Smith, Miley Cyrus, RHCP, Adele, Willie Nelson, Seal, MyChemical Romance, My Morning Jacket, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, George Harrison, and also a lot of squares in the 60s who were trying to be cool. Like Pat Boone and shit :P
@@dragon-ed1hz Love Van Morrison/Them's cover of It's All Over Now Baby Blue; it featured in the movie Basquiat, which has a lot of fantastic music in the soundtrack.
One of my fav songs. For a decade or so I thought it was the Dead’s, till I saw “Don’t look Back” and saw Bobbie do it in the hotel room. blew my mind. The year the Dead formed 1965. Bobs a gift to us all.
One of your subs made the comment that maybe she told him his poetry was lousy. That was actually a very humorous comment because it was quoting a line from a famous song by Joan Baez, a mentor and then a lover of Dylan’s. Dylan told HER that her poetry was “lousy” and she wrote that in a line from the song Diamonds and Rust.
Some think this song is about Edie Sedgewick, who Dylan had an interest in, but she apparently was more interested in Andy Warhol and his social circle of rich and famous hipsters of the era. Evidently she got caught up in the substance abuse that was prevalent and ruined her life.
Good stuff dude.... saw your visions of Johanna first and ended up here cos I loved your breakdown. I usually only watch the American reactors, but just found the first brit I'd watch again. Great to see others discovering music you already love. ✌🇬🇧
I didn't love Dylan's voice when I first heard it and honestly, I still don't. But the fact that it's not slick... not "right" for the recording industry.. is, to me, what make it right for the incredible lyrics. There's something very Dylan to "f* that the voice isn't perfect, it is what is". Especially now, when we have way more perfectly packaged, unoffensive fluff than we need anyway.
i have always LOVED IT. BUT HE was the poet of our generation. So much was going on that the uniqueness of his voice just added to memory of those CHANGIN YEARS that will never leave us.
Dylan's very good at savage writing but he's also good at tender writing. He's good at creating moods. I prefer Bob Dylan singing All Along the Watchtower to Hendrix but Hendrix is better musically. I don't think Dylan needs a lot of complicated music though for his type of singing. His minimalism is good. The song got a bit jumpy there at the end.
The song may be about a former girlfriend, Edie Sedgwick, who then hung out with Andy Warhol. After her trust fund was exhausted (funding Warhol's films), Warhol (the 'diplomat on the chrome horse') and Sedgwick had a falling out. Dylan never confirmed or refuted this.
Fifty-seven years later, it still gives me goose bumps...every time I hear it. "If you get Dylan, he's very important," said Joan Baez, "and if you don't then pffft." She was right. And as you indicated, his style, lyrics, and voice can grow on you. You mentioned a stylistic difference in his delivery of lyrics. Perhaps the word you were looking for is "synchopated", as they don't fall where you expect them. Thanks for your content.
This song is about Dylan himself His father owned a furniture store and he had a motorcycle . He thought he had it Then he went to New York and found out he was a nobody in that environment
Mike Bloomfield on guitar. A good band to listen to would be the Paul Butterfield blues band. Which Bloomfield was in. The album east west a good one to start with and the song east west. A mix of blues and Indian inspired style. By the way Bloomfield's guitar is one of the most famous guitars from the era.
Dylan's vocals are an acquired taste, but it doesn't take long to acquire it. A little context from the folk scene he emerged from can be especially helpful. You can't really get early Dylan without listening to some Woody Guthrie first. But when you do get where he's coming from, and you realize what he was creating, yeah, his entire existence in the early sixties becomes mindblowing.
Listen to them more then once, he owns these songs. His voice is perfect for these songs. his guitar playing is off the chart, a once in a generation talent.
Never got into Dylan, but it's hard to deny he's a master lyricist. If you liked this, check out the phenomenal "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Really a profound song. (His voice actually fits that one!) Edit: Dylan always struck me as being in the same category with Leonard Coen: legendary singer-songwriters who's music sounded infinitely better sung by other artists.
Well i disagree somewhat. For me his voice is wonderful, in early years at least. For me it is not a Dylan song without his voice and especially the timing, which is a masterclass. But of course, Hendrix cover is monumental, and some others to. cheers
Funny true story (as related by Al Kooper), Al Kooper was in the studio when the song was being recorded (he thought he was going to be playing guitar, but found out his invite was only to observe). During a break he spotted the unoccupied organ and decided to play it (without permission). He was so worried about screwing up the recording that he played a half-beat behind. When Dylan heard the recording, he loved it and invited Koper to play on the rest of the album. That delayed style of playing later became a standard in many subsequent recordings by other artists. Thanks for doing this song. That opening drum strike has been called the shot heard around the music world. It signaled more than anything else Dylan's change of direction from folkie to rock artist. Yeah, Dylan's voice is notoriously bad (or unique), but he hits all the notes and his style works for his songs. You do get used to it and learn to appreciate his phrasing (musical term for what you called cadence)..
Pretty voices are nice but impactful voices are the ones that place a permanent stamp upon your soul, not unlike Dylan. One of my all-time favorite female singers falls into this category...raw, emotive, gut-wrenching, with impeccable, unique phrasing, often singing behind the beat, yet not technically the "prettiest" of voices. Care to guess who it is?
Love your take as usual. Someone in comments mentioned Just Like A Woman, as also about Edie Sedgwick, possibly. I would love to hear what you have to say about the contrasting style on that beautiful track. Baby Blue another favorite.
In my opinion this song is all about a girl who had everything and got in with those she considered "the in" crowd and took a walk on the wild side with them, started using drugs and got used in return until she was no longer the bright pretty girl she once was. No longer popular...estranged from all she was before...forced to turning tricks for a pimp in order to get her next fix of drugs. So essentially she fell for the rebellious lifestyle because it all seemed so cool....until it wasn't anymore and she started living the dark side of rebellion and ended up becoming so degraded she can no longer even see her way out and how to get back to that old familiar "home"....which was the life she used to lead.
One of my favorite Dylan songs and there are plenty, is Gotta Serve Somebody. I saw him play it live on SNL I think a long time ago and I still remember it. The lyrics are so true! As usual, Dylan tells the truth and says you’re either serving the Lord and doing good things or you’re serving the Devil and doing bad things. He’s right as usual and points it all out in songs. You may own Banks and you may even own Tanks but you gotta serve somebody. It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord! But you’re gonna serve somebody! In other words, Repent or make up your mind! Which side are you on? You better know because Judgement Day is coming! God Bless Dylan! He a genius and a gift to the world!
08:32-09:16 in 1991 was celebrate the 30st anniversary of first Dylan record release. The show was aired and in Italy was commented on TV and among the commenters was Francesco de Gregori, an italian songwriter. The TV reporter asked him something about his voice and Francesco answered: "Dylan non ha una voce, 'È' una voce". That is: "Dylan doesn't have a voice, He IS a voice". Btw you can hear Francesco in the sound track of Masked & Anonymous with his own italian version of "if you see her say hello"
GREAT REACTION!! If you want to listen to a DYLAN song with a lot of humour you should listen to his song : TALKIN' MOUTAIN BEAR PICNIC MASSACRE BLUES - 1962 - official audio 3.45 minutes !! HAVE FUN....
I was a young teen when this Album was released. Bobby was doing and writing authentically, which no one else was doing. In that context, the Beatles, the Stones and others were rebels, too. We played that "Album" over and over ... I still know it , and can sing it, by heart.
STARTING in the mid-60s as things in our World got heavier, the music became more message-oriented than say the Beach boys' music of the earlier part of the decade.
Absolutely love hearing someone else's interpretation of Bobby's words/music. I'm a huge fan of the man's work, something I've always felt is, he somehow consciously writes specific tales in his songs but in these tales hs simultaneously talking to/about multiple different stories.
Dylan's voice is an acquired taste, but on certain songs no one else can sing, even though Hendrix does a great live version of this. Some songs that you should consider are Mr tambourine man, subterranean homesick blues, it's alright ma I'm only bleeding, the times are a changin', blowin in the wind. The Byrd's probably were the best at covering his songs, along with Jimi.
Brilliant analysis! Re the voice - worth remembering this recording dates from 1965 and they were only just about using stereo recording let alone autotune!
Another great job, man. I believe you picked up on everything in this song. Bob Dylan does a lot of things well, but he does scathing particularly well. Check out Positively 4th Street for another amazing scathing track: ruclips.net/video/aehwEu8SBSo/видео.html
Subterranesn Homesick Blues Tombstone Blues Desolation Row Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues It's Alright Ma That's a decent start, all real listenable songs with different, amazing things going for them. All have ridiculously amazing lyrics you could ponder for days.
I am a big Dylan fan (old guy here!) and love to see younger folks at least give his music a try. Cudos to you for doing that. Great interpretation of the lyrics as well. Give Subterranean Homesick Blues a listen sometime. ✌🏼
I said it then and I’ll say it now. Bob Dylan’s music was so hypnotic because it had soul. It was not just his lyrics, it was how he phrase his singing style. It made you recognize and feel every line like, “yeah, I lived that. I know exactly what he’s talking about.” It’s just a gift.
It's fantastic that a young (hip hop) & dare I say Millennial guy is listening to & appreciating the genius that is Bob Dylan... I am 65 & live in UK England a place called South Shields... I have 49 Albums & various bootleg recordings on cassette tape of him & He is my all time MUSIC HERO I was just a mere 12 yr old boy when I first heard his music coming from my older brothers bedroom on the record player he had... & It just blew my mind full stop.. from that day I literally fell in love with the guy, his words, lyrics, music, the whole concept of him all together... Right up until this day... So Keep on listening to his music & albums ( not all r brilliant) but lyrics wise incomparable... & 1 day when your 65... You can tell ur story of how you became A Bob Dylan Fan .. young man I applaud you.. 👏🏽
You don't get better than Bob.
Tapes? I've heard of them, reel to reel, 8-track, and cassette. Shows you how old I am. 😄
I was a bit older than your older brother, same age as Bob, amd he regularly blew my mind with every new direction. He's the sound of my life.
I love Dylan's voice and delivery. It's sublime.
The way people hate his singing at first is always crazy to me sense I love his art so much. But I have to remind myself that I too found his vocals weird when I started listening to him. No one like him and probably never will be
My friends and I always listed Dylan as one of the best "bad voices" in music history (and yes, that's a huge compliment--not having the chops of, say, a Lou Gramm, Don Henley, or Levon Helm, but still managing to sound uniquely great) along with David Byrne and Chrissie Hynde.
Dylan is a very very deep rabbit hole. There are entire college courses devoted to his lyrics, and Dylan’s fans are possibly the most fanatical of them all, infinitely obsessing about the songs, his differing lyrics to the same songs over the years and what the subtle shifts and changes mean. It’s no wonder he’s the only songwriter to receive the Nobel Prize for literature, he really is that great, that profound. I always took this song to be aimed directly at the heart of the American complacency and stagnation. But the brilliance of Dylan is that he often deliberately leaves room for multiple interpretations, he leaves room for you to inhabit his songs too. He can also be incredibly tender, and yet not at all sentimental - Love Minus Zero is a good concise example of that.
Well he did win a Nobel Prize for Literature.
Well said.
The joke is on them, because mostly they don't mean much of anything LOL
@@squaaaaak3178 ok boomer.
Some songs. In context Highway 61 Revisited ( album) is consistent with a revolutionary scathing attack on the madness of contemporary American culture. Written right as America inyensified Vietnam involvement
"Rovin' gambler, he was very bored
Tryin' to create a next world war
He found a promoter who nearly fell off the floor
"I never did engage in this kind of thing before
But yeah, I think it can be very easily done"
"We'll just put some bleachers out in the sun
Have it on Highway 61"
Can't get more savage (or precise) than that. "We destroyed the city in order to save it."
His voice is like whiskey, it’s fine if you don’t like it, but it’s wonderful…. It burns and cuts through….
I think his voice is perfect.
Bowie had the best description " with a voice like sand and glue" and "words had truthful vengeance that could pin us to the floor".
You're exactly right Sean. That's how I've always thought of Dylan's voice. An acquired taste.
LOVE THAT! THANK YOU.
Dylan is my “touch stone” if you don’t get him or like him I have no room for you in my life 😂
This is the music that jump started 60's folk into rock-n-roll. Hail, hail Bob Dylan.
His voice is iconic, it was unique and memorable, wouldn't be the same without that strangeness; those wishing someone else had sung it are too critical for their own good, or being unreasonably judgmental!
That being said (am a HUGE Dylan fan) Brian Ferry does a FABULOUS covers album called Dylanesque. His voice has the same sneery quality to it and it's really, really well done. It's all on YT and live BBC sessions with AMAZING band. Recommend.
There’s nothing strange about one of the best voices in Music
Lol. I just got into an argument on RUclips with someone who really hates his voice. I mentioned this song and said that when we were kids my friends and I would enjoy trying to imitate the way he sang on it. I couldn’t picture anyone else singing this, actually. It’s so peculiarly, individually unique, so iconic.
@@MsAppassionata I do really recommend Brian Ferry's "Dylanesque" album. His voice suits Bobs work very well and the album is phenomenally good.
I do a passing imitation of Bob, I'm told!
@@DawnSuttonfabfour I like some of Ferry’s other music. I’ll definitely check it out. Thanks.
I love his voice. It serves his poetry and songs well. It's certainly unique. When he sings, you know it's Dylan.
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" is a Dylan song you should definitely check out. Rapping before rap existed.
Absolutely, truly the first rap song
And amazing rhyme structure.
Proto rap
ABSOFREAKINGLUTELY. I would love to see his reaction to that and "Desolation Row"
@@456012 Well not really but close. Along with Subterranean Homesick Blues"
I think Dylan’s voice absolutely fits with the songs he writes. It makes the song what it is along with his beautiful and unexpected way of phrasing. That is one of his trademarks and is apparent in so many of his songs.
This song is from "Highway 61 Revisited" album. It is mostly an electric blues album. This is the transformation for acoustic folk to electric blues rock. I think Dylan could see that the time for folk music had faded out and electric rock was the wave of the future. He was ahead of his time as a folk musician.
I think things have turned around.
Yes. Yes they have.😺
Yes, Dylan invented folk-rock. Then the Byrds took it and ran with it. In those bygone days there was folk music which was for serious people and intellectuals and there was rock ',n Roll, for the dumb teenage masses. What Dylan did by going electric was to combine all of it and created rock and roll as we know it today. Thank you Bobby, EVERYONE owes you a debt of gratitude. for without Bob....
I agree with you but I think for him it was not mental. I think he was following his gut and where he wanted to go. At the time, the move cost him dearly emotionally. Now we recognize this album as his greatest achievement. My God is it fantastic.
Mike Bloomfield in command
His best lp ever!
I'll ALWAYS click for Bob Dylan. Literally anything by him is worth listening to at least once. I think reactions to his material tend to get claimed a lot, though, unfortunately.
For truly scathing lyrics, I'd suggest 'Idiot Wind.' I don't think I've ever heard another song that's quite so derisive. For a different vocal style, I'd say try almost anything from his album Highway 61 Revisited, as it's really more of a blues album instead of folk. 'It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry' features what I think are some of Dylan's best vocal style.
Dylan has always gone through phases in his career. He left his "strict folk" phase around 64 or 65, and then went into some country-folk in the late 60s for a bit, then leaned into more rock/folk-rock in the 70s, then got into a heavy Christian Revivalist phase in the late 70s and through part of the 80s (which most people hate, but I don't mind at all). In the late 90s he had a huge comeback Grammy winning album called Time Out Of Mind, which doesn't have 1 single bad song on it - you've probably heard Adele cover the song 'Make You Feel My Love' from this album. In the 2000s he went into more of a blues phase when he did Together Through Life - I'd recommend 'I Feel A Change Comin' On' as it's probably his best track from this period I think.
Point being, his voice is definitely an acquired taste, but there are also a lot of different flavors available.
Dylan has a great voice. He can sing like Caruso and he can hold his breath 3 times as long, heh!
Expecting something folky, acoustic guitar? Not so electric? Search online for Dylan Newport Folk Festival. Watershed moment in rock'n'roll. Also, I recommend any song from the "Blood on the Tracks" album, including "Idiot Wind."
@@edprzydatek8398 Haha! I remember when he said thar. It was just before the Nashville Skyline album was released and he said it was because he quit smoking! Thanks for the memory 😃
Dylan has the greatest voice in rock music, period, the end.
I can't even touch the books you've read.
The way Dylan expresses emotion is so raw and real. His cadence is unique and part of the way he does his storytelling.
I think, as do many others, that this is the most important song in the history of rock music. In an era where songs on radios were usually 2 minutes long, this was over 6 minutes. It was released the summer between my freshman and sophomore years of high school and it amazed me.
right. I was 14 when I first heard it blare out of a radio. Hit like a sledgehammer. It changed everything in 6 minutes.
Nice enjoying this song with you. I remember watching a TV documentary on Dylan, and an Irish musician ( I believe one of the Clancy brothers) recalled when Dylan first arrived in Greenwich Village - the epicenter of beat poetry and folk music- from his home Minnesota, with his guitar on his back- he said when Dylan first sang into a microphone: “how many roads must a man walk down, before you call him a man”, he was so shocked and awed, he began to weep.
Wow. I hadn't heard that.
PISSED OFF is often a great co-writer. So glad you did this one, Syed. Enjoyed your reaction and discussion. Few people know Dylan’s only #1 hit came out just 2-3 years ago and is 17 minutes (!) long. It’s called “Murder Most Foul.” It’s about the Kennedy (JFK) assassination and is thorough romp through culture and history from about 1950 forward.
@granitestater1029 “Murder Most Foul” with lyrics and reference pictures.
ruclips.net/video/3afm8a4hv1I/видео.html
There's probably multiple reasons Bob Dylan wrote this song. Though the story I heard, he wrote it about a NY socialite named Edie Sedgwick. She was a protege of the late Andy Warhol. While she was riding high it was said she looked down on those who were less fortunate. Andy, the silent genius, used her for what he could and dumped her as she fell deeper and deeper into drug addiction. It was said Dylan wanted to rescue her from the destructive scene but she rebuffed him, so he moved on. I think he had mixed feelings about her but was ultimately turned off by her snobbery and self destructive ways.
Excellent analysis.
Interesting observation, I'm a lifelong Dylan fan, and a musician myself. I'd always heard that Edie was the inspiration for "Just Like a Woman"...but Like a Rolling Stone could fit, too....
@@thephroggs4916 Like a Rolling Stone definitely fits more for Edie Sedgwick. I think that "Just Like a Woman" is an amalgam of a number of women -- the lyric where he talks about the "falling from your ribbons and your bows," I think is definitely Edie. But the final lyric, where he says "Well I just can't fit -- well I believe it's time for me to quit -- when we meet again, introduced as friends, please don't let on that you knew me when, I was hungry and it was your world" -- and then, in a sign of much greater regard and respect than in the previous choruses, instead of "she takes just like a woman" -- he finally says "Ah, YOU take just like a woman" -- there, he is certainly talking to Joan Baez.
Watch factory girl - great performance by sienna Miller as Edie. There is a Dylan inspired character in there as well.
@@Kairon111161 - Agreed. I also think "Just Like a Woman" is about more than just one woman, but the last verse is clearly about Joan Baez, and as you say, conveys great respect and affection for her. He was hungry (just starting out) and it was her world (she was the reigning Queen of folk music) when they first met in that folk music scene in New York. She was the huge star, he was the up and coming prince...heir to the throne...and they did a lot of amazing work together. Yeah, the "ribbons and bows" line sounds like Edie Sedgewick. As for "Like a Rolling Stone", that sounds 100% like Edie Sedgewick (plus a lot of other people in that whole pretentious scene around Andy Warhol and elsewhere at the time..."all the pretty people"). I think Warhol is the "diplomat who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat". He used Edie Sedgewick because she had the youthful blonde look he was always after, and he abandoned her to her fate after he'd "taken everything he could steal".
He was a fierce social critic and he even took his own generation down for being shallow and took them down a peg. I guess he didn’t care for people who think they are superior or better than other people.
Dylan’s aim was true and he was merciless. This songs a classic and one of my favorite lines is your invisible now you got no secrets to conceal. And you went to the finest schools but you only got juiced in it.
In other words, you didn’t take school and life seriously and blew your opportunities and now you’re on the street hustling and poor with no direction home.
Brutal but honest criticism by Dylan. He didn’t mince words or sugarcoat anything.
In other words, you weren’t ready for the real world and the real world is ruthless!
Good reaction and you got the lyrics right as usual.
Good analysis!
Exactly. You nailed it. It’s more social commentary than aimed at one individual.
@DJ Thanks but it’s SBTs analysis of the lyrics that I find to be on point. He’s really good at figuring out what songs are about and from which perspective.
I gave up my amateur critiques after I heard him the first time. He explained things in songs that I never would have thought of even. He’s brilliant and highly educated and now I understand my shortcomings.
I’m not highly educated and dropped out of College so now I’m paying the price. I occasionally have a decent insight or take on a song but I can’t analyze lyrics the way SBT does. I defer to the better critic.
And he usually praises what he’s hearing but that’s only because he’s covering the Classic bands and best Rock songs ever done.
He’s actually explained what they mean to me and it’s like a key 🔑 opening a locked door 🔒 in my mind. It’s made me appreciate those classics even more.
After 40 years of hearing those songs and not really understanding them, it’s been an eye 👁 opener! Or should I say an Ear👂🏻opener?
I’m really bad at understanding lyrics and interpretation so that there are several Stones songs that I’m only getting now.
Because Jagger mumbles his lyrics deliberately and I never bothered to look at a lyric sheet to figure out what he’s actually singing. What a shock when I actually heard the right lyrics!
Rape, Murder! It’s just a shot away! I never heard it before.
I thought he sang Hey, Baby! it’s just a Shout away! After forty years of hearing it wrong!
So I will just listen to SBT from now on and keep quiet for the most part unless I think I can add something.
Thanks!
SBTs the best.
And Doug the Music composer is pretty damn good at analysis as well. He’s done some great Pink Floyd reviews.
Often shows up from #1 to #5 on lists of greatest song of all time. Not era-specific or genre-specific song, just song period. Of all time.
I just recently discovered your SyedRewinds and have been pleasantly taken in with your reactions to Dylan. Your reaction to his music is how I still react when I listen to any of his music. Having older sisters who constantly listened to music I was exposed to a variety of styles. I was 10 or 11 when I first heard him and although I was too young to understand what he was talking about I understood, on some level, that he was worth the listen. Almost 72 now and one of the blessings I count in life is being able to still listen to him. I indulge in his music on a daily basis. Thanks for doing this on your channel.
If you want too hear a dude rapping many years before rap was even a thought, then check out from his 1965 Lol "Bringing It All Back Home" "Subterranean Homesick Blues" an electric number and he's doing some serious rapping on this one and "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) which is just him on acoustic guitar and his harmonica. This album was the first one where he went electric. The album is like half acoustic folk and half electric. I promise you that these two songs will blow you away. In 1964 when he heard The Beatles "I Want To Hold Your Hand" on the radio he said it was a revelation and he knew right there that this was the wave of the future. Dylan and The Beatles were huge influences on one another. In September of 64 when The Beatles were on their first US tour and were in NYC, Dylan wanted too meet them. They were staying at the Delmonico Hotel where he went to meet them and he brought along his good friend named marijuana and introduced The Beatles to reefer for the first time. There are some great funny stories about this first meeting between the two. The Beatles became huge potheads after this meeting and their music changed almost overnight after that. They all became pretty good friends but Dylan and George Harrison became really good friends all the way up until George's Death in 2001. When George did his Concert For Bangladesh in 71 he had all kinds of famous musicians there that night but Dylan was his special guest and on the three album set one side is all Dylan and it's incredible. This was the first concert in history held to raise money for a humanitarian cause. Go down the Dylan rabbit hole, but be warned, it's a deep one. The man is amazing ! Dylan has been awarded "The Pulitzer Prize" for his contributions to popular music for his powerful lyrical content. He was awarded "The Nobel Prize" in 2016 after turning it down for years. President Obama put the "American Medal Of Freedom" around his neck in 2011. Name the award and he has it. He was named America's Poet Laureate in 1963 and still has that title. This man is easily the greatest American poet of the twentieth century and no doubt the world. ☮️✌️💕👌
Hope you get back in the RUclips groove again soon. Listening to and watching your Dylan reviews adds another dimension to my personal Dylan universe. I listen to his lyrics and let them wash over me like a wave at the sea shore. After several listens, the meaning becomes like a baptism into another world. Much love, brother!
The Rolling Stones covered this song in the mid 90s and it’s a pretty damn fun rendition.
Brilliant songwriter and singer.
Dylan's voice changes with the song he sings. Check out such songs as Lay Lady Lay, Girl From the North Country - a much smoother, finer delivery. In this song, and many others, his cadence and delivery change to more dramatically bring home the meaning of the vocals. His poetry is unparalleled and recites the times of our lives.
"Tangled Up in Blue" is one of my favorite Dylan tunes, also, "You Gotta Serve Somebody", studio versions
This is song is inspired by a very good and wealthy friend of his who fell in with the Andy Warhol crowd and got taken to the cleaners, losing everything she had.
Oh, that figures ! Not a very wholesome crew. (Saw a doc about that scene once). Appreciate the info !
That's the story told in "Factory Girl", right? Good movie, except for the cruelty-to-motorcycles bit.
Edie Sedgwick. She and Bob had a brief affair/ she dumped him. This is his revenge song.
@@TheDivayenta A good way of ignoring the meaning of the song.
Glad you found this to react to. I've only listened to the hiphop you have suggested. I always imagined hiphop as being very much a product of the mean streets so I thought this song would be close to the content in some hiphop.The song is an attack on the 1%. It's tearing away the fancy clothes and mansions to reveal, at heart, they're just like the rest of us.
The band is all top flight musicians of the time.
BTW - I'm faveddave05.
There's a great clip of Dylan live in Manchester in 1966. This is the infamous incident where a member of the audience (part of the contingent that didn't like him playing electric music) shouts out "Judas!" Dylan replies: "I don't believe you, you're a liar", then turns to the band and you can see him mouthing: "Play it fucking loud!" And then they go into this song. He gives a pretty intense and obviously angry performance...It's pretty cool...
Probably the greatest live concert he ever recorded. Was a famous bootleg for a long time. Acoustic set is phenomenal also. Only rival for me is some of the Rolling Thunder Tour stuff. Electric "Hard Rain" is incredible.
@Pontiac Soviro he was nearing the end of a long world tour, being booed across the world. Being mobbed by the same people who were booing him. No wonder he was stoned.
This track and the Rolling Stones' "Satisfaction" were released at almost the same time. I have often heard it said that they were the first two rock songs (as distinct from rock ´n´roll). Like many such claims, that can be disputed, but they certainly had an enormous impact on the way music developed afterwards.
Yes, I remember it clearly... the summer of 65 blew rock wide open....
God I remember when Satisfaction was released. The streets shook.
This is Dylan telling his generation to grow the fuck up. In 1965. Yes, it probably was spurred on a personal level by his relationships with women from rich families who frustrated him and broke his heart, but it was really directed at his fans. It was revolutionary, but in a way completely different from what that word meant to any other rock musician at the time. This was not about sex or love or drugs or surfing or nature or politics or war or peace or some simplistic distillation of “eastern” religion: it’s about being honest with yourself, stopping thinking that you’re someone special or magical for whom the rules of life don’t apply, being honest and respectful in your relationships, and being conscious of your class privilege and how that skews your judgment and perspective of others. It was the song that ushered in his electric phase, and he did it for a reason: he realized that his acoustic guitar was lulling people into a sense of self-congratulatory complacency, no matter how blistering his lyrics were, and he needed to raise the volume and differentiate himself from the other folkies.
While pop songs were generally associated with alcohol or drugs or hedonism, this song is stone-cold sober. It’s clearly what everyone needed to hear at that time, and still needs to hear.
I don't think he had such relationships. Suze Rotolo was a working class young woman whose parents were Communists and Baez's family was part Latino and Ministers who became Quakers. Baez suffered from racial slurs growing up.
Like a Rolling Stone has some similarities to "Stuck Inside of Memphis"
"Now the senator came down here
Showing ev'ryone his gun
Handing out free tickets
To the wedding of his son
And me, I nearly got busted
And wouldn't it be my luck
To get caught without a ticket
And be discovered beneath a truck"
Blonde on Blonde inverts that attack outward of BIABH and Highway 61 Revisited and now it is the artist himself who is caught.
This is the first time I have had one of your videos recommended in my feed. And I can’t pass by a Dylan reaction, as he is my favorite artist, and I love seeing people discover him. And yes, it is his lyrics that I love the most about him. But I also love his raw nasally voice too! This song was a breakthrough for a lot of reasons. One of them was simply the length of the song. When it came out radio stations played pop songs that were formulated to be 2 1/2 to 3 minutes long. This song broke through that barrier and allowed artists to see that they didn’t have to stick to that limitation. I think you had a pretty good take on the meaning of the lyrics. Another feature of the song that I didn’t hear you mention was the electric organ. A young musician named Al Kooper, who didn’t have a background on the organ, joined in on the recording session. Dylan loved the sound of the organ and had it turned up in the mix. It is considered part of the iconic sound of this song. It also helped to make a reputation for Kooper as a sessions musician. He was later invited by Mick Jagger to play the French horn and piano on the Stones iconic song, You Can’t Always Get What You Want. Dylan‘s catalog is huge and his style varies greatly over the years. I see that people have already recommended several great songs of his for you to check out. If you want to hear Dylan‘s voice at its best, I HIGHLY recommend my favorite Dylan album Blood on the Tracks. It came out a full decade after Like a Rolling Stone. I think that Dylan‘s voice is at its most melodic on that album and the instrumentation complements it, with what I consider a very lush sound. The album came out when he was breaking up with his wife Sarah. So it contains a lot of very emotional, but beautiful songs. It also has another song that people consider very scathing, in the same manner as Like a Rolling Stone. In fact, I would call it even more hard hitting. That song is called Idiot Wind. Whatever direction you go in, I believe that a hip hop fan will find a lot to love in Dylan‘s music. As far as the meaning of the title, Like a Rolling Stone, it comes from an old saying - a rolling stone gathers no moss. And you were pretty correct in your assessment of the meaning. It is about the fact that some thing in motion is not going to put down any roots.
one of my favorite lyrics from Dylan came from his song "Highway 61 Revisited". God said to Abraham, kill me your son, Abe said , man you must be putting me on, God said no, Abe said What, God said you can do what you want, Abe, but the next time you see me you better run. Abe said where you want this killing done? God said out on Highway 61.
That track is a hoot!
John Sebastian, the leader of The Lovin' Spoonful, once said that Dylan in his folkie days was like a harsh truth teller, saying "Everything you know is wrong" and his job was to tell you why you were wrong (in regards to various social issues of the day). Sebastian added that Dylan then transferred that technique over to writing love songs, which is why songs like this one, Don't Think Twice It's Alright and Positively 4th Street (among others) are so scathing to the person to whom they're addressed.
It sounds the sincerest when Mr. Dylan sang his own songs! Singing not always about impressing fans; sometimes the imperfections are a key factor in telling the tale! Hendrix knew this very well, also! Just ask Janice; I think she'll know😉
Go ask Janice, I think she'll know. Where logic, and proportion, have fallen sloppy dead...
Nailed it, Michael!
Jimi Hendrix said about Dylan
if that guy can sing I can do it to….
@@deadchannel3274 Grace Slick's song and it was Alice. White Rabbit.
Great to be reminded of what a good song this is. Brings to mind the Pulp/ Jarvis Cocker song: Common People, which has a similar attitude but focusses on pre-downfall. Some could argue that both are mysogynistic.
Love this…takes me back. Dylan has to be listened to--the words are important. Love it all- his voice, the words, the harmonica, the tambourines….nothing else is like him.
"A rolling stone gathers no moss". I think first used in music by Smoky Robinson.
He may not have a great voice, but he is a great singer.
Bob Dylan's voice is very powerful and capable. He has a tremendous ability to express emotion and wit. People who suggest Dylan could not sing well don't have an ear for his style. Dylan delivers his own songs better than any cover I have ever heard, especially Hendrix. Listen to "Idiot Wind" or heck, the entire Blood On The Tracks album. Dylan's vocal abilities and performance are truly sensational.
Some of the best lyrics ever written. This is where you see Bob's "Folk" roots show.
There is simply no one like this man, who has influenced so many other artists and Bands of the 1960s and 70s.
Only one close is Leonard Cohen, especially later Cohen, who is an incredible lyricist but he never had Dylan's influence.
From the great "Closing Time" Check it out. ruclips.net/video/7-0lV5qs1Qw/видео.html
"Ah we're lonely, we're romantic
And the cider's laced with acid
And the Holy Spirit's crying, 'Where's the beef?'
And the moon is swimming naked
And the summer night is fragrant
With a mighty expectation of relief
So we struggle and we stagger
Down the snakes and up the ladder
To the tower where the blessed hours chime
And I swear it happened just like this:
A sigh, a cry, a hungry kiss
The Gates of Love they budged an inch
I can't say much has happened since
But Closing Time
Thanks!
Ken you're the man! Thanks
Good Job Mate.
If you want lyrics, hit up Desolation Row. 🔥
From what I've read this song is about a girl (young lady) named Edie Sedgwick who was in with the Andy Warhol crowd and got used by a lot of people until she finally ended up on the street and unfortunately died young. Something like that
One of those songs I've heard my whole life. It evokes a definite period in time for me. I think you would get a kick out of his song, " Positively 4th Street. " I've actually sang it to annoying people ! haha...
Probably my favorite song of Dylan's.
I love your reactions.
This sound was far from a typical "rock" track of the time when it came out, and not just for the fact that it busted the "two minute, fifty second" barrier for airplay, either.
I like the way you get into the lyrics----good job
"Nobody's ever taught you how to live out on the street
And now you're gonna have to get used to it"
Like a dagger in the heart of the American dream.
ps- i was there in real-time when this came out: was quite simply the most exciting thing to hear at the time, all over radio. some stations even cut it in half, due to radio's 3-min. time-limits! (& kudos to the ones who played it in full)
You should do The Hurricane next, its a true story.
For sure! A scathing wit!
Rumor had this was written about Edie Sedgwick, one of Andy Warhol's crowd. And it fits her time with Warhol, her affair with Dylan and her fall from grace with society. I wouldn't want Dylan to write a dis track about me!
Love the harmonic
I think Bob Dylan's voice is perfect for this track, and generally for the studio versions of his work. It's in his live performances that he goes so far out of tune that it loses its appeal, for me at least. But there are indeed a lot of great covers of his songs by the likes of Joan Baez and many others.
Yes. And the Byrds, Waylon Jennings, Johnny Cash, Judy Collins, Richie Havens, Fairport Convention, Jimi Hendrix, Pretenders, Ziggy Marley, Patti Smith, Miley Cyrus, RHCP, Adele, Willie Nelson, Seal, MyChemical Romance, My Morning Jacket, Emmylou Harris, Neil Young, George Harrison, and also a lot of squares in the 60s who were trying to be cool. Like Pat Boone and shit :P
@@mattjohn4731 And Joan Osborne's version of The Man in the Long Black Coat is exquisite.
@@dragon-ed1hz Love Van Morrison/Them's cover of It's All Over Now Baby Blue; it featured in the movie Basquiat, which has a lot of fantastic music in the soundtrack.
One of my fav songs. For a decade or so I thought it was the Dead’s, till I saw “Don’t look Back” and saw Bobbie do it in the hotel room. blew my mind. The year the Dead formed 1965. Bobs a gift to us all.
Recommend the Live at Budokan double album. Absolute stunner. Best live Dylan ever IMHO.
One of your subs made the comment that maybe she told him his poetry was lousy. That was actually a very humorous comment because it was quoting a line from a famous song by Joan Baez, a mentor and then a lover of Dylan’s. Dylan told HER that her poetry was “lousy” and she wrote that in a line from the song Diamonds and Rust.
Some think this song is about Edie Sedgewick, who Dylan had an interest in, but she apparently was more interested in Andy Warhol and his social circle of rich and famous hipsters of the era. Evidently she got caught up in the substance abuse that was prevalent and ruined her life.
"Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat" & "Lay Lady Lay" were also about Edie ... I think
Andy was the guy with Siamese Cat on his shoulder
Good stuff dude.... saw your visions of Johanna first and ended up here cos I loved your breakdown.
I usually only watch the American reactors, but just found the first brit I'd watch again.
Great to see others discovering music you already love.
✌🇬🇧
I didn't love Dylan's voice when I first heard it and honestly, I still don't. But the fact that it's not slick... not "right" for the recording industry.. is, to me, what make it right for the incredible lyrics. There's something very Dylan to "f* that the voice isn't perfect, it is what is". Especially now, when we have way more perfectly packaged, unoffensive fluff than we need anyway.
i have always LOVED IT. BUT HE was the poet of our generation. So much was going on that the uniqueness of his voice just added to memory of those CHANGIN YEARS that will never leave us.
There were more singers in that time with out of the ordinary voices. Janis Joplin and Joe Cocker come to mind.
nice to see you mate
Dylan's very good at savage writing but he's also good at tender writing. He's good at creating moods. I prefer Bob Dylan singing All Along the Watchtower to Hendrix but Hendrix is better musically. I don't think Dylan needs a lot of complicated music though for his type of singing. His minimalism is good. The song got a bit jumpy there at the end.
Your perception as the song progressed was spot on. I'm hoping you'll try some more Bob.
Positively 4th Street is another great Dylan song with mean lyrics and a good humor to it. I think you’d enjoy it.
Great great song.....love his voice.......you have a lot to learn and enjoy!
The song may be about a former girlfriend, Edie Sedgwick, who then hung out with Andy Warhol. After her trust fund was exhausted (funding Warhol's films), Warhol (the 'diplomat on the chrome horse') and Sedgwick had a falling out. Dylan never confirmed or refuted this.
She was the girlfriend of his pal Bob Neuwirth.
But, yes it's about her.
Fifty-seven years later, it still gives me goose bumps...every time I hear it.
"If you get Dylan, he's very important," said Joan Baez, "and if you don't then pffft."
She was right. And as you indicated, his style, lyrics, and voice can grow on you.
You mentioned a stylistic difference in his delivery of lyrics. Perhaps the word you were looking for is "synchopated", as they don't fall where you expect them.
Thanks for your content.
Either you love or hate his voice, but there's no denying that he's a great lyricist.
Nobel prize winner. Poetry.
Literature
"Tangled up in blue" my favorite and a hit back then....and never gets old to me.
Tangled Up In Blue tells a great story, really great lyrics and imagery.
Positively 4th Street has perhaps his most savage lyrics.
This song is about Dylan himself
His father owned a furniture store and he had a motorcycle . He thought he had it
Then he went to New York and found out he was a nobody in that environment
Mike Bloomfield on guitar. A good band to listen to would be the Paul Butterfield blues band. Which Bloomfield was in.
The album east west a good one to start with and the song east west. A mix of blues and Indian inspired style.
By the way Bloomfield's guitar is one of the most famous guitars from the era.
Or, a good band to listen to would be Bloomfield's own band, The Electric Flag.
I’m 65 and have been listening to this song for almost as long as I can remember. Still love it. Still speaks truth.
Dylan's vocals are an acquired taste, but it doesn't take long to acquire it. A little context from the folk scene he emerged from can be especially helpful. You can't really get early Dylan without listening to some Woody Guthrie first. But when you do get where he's coming from, and you realize what he was creating, yeah, his entire existence in the early sixties becomes mindblowing.
Listen to them more then once, he owns these songs. His voice is perfect for these songs. his guitar playing is off the chart, a once in a generation talent.
His backup band was the famous group known simply as...The Band.
I wouldn't want Dylan mad at me.
Never got into Dylan, but it's hard to deny he's a master lyricist. If you liked this, check out the phenomenal "The Times They Are A-Changin'." Really a profound song. (His voice actually fits that one!)
Edit: Dylan always struck me as being in the same category with Leonard Coen: legendary singer-songwriters who's music sounded infinitely better sung by other artists.
Well i disagree somewhat. For me his voice is wonderful, in early years at least. For me it is not a Dylan song without his voice and especially the timing, which is a masterclass.
But of course, Hendrix cover is monumental, and some others to.
cheers
That "how does it feel?" hits SO hard...
Funny true story (as related by Al Kooper), Al Kooper was in the studio when the song was being recorded (he thought he was going to be playing guitar, but found out his invite was only to observe). During a break he spotted the unoccupied organ and decided to play it (without permission). He was so worried about screwing up the recording that he played a half-beat behind. When Dylan heard the recording, he loved it and invited Koper to play on the rest of the album. That delayed style of playing later became a standard in many subsequent recordings by other artists.
Thanks for doing this song. That opening drum strike has been called the shot heard around the music world. It signaled more than anything else Dylan's change of direction from folkie to rock artist.
Yeah, Dylan's voice is notoriously bad (or unique), but he hits all the notes and his style works for his songs. You do get used to it and learn to appreciate his phrasing (musical term for what you called cadence)..
Pretty voices are nice but impactful voices are the ones that place a permanent stamp upon your soul, not unlike Dylan. One of my all-time favorite female singers falls into this category...raw, emotive, gut-wrenching, with impeccable, unique phrasing, often singing behind the beat, yet not technically the "prettiest" of voices. Care to guess who it is?
Love your take as usual. Someone in comments mentioned Just Like A Woman, as also about Edie Sedgwick, possibly. I would love to hear what you have to say about the contrasting style on that beautiful track. Baby Blue another favorite.
In my opinion this song is all about a girl who had everything and got in with those she considered "the in" crowd and took a walk on the wild side with them, started using drugs and got used in return until she was no longer the bright pretty girl she once was. No longer popular...estranged from all she was before...forced to turning tricks for a pimp in order to get her next fix of drugs. So essentially she fell for the rebellious lifestyle because it all seemed so cool....until it wasn't anymore and she started living the dark side of rebellion and ended up becoming so degraded she can no longer even see her way out and how to get back to that old familiar "home"....which was the life she used to lead.
I got to see Dylan live standing backstage at the edge of the stage and then met him afterwards. It was quite a privilege.
One of my favorite Dylan songs and there are plenty, is Gotta Serve Somebody. I saw him play it live on SNL I think a long time ago and I still remember it.
The lyrics are so true!
As usual, Dylan tells the truth and says you’re either serving the Lord and doing good things or you’re serving the Devil and doing bad things. He’s right as usual and points it all out in
songs.
You may own Banks and you may even own Tanks but you gotta serve somebody. It may be the Devil or it may be the Lord! But you’re gonna serve somebody!
In other words, Repent or make up your mind! Which side are you on? You better know because Judgement Day is coming!
God Bless Dylan! He a genius and a gift to the world!
08:32-09:16 in 1991 was celebrate the 30st anniversary of first Dylan record release. The show was aired and in Italy was commented on TV and among the commenters was Francesco de Gregori, an italian songwriter. The TV reporter asked him something about his voice and Francesco answered: "Dylan non ha una voce, 'È' una voce". That is: "Dylan doesn't have a voice, He IS a voice".
Btw you can hear Francesco in the sound track of Masked & Anonymous with his own italian version of "if you see her say hello"
GREAT REACTION!!
If you want to listen to a DYLAN song with a lot of humour you should listen to his song : TALKIN' MOUTAIN BEAR PICNIC MASSACRE BLUES - 1962 - official audio 3.45 minutes !! HAVE FUN....
I was a young teen when this Album was released. Bobby was doing and writing authentically, which no one else was doing. In that context, the Beatles, the Stones and others were rebels, too.
We played that "Album" over and over ... I still know it , and can sing it,
by heart.
STARTING in the mid-60s as things in our World got heavier, the music became more message-oriented than say the Beach boys' music of the earlier part of the decade.
Bob Dylan deserves to be immortal.
Agreed, if anybody deserves it then it'd be Bob.
He is immortal.
Absolutely love hearing someone else's interpretation of Bobby's words/music. I'm a huge fan of the man's work, something I've always felt is, he somehow consciously writes specific tales in his songs but in these tales hs simultaneously talking to/about multiple different stories.
Please check out Bob Dylan's last thoughts on Woody Guthrie. A beautiful writing one of his best I believe on his music Hero Woody
That is so beautiful,I would love to see Syed react to that. I would recommend looking up Woody Guthrie for context though.
One of my favorite songs. There was a period that I didn’t start my day until I listened to this song.
If someone else sang this it’d just be another song. I love the unique sound of his voice. Why would you want someone who sounds like all the rest?!
Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
Dylan's voice is an acquired taste, but on certain songs no one else can sing, even though Hendrix does a great live version of this. Some songs that you should consider are Mr tambourine man, subterranean homesick blues, it's alright ma I'm only bleeding, the times are a changin', blowin in the wind. The Byrd's probably were the best at covering his songs, along with Jimi.
Brilliant analysis! Re the voice - worth remembering this recording dates from 1965 and they were only just about using stereo recording let alone autotune!
Another great job, man. I believe you picked up on everything in this song. Bob Dylan does a lot of things well, but he does scathing particularly well. Check out Positively 4th Street for another amazing scathing track: ruclips.net/video/aehwEu8SBSo/видео.html
Idiot wind another winner in this vein
Ooh I love Bob when he's being a bitch to someone. Pos. 4th St? Miaoooow.
Brilliant take on this song. I love Dylan. Thank you!
Nobel Prize winner - the one and only - enough said....
Subterranesn Homesick Blues
Tombstone Blues
Desolation Row
Just Like Tom Thumbs Blues
It's Alright Ma
That's a decent start, all real listenable songs with different, amazing things going for them. All have ridiculously amazing lyrics you could ponder for days.
You gotta do Bob Dylan - Tangled Up In Blue
I am a big Dylan fan (old guy here!) and love to see younger folks at least give his music a try. Cudos to you for doing that. Great interpretation of the lyrics as well. Give Subterranean Homesick Blues a listen sometime. ✌🏼