New Morning

Bob Dylan Title track from Dylan's album released in the Fall of 1970, just a few months after Self Portrait. In 1969 Dylan began working with the Poet and Playwright Archibald MacLeish, writing songs for Macleish's staged adaptation of The Devil and Daniel Webster. MacLeish suggested song titles, including New Morning and Father of Night and several others. New Morning was intended as the opening number, and MacLeish applauded it as exactly the right direction for the piece. Unfortunately, they clashed over MacLeish's attempts to change the lyrics to Father of Night, and the collaboration came to an end. (Stories differ on this point according to the principals). The show did open as a straight play in the Spring of 1971, starring Patrick Magee but received poor reviews. As the New York TImes said: "Without the balancing voice of a contemporary songwriter, it registered as pompous and outdated, characterized by what Times critic Walter Kerr called “echoes of a vanishing style.” It closed after 2 performances.