The pump don't work, cause the vandals took the handles.

That is some mighty fine writing there.

You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.

That is some mighty fine writing there.

FTW

Everybody must get stoned.

That is some mighty fine writing there.

That interview was great! I love listening to Dylan talk to people. He seems like the kind of guy I'd want to befriend...

It's a scientific fact that every cover version of a Bob Dylan song is better than the original.

Ryker's Peninsula: It's a scientific fact that every cover version of a Bob Dylan song is better than the original.

Insert pic of "The Dude" here.

If my thought-dreams could be seen
They'd probably put my head in a guillotine
But, it's alright, ma
It's life and life only

I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

He kneels to Zevon. As he should.

The greasy fark mentions Guy Clark but doesn't mention TVZ?

best quote from the interview

Every time I run into Val Kilmer, I can't help myself. I say, "Why, Johnny Ringo - you look like somebody just walked on your grave."

Bob Dylan can be okay sometimes, but really... Come on... Using Appalachian banjo on a minor key blues track like "Forgetful Heart"? Is he completely retarded? Really? Does he simply enjoy spreading bad taste around, like stinking up a room and leaving to laugh? Thanks, grandpa... I mean REALLY?! Appalachian BANJO, right? On a MINOR key blues?? That's like putting double mandolin on a chromatic progression! (hahaha! I know!) Frankly, I'm completely baffled, and somewhat disappointed.

BF: "Forgetful Heart" - how do you decide to put an Appalachian banjo on a minor key blues? Is it something you think of ahead of time or does it come up in the session?

BD: I think it probably came up at the studio. One of the studio musicians who comes up with "my music" decided to use it

They're selling postcards of the hanging
They're painting the passports brown
The beauty parlor is filled with sailors
The circus is in town
Here comes the blind commissioner
They've got him in a trance
One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker
The other is in his pants
And the riot squad they're restless
They need somewhere to go
As lady and I look out tonight
From desolation row

Cinderella, she seems so easy
It takes one to know one, she smiles
And puts her hands in her back pockets
Bette davis style
And in comes romeo, he's moaning
You belong to me I believe
And someone says, you're in the wrong place, my friend
You better leave
And the only sound thats left
After the ambulances go
Is cinderella sweeping up
On desolation row

Now the moon is almost hidden
The stars are beginning to hide
The fortune-telling lady
Has even taken all her things inside
All except for cain and abel
And the hunchback of notre dame
Everybody is making love
Or else expecting rain
And the good samaritan, he's dressing
He's getting ready for the show
He's going to the carnival tonight
On desolation row

Now ophelia, shes neath the window
For her I feel so afraid
On her twenty-second birthday
She already is an old maid

To her, death is quite romantic
She wears an iron vest
Her professions her religion
Her sin is her lifelessness
And though her eyes are fixed upon
Noah's great rainbow
She spends her time peeking
Into desolation row

Einstein, disguised as robin hood
With his memories in a trunk
Passed this way an hour ago
With his friend, a jealous monk
He looked so immaculately frightful
As he bummed a cigarette
Then he went off sniffing drainpipes
And reciting the alphabet
Now you would not think to look at him
But he was famous long ago
For playing the electric violin
On desolation row

Dr. filth, he keeps his world
Inside of a leather cup
But all his sexless patients
They're trying to blow it up
Now his nurse, some local loser
Shes in charge of the cyanide hole
And she also keeps the cards that read
Have mercy on his soul
They all play on penny whistles
You can hear them blow
If you lean your head out far enough
From desolation row

Across the street they've nailed the curtains
They're getting ready for the feast
The phantom of the opera
A perfect image of a priest
They're spoonfeeding casanova
To get him to feel more assured
Then they'll kill him with self-confidence
After poisoning him with words

And the phantoms shouting to skinny girls
Get outta here if you don't know
Casanova is just being punished for going
To desolation row

Now at midnight all the agents
And the superhuman crew
Come out and round up everyone
That knows more than they do
Then they bring them to the factory
Where the heart-attack machine
Is strapped across their shoulders
And then the kerosene
Is brought down from the castles
By insurance men who go
Check to see that nobody is escaping
To desolation row

Praise be to nero's neptune
The titanic sails at dawn
And everybody's shouting
Which side are you on?
And ezra pound and t. s. eliot
Fighting in the captains tower
While calypso singers laugh at them
And fishermen hold flowers
Between the windows of the sea
Where lovely mermaids flow
And nobody has to think too much
About desolation row

Yes, I received your letter yesterday
(about the time the door knob broke)
When you asked how I was doing
Was that some kind of joke?
All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they're quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name
Right now I cant read too good
Dont send me no more letters no
Not unless you mail them
From desolation row

Yeah, that's some goddamn great shiat right there.

"The man in me will hide sometime, to keep from being seen", and don't forget "La la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la". Great shiat there.

Ryker's Peninsula: It's a scientific fact that every cover version of a Bob Dylan song is better than the original.

That's pseudo-science. The Four Seasons version of "Don't think twice it's alright" is aural torture.

Cat Food Sandwiches: "The man in me will hide sometime, to keep from being seen", and don't forget "La la la la, la la la la la la la la la la la". Great shiat there.

Boring troll is recycling just in time for Earth Day

Who doesn't like 'sundown' by Gordon Lightfoot?

Is it earth day already? Maybe dylan can whip up a ditty about it.

AgentOrangeDrink: I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

Agreed. "Sam Stone" gets me in the pit of my stomach every time.

1derful: Ryker's Peninsula: It's a scientific fact that every cover version of a Bob Dylan song is better than the original.

That's pseudo-science. The Four Seasons version of "Don't think twice it's alright" is aural torture.

Yep.

And an electric version of Watchtower would have fit so well on John Wesley Harding.

Dumbasses

Midnight Rambler: AgentOrangeDrink: I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

Agreed. "Sam Stone" gets me in the pit of my stomach every time.

"Grandpa was a carpenter" is my favorite. Right now I'm restoring a house my grandad built and, yep, he was never on the level and most of the doors have been shaved.

And to this day, when I've had a few, I find that singing "The Great Compromise" puts things in perspective.

But back to Dylan - way back in the 80s I read an interview in The Times of London where he basically admitted to just throwing words on paper in order to see what the critics and lit majors would think. My favorite quote was "When I got away with 'chrome horse and diplomat' I knew I could get away with anything."

Marla Singer's Laundry

Yeah, that's some goddamn great shiat right there.

Yes. Yes it is.

I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

John Buck 41: I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

Blood on the Tracks has Tangled up in Blue, which is is his last great song.

"Boots of Spanish Leather" tears me up.

OldManDownDRoad: John Buck 41: I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

Blood on the Tracks has Tangled up in Blue, which is is his last great song.

Patently untrue.

While the 1980s was bad decade for Bob, Oh Mercy came out in 1989 and is a good Bob Dylan album.

Time Out of Mind (1997) is a GREAT Bob Dylan Album
Love and Theft (2001) is a good to great Bob Dylan Album
I didn't like Modern Times (2006) as much as the previous two

The couple songs I've heard from the new album are promising.

OldManDownDRoad: John Buck 41: I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

Blood on the Tracks has Tangled up in Blue, which is is his last great song.

It is is? You must not listen to much Dylan.

/Oh Mercy & Modern Times FTMFW

Highway61Revisited: OldManDownDRoad: John Buck 41: I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

Blood on the Tracks has Tangled up in Blue, which is is his last great song.

Patently untrue.

Sorry. I should have written 'in my opinion' but I thought that was a given.

As far as recent albums, I'll begrudgingly admit I like most of TOOM. The last 2? Meh.

GrizzlyAdamsRox: OldManDownDRoad: John Buck 41: I can appreciate the fact he's still grinding out albums and touring, but for me, his last good album was Desire, circa '75. His last great album was the one just before...Blood On The Tracks.

Blood on the Tracks has Tangled up in Blue, which is is his last great song.

It is is? You must not listen to much Dylan.

Listened enough to his post mid 70s output to know what I like.

Just listened to John Prine's "Lake Marie" and wow, what a GREAT song.

Thanks for the tip Bob!

The Viewer: Just listened to John Prine's "Lake Marie" and wow, what a GREAT song.

Thanks for the tip Bob!

Shadows!

Actually, Jokerman was Dylan's last epic composition.

FTFA:

Mainstream stuff that played into the culture on a pervasive level. My stuff is different from those guys. It's more desperate. Daltrey, Townshend, McCartney, the Beach Boys, Elton, Billy Joel. They made perfect records, so they have to play them perfectly ... exactly the way people remember them. My records were never perfect. So there is no point in trying to duplicate them. Anyway, I'm no mainstream artist.

This is why I like Dylan in concert.

No, his songs don't sound the same as the album.
Yes, you can understand his lyrics.
Yes, he plays cover songs.

Broktun

don't forget "Tears of Rage" [lyrics by Dylan]
[i love the Band's version of it on their debut.... RIP Richard Manuel]

We carried you in our arms
On Independence Day,
And now you'd throw us all aside
And put us on our way.
Oh what dear daughter 'neath the sun
Would treat a father so,
To wait upon him hand and foot
And always tell him, "No"?
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We're so alone
And life is brief.

We pointed out the way to go
And scratched your name in sand,
Though you just thought it was nothing more
Than a place for you to stand.
Now, I want you to know that while we watched,
You discover there was no one true.
Most ev'rybody really thought
It was a childish thing to do.
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We're so low
And life is brief.

It was all very painless
When you went out to receive
All that false instruction
Which we never could believe.
And now the heart is filled with gold
As if it was a purse.
But, oh, what kind of love is this
Which goes from bad to worse?
Tears of rage, tears of grief,
Must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We're so low
And life is brief.

AgentOrangeDrink: I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

Seconded. Thirded. Whatever. Hopefully going to see him June 5. At least I've heard him do Please Don't Bury Me live now so I can die happy. It's amazing he can write a song in the 70s and have it still be valid today. Reference "Sam Stone" and "Flag Decal".

Anybody who doesn't know who he is, get thee to You Tube immediately.

Jimmy Buffet is one of his favorite songwriters? Really? I'm a huge Dylan fan, I own more than a dozen of his albums on vinyl and a poster of the man currently graces my bedroom wall, but Jimmy Buffet? I didn't think it was possible, but that actually made me lose a little bit of respect for Dylan.

Still, all you people saying he hasn't been good since the 70's don't know what you're talking about. His last 3 albums have been great, and last years "Tell Tale Signs" bootlegs contain some of his best released material in decades. It's hard for him to equal the quality of an album like "Blood on the Tracks" over and over again, but he regularly writes songs as good as the ones on that album, they're just spread out a bit more is all.

If you're a Dylan fan, but haven't enjoyed much of what he's done since 1976, check out "Tell Tale Signs". You'll find that Dylan almost seems to purposely leave out his best takes or best songs from recent albums when they don't fit into the mood or theme of an album.

Passive Aggressive Larry: Jimmy Buffet is one of his favorite songwriters? Really? I'm a huge Dylan fan, I own more than a dozen of his albums on vinyl and a poster of the man currently graces my bedroom wall, but Jimmy Buffet? I didn't think it was possible, but that actually made me lose a little bit of respect for Dylan.

Buffett's first 3 or 4 albums were classic. You should re-visit them, or maybe you had to be there.

Rhino Jockey 2009-04-16 08:30:15 AM
Bob Dylan can be okay sometimes, but really... Come on... Using Appalachian banjo on a minor key blues track like "Forgetful Heart"? Is he completely retarded? Really? Does he simply enjoy spreading bad taste around, like stinking up a room and leaving to laugh? Thanks, grandpa... I mean REALLY?! Appalachian BANJO, right? On a MINOR key blues?? That's like putting double mandolin on a chromatic progression! (hahaha! I know!) Frankly, I'm completely baffled, and somewhat disappointed.

This (I see what you did there).

Dylan seems to cause as much dissention around here as Metalica.
It's really something - and not in a good way - that almost every lyric quoted was from songs every thirty years and his canon is so much more than his early stuff.

This guy is on his fourth peak as a writer and anyone not listening is missing out on some great music.

As for the interview? He's a very smart guy and it shows.
He has got to be bored to tears to do interviews, though.

Go read 'Chronicles Vol.1'- it's a damned good book.

Cat Food Sandwiches: Buffett's first 3 or 4 albums were classic. You should re-visit them, or maybe you had to be there.

Oh, yeah, I'll back that up. In fact I'll go an album or two further and say A1A is not a bad effort and there are even a couple tunes on Havana Daydreaming that are great. Even Latitudes/Attitudes had Bananna Republic (which he didn't write).

After that, treadmill city. When he was playing bars up and down the East Coast (Elbo Room in Greenville NC, The Green Room in Myrtle Beach, Sound Side in Nags Head, etc) he put on a great show. When he hit the stadiums it was spectacle over music.

Some people prefer spectacles - fine with me. But he opened for The Delaware Destroyers (featuring a young unknown George Thoroughgood) at The Nags Header Hotel on a cold March night in the early 70s and he was farkin' great.

OldManDownDRoad: Midnight Rambler: AgentOrangeDrink: I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

Agreed. "Sam Stone" gets me in the pit of my stomach every time.

"Grandpa was a carpenter" is my favorite. Right now I'm restoring a house my grandad built and, yep, he was never on the level and most of the doors have been shaved.

And to this day, when I've had a few, I find that singing "The Great Compromise" puts things in perspective.

But back to Dylan - way back in the 80s I read an interview in The Times of London where he basically admitted to just throwing words on paper in order to see what the critics and lit majors would think. My favorite quote was "When I got away with 'chrome horse and diplomat' I knew I could get away with anything."

Prine is a genius. "Paradise" is my favorite with props to "Hello in There (brings a tear to my eye), Blue Umbrella, and many others.

I like me some Dylan too, but given the choice, I'll listen to John Prine.

EthelPP: AgentOrangeDrink: I love that he loves John Prine. More people should.

Seconded. Thirded. Whatever. Hopefully going to see him June 5. At least I've heard him do Please Don't Bury Me live now so I can die happy. It's amazing he can write a song in the 70s and have it still be valid today. Reference "Sam Stone" and "Flag Decal".

Anybody who doesn't know who he is, get thee to You Tube immediately.

"Please Don't Bury Me" is one of the first songs I ever loved when I was a kid. A few years ago I managed to get a front row ticket to a concert. I will admit to almost tearing up from being so happy, that man will forever be a part of my life.

/Glad to see all the Prine love in here
//Sweet Revenge is really awesome too

Passive Aggressive Larry: Jimmy Buffet is one of his favorite songwriters? Really? I'm a huge Dylan fan, I own more than a dozen of his albums on vinyl and a poster of the man currently graces my bedroom wall, but Jimmy Buffet? I didn't think it was possible, but that actually made me lose a little bit of respect for Dylan.

Still, all you people saying he hasn't been good since the is as good as he was in the 70's don't know what you're talking about.

Trashing someone's opinion works both ways.

John Buck 41: Passive Aggressive Larry: Jimmy Buffet is one of his favorite songwriters? Really? I'm a huge Dylan fan, I own more than a dozen of his albums on vinyl and a poster of the man currently graces my bedroom wall, but Jimmy Buffet? I didn't think it was possible, but that actually made me lose a little bit of respect for Dylan.

Still, all you people saying he hasn't been good since the is as good as he was in the 70's don't know what you're talking about.

Trashing someone's opinion works both ways.

Except when he's correct and you're not ;)

OldManDownDRoad: "Grandpa was a carpenter" is my favorite. Right now I'm restoring a house my grandad built and, yep, he was never on the level and most of the doors have been shaved.

I believe the lyric is actually, "He was level on the level and shaved even every door."

Also, I concur with Dylan, Lake Marie is a great song.

For some reason, Lake Marie doesn't trip my trigger. Then again, I think "Common Sense" and "Fair and Square" are Prine's weakest albums. Hell, I even like "German Afternoons".

He named most of my favorite songwriters. Can't blame him for staying away from Nashville, most of my favorite country songwriters did too. Funny that he didn't name a single female songwriter among his favorites.

I might even submit Bruised Orange (Chain of Sorrow) as the best John Prine song.

You know what I've always, always, always wanted to see? And if it's ever gonna happen, it probably needs to happen soon: John Prine and David Allan Coe dueting on "You Never Even Called Me By My Name". Prine rarely will 'fess up, but he is a co-writer and I just think it would be all kinds of awesome.