Co-written by Dylan and Richard Manuel, "Tears of Rage" is a song from The Basement Tapes, which circulated on various bootleg discs for several years before one of several takes was first released on 1975's official album of a small assortment of songs from those extensive, famed sessions.
Dylan's played it 81 times in concert to date, making it one of the rarer titles on his setlists. His first performed it live in 1989 and continued to play it fairly often in 1989 and 1990. After that it continued to pop up sporadically, at anywhere from a couple to half a dozen or so concerts each year until 2008 when he performed it at just one show that year, on May 28 in Odense Denmark.
Out of 200-plus shows I've attended, I've heard "Tears of Rage" about six or eight times, and was luckily able to capture it twice.
Like a lot of songs on The Basement Tapes, the lyrics are a little more opaque than some of Dylan's other songs, most of which are not all that obvious to begin with. Still, "Tears of Rage" is not quite as indecipherably impressionistic as some others from the sessions.
Years ago when it first started circulating, a review of the Great White Wonder bootleg suggested the song might be about "family problems" - i.e. incest. I guess the first verse could lend itself to that idea, but not the rest really. It seems more likely to me that Dylan had Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear" in mind in that opening verse. (See the end for a more on this.)
It seems pretty clear, in any case, that the theme of "Tears of Rage" is family discord, in particular conflict between generations. It could express the hurt some parents experience when after nurturing their children the best they could, at least in their view, their now independent adult offspring rejects them.
I had my own unrelated reason for interrupting the Japan 1994 video series now to post this particular video, though. July 4, 2024 was a painful holiday, coming right after several awful decisions by the Supreme Court which take wrecking ball to the foundations of American democracy. Coupled with the increased likelihood Donald Trump could get a second term and vastly multiply the damage, current events made the day extremely depressing.
Eventually I decided to cheer myself up by uploading a new video that would help express my distress. Although "Tears of Rage" doesn't seem to be at all about politics, the mention of "Independence Day" in the first line juxtaposed with the refrain, "Tears of rage, tears of grief," was a pretty accurate expression of my feelings this year about Fouth of July.
I hoped to rush through putting the video together in time to upload it on July 4, but multiple barriers got in the way. So here it is now, better late then never.
It's definitely a performance by Dylan that's entirely worth seeing and hearing, anyway.
The "King Lear" Connection -
The opening verse of "Tears of Rage" closely echoes the opening scene of Shakespeare's great tragedy.
"Oh what dear daughter ’neath the sun
Would treat a father so
To wait upon him hand and foot
And always tell him, 'No?' "
In the play, the aged and foolish king decides to resign his responsibilities and divide his kingdom among his three daughters. Rather than grant all equal shares, he intends to give a larger portion to whichever daughter can convince him she loves him the most.
The two eldest daughters make pretty speeches boasting of how they love their father the most. The youngest daughter Cordelia is his favorite. Still unmarried, unlike her older sisters, she has been selflessly and steadfastly devoted herself to Lear. Yet, she insists on remaining honest and true. So when Lear asks her what she can say to draw a share larger than her sisters, she answers, "Nothing."
Lear tries to cajole her into flattering him like the other two, even warning ng her, "Nothing will come from nothing." But Cordelia refuses to go along. She points out that unlike her sisters who say they wholly and only love their father even though they are married, when she marries some day she will owe her husband half her love and duty, so she cannot honestly make the same kind of over-the-top claims of her love for her father that her sisters profess.
Foolish Lear isn't impressed by her honesty and instead grows enraged at her refusal to flatter him like the others - even though she has always made clear by deed, if not by word, how truly devoted she is to her father.
He decides to disinherit her entirely and banish her from his presence.
He then decides to split his time between staying with each of his two eldest daughters, who quickly chafe at catering to his demands and needs, and ends up alone and wandering the countryside like a penniless tramp.
Eventually Lear and Cordelia who has also suffered misfortune are reunited. But Cordelia is soon treacherously hanged, Lear dies when he finds her body. Since this is a Shakespeare tragedy, most other principals die, too.