@@CalicoSilver Definitely. Many react to vocal range, instrumentation, but never the words themselves and that, to me, is the greatest crime. Jethro Tull is my favorite band-Ian Anderson is a hell of a symbolic writer. What’s really sad, though, is the people that think Werewolves of London was about the actual lycanthrope.
Great analysis! I'm an old English teacher and love deconstructing texts. I'm also a musician and I believe that to perform a song most effectively you need to understand what the author was saying. I think this is one of Dylan's most meaningful songs containing incredible self-reflective insights for such a young man. Your review of these lyrics confirmed most of my thoughts on the song and opened my eyes to a couple of lines that I had struggled with (e.g., the "mutiny" line that seems to start for the right reasons but leads to disaster for all). Thanks for this--I really enjoyed it!
I've waited so long for someone to work each line and explain it to me. Not understanding, but finding I'm so much older then with my thoughts then I have now. Age has taught me. Thank you.
When my friends and I first heard this song it was the version by "The Byrds". We didn't quite understand what it was about but we all said the lyrics were " heavy and deep, man." Even though being 17 and 18 years we really didn't know what they meant, although none of us would admit it.😊
Your look at this Irish-sounding song, which has twisted the course of the clock, shines with the gentleness of age, with the calm wisdom of life... it's like laughing at your own excitement, the vain kings and queens of your consciousness - back then. This affects me much more deeply than the Sunday sermon in our church! 🙂
I think you’re right. He wrote some good lyrics in his later period but not all of them seemed to be as cohesive and as well-developed as the lyrics from the years you mentioned here. I am of course speaking in generalities; some of his later lyrics were ingenious too.
Thanx for this video..Me and my little sister grew up in the early and mid 60s on all The Beatles albums and singles as they came out. We were like 12/13 by the end on the 60s. And the older brothers and sisters of our friends explained to us in 1965 all this new music that was happening now with The Byrds, Mamas and Papas, Simon and Garfunkel, etc, And why The Beatles sounded like different on Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Pepper..But especially Bob Dylan. They had all his albums and his new sounding records of the last few years. It was partly Psychedelic Drugs that this was all happening they explained. So when we turned Hello Goodbye over and heard I Am The Walrus, It freaked us out.(At first) By the end of the 60s we could recite that song word for word in our sleep. We heard John was just putting together common everyday words that wouldn't naturally be together in a sentance. For Psychedelia. For Fun. And to Freak out the kids. For fun. So we always thought that My Back Page was Dylan doing the exact same thing. Putting words together that wouldn't naturally be in the same sentance. BUT...Dylan wasn't doing this for fun. Or Psychedelia. Or whatever. This was something else. The words Dylan was using here were not common everyday words Like Yellow or Custard, or Dead Dog, or Penguin, and Eifle Tower. He was using words like Abstract, and Crimson, and Images. Not common everyday words..And all in like one sentance or verse..We listened to this song, the Dylan and The Byrds version a million times over the last 6 decades. Watched the 'Lyric Videos' along with the music. And every line still freaks me out. I remember Joan Baez in an interview saying that back when she was going out with Dylan in the early and mid 60s she would come over and Bob would be typing away at the typewriter a million miles a minuite, and hundreds of pieces of paper all over the floor.. He would work on one line of a song for days. One Line? So we figured that this song was the perfect example of that. It's like Dylan was putting these killer words together to make the most kick ass LINES. Like most people would try to make a great song. Or a great verse. Dylan did this in every line..I still can't believe these words when I hear it. It''s so unbelivable. It's impossible. How did he do this? This song stills blows me away like almost 60yrs later when I listen to it. And I still listen alot. The Beatles songs, and even I Am The Walrus rolls of the tongue real easy. The Beatles lyrics and songs were always easy to understand without thinking too much about it This song isn't. This song here is..............?? frankny66yroldwhitekid rockfan.... PS This was exausting to type and fix..I'm getting tooo old for this..lol
Thanks for your comments. I really enjoyed reading them. Yes, I think Dylan has always been a top-notch writer who happens to also be an uniquely expressive performing artist. But writer is what he does best (in my opinion).
One of my favorite Dylan songs! It shows such wisdom for such a young man as he was when he wrote this. I tend to think this is because as a young musician he spent time around old masters of song writing, the Woody Guthries and Pete Seeger’s and such. And when young people spend time around older folk, and really listen to them, they can learn a thing or two.
Though I'm an atheist I think much of his wisdom at so early an age came from having a firmly established religious faith. His Mother is quoted as saying that when he live in ... Woodstock, I think it was, He had a room full of books with the bible on a table in the center, and that that was the book he referred to most often.
“Crimson flames, pounced with fire, flaming roads, heated brow” the white heat furnace of hard held beliefs. “Rip down all hate… I SCREAMED” gorgeous irony. “Fearing not I’d become my enemy in the instant that I speak” the line that turned me on to Dylan, as he moved on from his earlier didactic poetry. And yes, the title - as if the 23 year old narrator is already aware of the closing pages of his biography. Thanks for the thoughtful analysis 🙏
Thanks, Kenny. Yes, he certainly seemed mature well beyond his age. Which is probably a good thing and perhaps a bad thing sometimes, haha! But what a great poet, performer, and philosopher he was/is. Anyway, thanks again for your great comment and kind words. Jeff
In his very early days Bob clearly engaged in "finger pointing" songs, which I think most people would agree is what raised him to global fame. An excerpt from a 1966 interview in Austin, Texas: Reporter: What is your attitude toward your "finger-pointing" songs? [A "New Yorker" writer] implied that you thought they were just superficial. Bob Dylan: No, it's not superficial, it's just motivated. Motivated. Uncontrollable motivation. Which anyone can do, once they get uncontrollably motivated. I think that's straight to the point of everything discussed in this video and in the song. Whether by some sense of idealism, to impress the right girls, to achieve fame and fortune, or to attain power, "uncontrollable motivation" can be quite a powerful thing. The billion to one chance of Bob going to the right place (NY) at the right time (1961) and bonding with the right people (e.g. Joan Baez) and fusing his unique talents with that "uncontrollable motivation" for all the things your typical 20 year old male is uncontrollably motivated toward really drove his rapid ascent to global fame and that "voice of a generation" status. Very shortly thereafter Bob seemingly recognized himself as "the dog who caught the car", in the sense that he had just attained everything he was chasing and suddenly had to decide what to do with it. It's remarkable that: A) he had the honesty and self awareness to see it for exactly what it was; B) the integrity to say it to anyone who would listen; C) the confidence to risk everything to stay true to himself; and D) that so many people just STILL refuse to see it. Ed Bradley still seemed mystified in 2004: Bradley: I accept, you don’t see yourself as the voice of that generation, but some of your songs did stop people cold. And they saw them as anthems, and they saw them as protest songs. It was important it their life, it sparked the movement. You may not have seen it that way, but that’s the way it was for them. How do you reconcile those two things? Dylan: My stuff were songs, you know? They weren’t sermons. If you examine the songs, I don’t believe you’re gonna find anything in there that says that I’m a spokesman for anybody or anything really. EB: But they saw it. BD: Yeah, but they must not have heard the songs. EB: It’s ironic, you know, that the way that people viewed you was just the polar opposite of the way you viewed yourself. BD: Ain’t that something? Coming up on 60 years and it really hasn't changed. It's a touch ironic that "My Back Pages" may be the closest thing Dylan ever did to a "sermon" song, and it's a sermon about sermons. I wonder if that's why he didn't perform it live until 1988.
A big YES!!! to every word you wrote here, Mike!! Brilliant comment. Thank you very very much for sharing it. Yes, Ed Bradley’s interview was a frustrating one (to me), as are most interviews with Dylan because, like Bradley, they seem to be almost unwilling to listen to Dylan’s responses to their questions (much less listen to the songs themselves). However, Bradley’s interview (perhaps inadvertently) and more accurately Dylan’s responses, illuminated the fact that even by 2004 (the date of the interview) people still appeared to be unwilling and listen to Dylan and his lyrics. You are right….it is now 60 years and the same thing seems to hold true. But since starting this channel, I have been very pleased to meet others like yourself who understand this and try their best to listen. Thanks again for the great comment. Cheers. Jeff
Dylan’s work is a wonderful and enjoyable exploration of a creative and honest soul. I love his sense of humor as well. Desolation Row is my current obsession. Best wishes.
Hey Jeff, I've always felt that this song suggests two ideas at the same time. The song presents the personal awareness that the more the more one knows, the more one knows how much they don't know. There is also the universal notion that the more ignorant a person is, the more he is led by half baked convictions. Unfortunately, this can lead to a dangerous type of charisma. This reminds me of the Auden poem that has the lines..."The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity."
Thanks! I would love to make a video about Watchtower but that one is a tough nut to crack. I need to think more about it. I will add it to my queue. Thanks again! Jeff
"As the powerful grow and grow until they become tyrannical" You/me/we have no shortage of those to watch that have become tyrannical,these days. It is astounding to witness the enormous internal struggles that are clearly out in the open now in the U.S. and the world at large. The Davos crowd and WEF etc.and their numerous puppets sure keep me busy enough trying to keep up with their wet dreams of population reduction and total control. I really enjoyed your take on a Dylan favorite. I had "connected" with some of the lyrics and when I didn't I let the melody and "feel"of the song take over.😎I enjoy the song better now. Have thumb will up👍
Dylan is good at no boring you with the same approach to this songs. As the years go on, he changes the speed of the song, the background instruments., the timing approach. . His newer slower version in past 25 years are slow. You can hear the words better giving you a deeper thought of their meaning.
I found this song when I was 16 and angry at the world. I thought the music was beautiful, but because of my self-righteousness I just couldn’t understand what he was talking about. It means so much more now that I’ve come out the other end of that tunnel, now that I see with eyes unclouded by hate. “If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn I loved your breakdown of the lyrics.
Yes, a wonderfully perceptive song. He saw through that "foot of pride" set of illusions that people get swept up in at a lot younger age than most people ever do. Some terrific lyrics in that song. The humility of admitting how little you really know is a very rare thing in young firebrands. You can have some BIG ideas to change the world, but what did you actually do today in terms of being kind to some one?
@@CalicoSilver He isn't the only one. Stephen Stills comes to mind with "For What It's Worth". I was thirteen in 1966 when I first chanced on Dylan, and his ability to see beyond his years, and not only Dylan but many other songwriters in that era were amazing to me. How could they be that young and know that stuff? lol
@@hannabaal150 It is impossible to underestimate the degree of propaganda, deception, distraction, manipulation, etc., that young people have been subjected to over the past 30-40 years or so. I think the reason young songwriters like Dylan and Stills and others seem to us to be so intelligent and insightful is that compared to today, they were not subjected to nearly the level of the above and therefore they had an opportunity to learn the skill of independent critical thought. That skill is all but missing today. On purpose. George Carlin nailed it.
Fantastic dissection Jeff, this is in my top 10 favorite Dylan songs, and of course the Byrds made it their own. My all time favorite version is the 30th anniversary concert, which I know you haven't seen all the way through haha.
Thanks, Sam. I was going to make a comment about that 30th anniversary performance with Eric and Neil and Roger et al., and then suggest that they probably had no idea what they were singing about, hahahahaha! But I decided that might come across as a bit haughty, haha. (You see, I am a superlative individual and have to be careful to not broadcast my high opinion of myself TOO boldly....I gotsta keep it cool, ya know.....)
I love what Francis Bacon, the English painter. once said about paintings: that if you managed to find a way to unlock a painting's meaning through analysis then it stopped being an interesting work of art because now that you have decıphered ıts meanıng what ınterest is there to look at it again. By definition, good art defies analysis, transcends any form of solution and thus we can come back to a work of art and be yet again be seduced by its splendour, enraptured by its beauty, captivated by its mystery and always find in it something new to add to our sense of wonder.
I've often heard/read such opinions that analysis of a work of art can be dangerous in that it results in the work losing its power. I tried (thankfully only for a short time) to delve into music "theory" and compositional methods, etc....zzzzzzz.....and I hated it and even deemed it rather silly (for me).....so I stopped doing it. But music never lost its power over me merely by understanding (or attempting to understand) the structure and "theory" behind it. That transcendence we feel when listening to a piece of music does not go away because I know how to play it or know what the harmonies are, etc.. I can find great peace and inspiration in a one-chord drone if it moves me, haha! Nor does a poem's magic lessen because I have discerned something in it that has meaning for me......mainly because, as you so rightly wrote, that meaning can change with time. Art is like that, isn't it? It enriches us in different ways over time. Good art does, anyway. I really like your comment, Jacques. Thanks!! Jeff
This is the first video of yours I've seen and in not even done with it but I will say this, this is a totally reasonable and sober interpretation of these lyrics which is not what I usually see on the internet. Thanks. Glad to see your material on here.
Loved the title so much I used it in the title of my book. The publisher Archway said I had to include the words "medical and legal " in it otherwise it would not be searchable. (It never sold more than a few books anyway). The book, or rather, my memoirs was based entirely on true events and is about how corrupt and slimey both the medical and legal professions are, from my view as a disgruntled orthopedic surgeon who was ruined in KY and then lived a life trying to hang on to his career in NC, with a 4 year final ending in Natchez MS. I mention in the first page or two why I named the book- because of Dylan's song, best covered by Roger McGuinn and the Byrds. My Medical -Legal Back Pages Archway. Pen name Bryce Sterling.
Thanks for your comment, Mr. "Sterling". It intrigued me to go read the reviews of your book. I'm sorry to hear of what you had to go through. I have always thought that most people would be shocked to discover the depth of corruption, greed, and just plain evil that are behind the curtains of our medical, legal, government, etc., institutions. It is really quite depressing. I'm glad you made it through to tell your story. (I have my own stories I could tell about such corruption and how it affected my career....) Anyway, thanks again for your comment and best wishes to you. Jeff
To dig further, check out 4 star reviews of a book called “Summary Judgment” (my 4 stars was very generous as the author, Donald Cameron Clark Jr was a classmate of mine in college) and see my picture in the review holding his book which was carefully edited and promoted whereas mine was more like a rant just to get my story preserved in cyberspace . I am holding his book entitled Summary Judgment and mine which Archway required me to write as “fiction” even though everything can be sourced. Also I think Archway does give sample passages of many of the chapters on its own webpage. Anyway, back to my drum kit. The Byrds' album version I think was cut by the studio band called “The Wrecking Crew” with Hal Blaine on the drums.
I heard the song by way of the Byrds back in the day, but lyrically it stood out from the other songs on their album "Younger than Yesterday" a little like All along the Watchtower and Hendrix. I might have been a big Dylan fan had it not been for the fact that he couldn't carry a tune.
Hi Jerome. Thanks for commenting. Yes, many fans heard their favorite Dylan songs via The Byrds. My intro to Dylan was via the early Peter Paul & Mary records. Jeff
My Back Pages always reminded me of Carole King's "Going Back" Gerry Goffin was obviously not the poet Dylan was/is but I thought the themes were quite similar, albeit, Dylan was 1964, and King was 1966 ua-cam.com/video/AWzgbleoZYE/v-deo.html Keep up the great work! J.@@CalicoSilver
This is my favourite Dylan Song. Okay now you know it. In Short :Dylan is LEARNING comething about life. No wonder the title of this fine record is: Another Side of .....
Even after titling his album "Another Side" and after including songs such as this one on the album, people were STILL unwilling to hear what he was saying and insisted that he was what THEY wanted him to be. Haha! No wonder he stopped talking to anyone about his songs. Why bother? ".....with truth so far off, what good will it do...."
Thanks for all the encouragement you give, Maggie. Without comments like yours’ and others’ I probably would have been done with UA-cam by now. Thanks again. Jeff
In the late 60s I worked in a payroll function for the State Dept. I realized that some operatives in Indochina were keeping hazardous duty pay rates long after returning stateside, in effect defrauding the U.S. govt. Still a teen I listed them all in secret to a general and got the money recovered. I did not have the courage to reveal this scandal to the press where some soldiers were coming home in caskets while others were banking unentitled wealth. The general gave me a cash award and I bought ape hangers and a sissy bar for my chopper, accepting this Judas money to keep quiet. " My Back Pages " helped me through my loss of patriotic idealism at the ripe old age of eighteen.
So true, Jack. The insight he had at such an early age. And poetic expression. At that age I was mainly trying to be as close as possible to females. And listen to and play music, yes. But mainly the girl thing. Not exactly a Dylan-level of thinker back in my early 20s.
I don’t understand the “I was older then; I’m younger than that now.” Isn’t the fact that you get wiser and less passionate/impulsive the older you get?
I always took that line (a brilliant one, by the way) as a sarcastic comment about how when he was younger and so sure of himself and his ideas and thoughts, as if he were a wise and experienced "older" man, the truth was that he was actually just the opposite - he was naive and arrogant. It took him some time to realize this truth and to realize that he really doesn't know all that he thought he knew (he became more humble) and therefore now sees himself as a "younger" (more humble) man.
I disagree somewhat with the analysis here. It is not so much about going from an antiquated way of thinking to a definitive new and better one, but about a the ever-ongoing process of going from the old and moribund to something which is better, to being born again...ever again.
Love that you do this. And I ave to echo @maeshalanadae 's comment: there's not enough lyrical analysis. This is needed! Love interpreting and analyzing lyrics, music, film. Thank you!
I'm a little embarrassed listening to this video Jeff. Just like you say, l too have been that selfrighteous evangelist in my past... Thank you so much Jeff, great analysis 👏👏👏
Nothing wrong with there being worthy evangelists promoting worthy causes.....but perhaps not a 20-year-old one, haha! I don't think Dylan was saying that NO one should take stands on issues....just not HIM at his age, perhaps. Or perhaps not most people at all, because most people don't take the time to actually properly prepare themselves for such a role, and instead just use emotion over reason. Whatever.....I just like the song and can relate so much to what he is singing here, as I am sure you can also. One thing that the world needs is a little more humility, IMO. Thanks, Mick. Jeff
Self-reflection at age 23 is not based on any meaningful experience, and is worth jack shit. The lyrics just exploit the IDEA that good and bad are not that black and white (think anti-WOKE)-a revelation indeed (to some). So anything goes, you have moral relativity. I’m sure many people like this IDEA.
I took the song's lyrics to indicate that, even at the young age of 23, he'd already realized the folly of all the leftist protest-movement BS that surrounded him (and to which he'd momentarily subscribed) and was steering away from it. I did likewise in my 20s. It amazes me that there are people who, at advanced ages when they should know better, still subscribe to such Utopian BS.
You can always have a contrarian view on anything, not exactly an epiphany. America has YET to adequately address civil rights, indigenous rights, women’s rights and climate change, to name a few. So I would say that Dylan’s insight on the ‘folly’ of the protest movement was pretty misplaced. But I would not have expected any better from my 23 year old self. In fact, 60 odd years on, we need protest movements and songs even more. Occupy Wall Street movement was not that long ago. @@CalicoSilver
From NYT: “Last week the governor of Alabama signed a bill that purports to limit the teaching of “divisive” topics in its colleges and universities. The bill is similar to Florida’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public colleges, which was signed into law last May. … The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Republican lawmakers have proposed 81 anti-D.E.I. bills across 28 states. (So far, 33 haven’t become law, and 11 have.)” @@CalicoSilver
i think dylan by being so good with words and keeping things vague is saying think for your self kids , rothbard his fellow Austrian economist pseudo libertarian flip-whits are saying think like us or eff off , when you listen to people at say the von mises institute they are the least tolerant libertarian people you could find , the idea that Rothbard or anyone else from that clique would want peoples minds to be free is ludicrous , of course some of their ideas are great but their world view so restrictive , i mean dismissing anything that contradicts what you derive from 'first principals' how is that anything but an a priore denial that anyone can show you you are wrong ever ? 1 pillar of austrian economics is logical look at the world which gets some things right and some wrong but the other is a cult based on a cluty principal of logical deduction (their logical deduction) over any facts from the real world
Jesus is Love; Jesus is the savior of the World; all who are Simple and Humble enough to accept that Truth are promised eternal life: Jesus said: “ Suffer the children to come onto me, for such are of the kingdom of heaven; anyone who does not humble themselves as a child cannot see the kingdom of heaven. “
Nicely done. Informative and intelligent. Thanks.
I’ve always wondered why nobody ever does lyrical analysis, this is nice, this is why I’m so into music. It’s a tool to learn.
Thanks. I’m happy that people are enjoying these videos. I appreciate your comment. Cheers! Jeff
@@CalicoSilver Definitely. Many react to vocal range, instrumentation, but never the words themselves and that, to me, is the greatest crime. Jethro Tull is my favorite band-Ian Anderson is a hell of a symbolic writer.
What’s really sad, though, is the people that think Werewolves of London was about the actual lycanthrope.
@@Maeshalanadae I was just listening again to Minstrel In The Gallery yesterday. Never gets old.
Great analysis! I'm an old English teacher and love deconstructing texts. I'm also a musician and I believe that to perform a song most effectively you need to understand what the author was saying. I think this is one of Dylan's most meaningful songs containing incredible self-reflective insights for such a young man. Your review of these lyrics confirmed most of my thoughts on the song and opened my eyes to a couple of lines that I had struggled with (e.g., the "mutiny" line that seems to start for the right reasons but leads to disaster for all). Thanks for this--I really enjoyed it!
Thank you very much, Peter. Cheers! Jeff
I've waited so long for someone to work each line and explain it to me. Not understanding, but finding I'm so much older then with my thoughts then I have now. Age has taught me. Thank you.
When my friends and I first heard this song it was the version by "The Byrds". We didn't quite understand what it was about but we all said the lyrics were " heavy and deep, man." Even though being 17 and 18 years we really didn't know what they meant, although none of us would admit it.😊
This is my favorite song of bob. This is the feeling after you lose your arrogance.
Exactly! And so many fans never seemed to pick up on that. Haha. Thanks for your comment! Jeff
My Back Pages and Tambourine Man were his two best compositions.
@@jackfitzpatrick8173 Yeah! exactly.
Your look at this Irish-sounding song, which has twisted the course of the clock, shines with the gentleness of age, with the calm wisdom of life... it's like laughing at your own excitement, the vain kings and queens of your consciousness - back then.
This affects me much more deeply than the Sunday sermon in our church! 🙂
Amen, brother. I agree with you 100%.
Dylan's genius at work. He had it from the mid- '60s until the early '80s.
I think you’re right. He wrote some good lyrics in his later period but not all of them seemed to be as cohesive and as well-developed as the lyrics from the years you mentioned here. I am of course speaking in generalities; some of his later lyrics were ingenious too.
Thanx for this video..Me and my little sister grew up in the early and mid 60s on all The Beatles albums and singles as they came out. We were like 12/13 by the end on the 60s. And the older brothers and sisters of our friends explained to us in 1965 all this new music that was happening now with The Byrds, Mamas and Papas, Simon and Garfunkel, etc, And why The Beatles sounded like different on Rubber Soul, Revolver, and Pepper..But especially Bob Dylan. They had all his albums and his new sounding records of the last few years. It was partly Psychedelic Drugs that this was all happening they explained. So when we turned Hello Goodbye over and heard I Am The Walrus, It freaked us out.(At first) By the end of the 60s we could recite that song word for word in our sleep. We heard John was just putting together common everyday words that wouldn't naturally be together in a sentance. For Psychedelia. For Fun. And to Freak out the kids. For fun. So we always thought that My Back Page was Dylan doing the exact same thing. Putting words together that wouldn't naturally be in the same sentance. BUT...Dylan wasn't doing this for fun. Or Psychedelia. Or whatever. This was something else. The words Dylan was using here were not common everyday words Like Yellow or Custard, or Dead Dog, or Penguin, and Eifle Tower. He was using words like Abstract, and Crimson, and Images. Not common everyday words..And all in like one sentance or verse..We listened to this song, the Dylan and The Byrds version a million times over the last 6 decades. Watched the 'Lyric Videos' along with the music. And every line still freaks me out. I remember Joan Baez in an interview saying that back when she was going out with Dylan in the early and mid 60s she would come over and Bob would be typing away at the typewriter a million miles a minuite, and hundreds of pieces of paper all over the floor.. He would work on one line of a song for days. One Line? So we figured that this song was the perfect example of that. It's like Dylan was putting these killer words together to make the most kick ass LINES. Like most people would try to make a great song. Or a great verse. Dylan did this in every line..I still can't believe these words when I hear it. It''s so unbelivable. It's impossible. How did he do this? This song stills blows me away like almost 60yrs later when I listen to it. And I still listen alot. The Beatles songs, and even I Am The Walrus rolls of the tongue real easy. The Beatles lyrics and songs were always easy to understand without thinking too much about it This song isn't. This song here is..............??
frankny66yroldwhitekid rockfan.... PS This was exausting to type and fix..I'm getting tooo old for this..lol
Thanks for your comments. I really enjoyed reading them. Yes, I think Dylan has always been a top-notch writer who happens to also be an uniquely expressive performing artist. But writer is what he does best (in my opinion).
One of my favorite Dylan songs! It shows such wisdom for such a young man as he was when he wrote this. I tend to think this is because as a young musician he spent time around old masters of song writing, the Woody Guthries and Pete Seeger’s and such. And when young people spend time around older folk, and really listen to them, they can learn a thing or two.
I agree completely! Thanks for taking the time to comment. Yes, it is amazing the insight Dylan exhibited at such a young age. Cheers. Jeff
Though I'm an atheist I think much of his wisdom at so early an age came from having a firmly established religious faith. His Mother is quoted as saying that when he live in ... Woodstock, I think it was, He had a room full of books with the bible on a table in the center, and that that was the book he referred to most often.
“Crimson flames, pounced with fire, flaming roads, heated brow” the white heat furnace of hard held beliefs.
“Rip down all hate… I SCREAMED” gorgeous irony.
“Fearing not I’d become my enemy in the instant that I speak” the line that turned me on to Dylan, as he moved on from his earlier didactic poetry.
And yes, the title - as if the 23 year old narrator is already aware of the closing pages of his biography.
Thanks for the thoughtful analysis 🙏
Thanks, Kenny. Yes, he certainly seemed mature well beyond his age. Which is probably a good thing and perhaps a bad thing sometimes, haha! But what a great poet, performer, and philosopher he was/is. Anyway, thanks again for your great comment and kind words. Jeff
In his very early days Bob clearly engaged in "finger pointing" songs, which I think most people would agree is what raised him to global fame.
An excerpt from a 1966 interview in Austin, Texas:
Reporter: What is your attitude toward your "finger-pointing" songs? [A "New Yorker" writer] implied that you thought they were just superficial.
Bob Dylan: No, it's not superficial, it's just motivated. Motivated. Uncontrollable motivation. Which anyone can do, once they get uncontrollably motivated.
I think that's straight to the point of everything discussed in this video and in the song. Whether by some sense of idealism, to impress the right girls, to achieve fame and fortune, or to attain power, "uncontrollable motivation" can be quite a powerful thing.
The billion to one chance of Bob going to the right place (NY) at the right time (1961) and bonding with the right people (e.g. Joan Baez) and fusing his unique talents with that "uncontrollable motivation" for all the things your typical 20 year old male is uncontrollably motivated toward really drove his rapid ascent to global fame and that "voice of a generation" status.
Very shortly thereafter Bob seemingly recognized himself as "the dog who caught the car", in the sense that he had just attained everything he was chasing and suddenly had to decide what to do with it.
It's remarkable that: A) he had the honesty and self awareness to see it for exactly what it was; B) the integrity to say it to anyone who would listen; C) the confidence to risk everything to stay true to himself; and D) that so many people just STILL refuse to see it.
Ed Bradley still seemed mystified in 2004:
Bradley: I accept, you don’t see yourself as the voice of that generation, but some
of your songs did stop people cold. And they saw them as anthems, and they saw them as protest songs. It was important it their life, it sparked the movement. You may not have seen it that way, but that’s the way it was for them. How do you reconcile those two things?
Dylan: My stuff were songs, you know? They weren’t sermons. If you examine the songs, I don’t
believe you’re gonna find anything in there that says that I’m a spokesman for anybody or anything really.
EB: But they saw it.
BD: Yeah, but they must not have heard the songs.
EB: It’s ironic, you know, that the way that people viewed you was just the polar opposite of
the way you viewed yourself.
BD: Ain’t that something?
Coming up on 60 years and it really hasn't changed.
It's a touch ironic that "My Back Pages" may be the closest thing Dylan ever did to a "sermon" song, and it's a sermon about sermons. I wonder if that's why he didn't perform it live until 1988.
A big YES!!! to every word you wrote here, Mike!! Brilliant comment. Thank you very very much for sharing it. Yes, Ed Bradley’s interview was a frustrating one (to me), as are most interviews with Dylan because, like Bradley, they seem to be almost unwilling to listen to Dylan’s responses to their questions (much less listen to the songs themselves). However, Bradley’s interview (perhaps inadvertently) and more accurately Dylan’s responses, illuminated the fact that even by 2004 (the date of the interview) people still appeared to be unwilling and listen to Dylan and his lyrics. You are right….it is now 60 years and the same thing seems to hold true. But since starting this channel, I have been very pleased to meet others like yourself who understand this and try their best to listen. Thanks again for the great comment. Cheers. Jeff
Love this analysis ❤
Dylan’s work is a wonderful and enjoyable exploration of a creative and honest soul. I love his sense of humor as well. Desolation Row is my current obsession. Best wishes.
Thanks Robert.
Just love your reviews
Thanks, Taya! Jeff
Enjoyed your thoughts! Interesting how youth is associated with humility, real wisdom, not just Innocence, naivety.
Thanks. I really appreciate your kind and insightful comments. Jeff
Hey Jeff,
I've always felt that this song suggests two ideas at the same time. The song presents the personal awareness that the more the more one knows, the more one knows how much they don't know.
There is also the universal notion that the more ignorant a person is, the more he is led by half baked convictions. Unfortunately, this can lead to a dangerous type of charisma.
This reminds me of the Auden poem that has the lines..."The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
Interesting comparison to the Auden poem, Tony. Thanks for bringing it up. I love Auden also. Jeff
Actually, those lines are from “The Second Coming” by TS Eliot.
@@chriscronbaugh1951 Absolutely! My mistake.
William Butler Yeats
Using ideas as my map, what a line!
An amazing song and a great video, as always! Would be great to get a reading of All along the watchtower if you haven't done that already (:
Thanks! I would love to make a video about Watchtower but that one is a tough nut to crack. I need to think more about it. I will add it to my queue. Thanks again! Jeff
WOW, even deeper than I suspected. I talk the talk, but won't try to do anything myself to help.
Excellent and so timely a song and analysis ....but just about everything dylan does is from a timeless realm. There is simply no other like him!
So true. Thanks.
"As the powerful grow and grow until they become tyrannical" You/me/we have no shortage of those to watch that have become tyrannical,these days. It is astounding to witness the enormous internal struggles that are clearly out in the open now in the U.S. and the world at large. The Davos crowd and WEF etc.and their numerous puppets sure keep me busy enough trying to keep up with their wet dreams of population reduction and total control. I really enjoyed your take on a Dylan favorite. I had "connected" with some of the lyrics and when I didn't I let the melody and "feel"of the song take over.😎I enjoy the song better now. Have thumb will up👍
Thanks johnmichael. I agree with everything you wrote. 👍👍
@@CalicoSilver When you mentioned Murray Rothbard I was pretty sure you could relate.
@@johnmichaelkarma Indeed. Indeed.
Dylan is good at no boring you with the same approach to this songs. As the years go on, he changes the speed of the song, the background instruments., the timing approach. . His newer slower version in past 25 years are slow. You can hear the words better giving you a deeper thought of their meaning.
I agree, Tom. That is one of the things I admire about Dylan. Cheers. Jeff
Great breakdown of "My Back Pages." Thank you.
Thanks, Teresa.
When I was a kid, I thought the lyric was “Look down I hate ice cream.””
I found this song when I was 16 and angry at the world. I thought the music was beautiful, but because of my self-righteousness I just couldn’t understand what he was talking about. It means so much more now that I’ve come out the other end of that tunnel, now that I see with eyes unclouded by hate.
“If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere insidiously committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart?” Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
I loved your breakdown of the lyrics.
Thanks, Sara. And thanks for sharing that excellent Solzhenitsyn quote! Cheers. Jeff
Yes, a wonderfully perceptive song. He saw through that "foot of pride" set of illusions that people get swept up in at a lot younger age than most people ever do. Some terrific lyrics in that song. The humility of admitting how little you really know is a very rare thing in young firebrands. You can have some BIG ideas to change the world, but what did you actually do today in terms of being kind to some one?
George, you nailed it! Big ideas are the easy ones. Thanks for your comments. Cheers! Jeff
It's amazing how bob could look at himself with such objectivity at such an early age.
I'm starting to think he might be a fairly smart guy.
@@CalicoSilver He isn't the only one. Stephen Stills comes to mind with "For What It's Worth". I was thirteen in 1966 when I first chanced on Dylan, and his ability to see beyond his years, and not only Dylan but many other songwriters in that era were amazing to me. How could they be that young and know that stuff? lol
@@hannabaal150 It is impossible to underestimate the degree of propaganda, deception, distraction, manipulation, etc., that young people have been subjected to over the past 30-40 years or so. I think the reason young songwriters like Dylan and Stills and others seem to us to be so intelligent and insightful is that compared to today, they were not subjected to nearly the level of the above and therefore they had an opportunity to learn the skill of independent critical thought. That skill is all but missing today. On purpose. George Carlin nailed it.
This is brilliant! Thank you!
Thanks for your kind comment, Stella. Jeff
^Thank you sir. Loved it.
Thank you.
I have a go-to explanation for my problem with big-picture types: they can't see the trees for the forest.
Fantastic dissection Jeff, this is in my top 10 favorite Dylan songs, and of course the Byrds made it their own. My all time favorite version is the 30th anniversary concert, which I know you haven't seen all the way through haha.
Thanks, Sam. I was going to make a comment about that 30th anniversary performance with Eric and Neil and Roger et al., and then suggest that they probably had no idea what they were singing about, hahahahaha! But I decided that might come across as a bit haughty, haha. (You see, I am a superlative individual and have to be careful to not broadcast my high opinion of myself TOO boldly....I gotsta keep it cool, ya know.....)
Haha oh I'm aware my friend! Maybe one of these days we can do a Dylan collaboration, could be fun!
Also I think this song somehow is a self reflection for each individual
I love what Francis Bacon, the English painter. once said about paintings: that if you managed to find a way to unlock a painting's meaning through analysis then it stopped being an interesting work of art because now that you have decıphered ıts meanıng what ınterest is there to look at it again. By definition, good art defies analysis, transcends any form of solution and thus we can come back to a work of art and be yet again be seduced by its splendour, enraptured by its beauty, captivated by its mystery and always find in it something new to add to our sense of wonder.
I've often heard/read such opinions that analysis of a work of art can be dangerous in that it results in the work losing its power. I tried (thankfully only for a short time) to delve into music "theory" and compositional methods, etc....zzzzzzz.....and I hated it and even deemed it rather silly (for me).....so I stopped doing it. But music never lost its power over me merely by understanding (or attempting to understand) the structure and "theory" behind it. That transcendence we feel when listening to a piece of music does not go away because I know how to play it or know what the harmonies are, etc.. I can find great peace and inspiration in a one-chord drone if it moves me, haha! Nor does a poem's magic lessen because I have discerned something in it that has meaning for me......mainly because, as you so rightly wrote, that meaning can change with time. Art is like that, isn't it? It enriches us in different ways over time. Good art does, anyway. I really like your comment, Jacques. Thanks!! Jeff
Influenced by poetry of Rimbaud.
"equality in school" always makes me think of "separate but equal".
And the ruling was the seperate is intrinsically unequal....
This is the first video of yours I've seen and in not even done with it but I will say this, this is a totally reasonable and sober interpretation of these lyrics which is not what I usually see on the internet. Thanks. Glad to see your material on here.
Thanks!
Loved the title so much I used it in the title of my book. The publisher Archway said I had to include the words "medical and legal " in it otherwise it would not be searchable. (It never sold more than a few books anyway). The book, or rather, my memoirs was based entirely on true events and is about how corrupt and slimey both the medical and legal professions are, from my view as a disgruntled orthopedic surgeon who was ruined in KY and then lived a life trying to hang on to his career in NC, with a 4 year final ending in Natchez MS. I mention in the first page or two why I named the book- because of Dylan's song, best covered by Roger McGuinn and the Byrds.
My Medical -Legal Back Pages Archway. Pen name Bryce Sterling.
Thanks for your comment, Mr. "Sterling". It intrigued me to go read the reviews of your book. I'm sorry to hear of what you had to go through. I have always thought that most people would be shocked to discover the depth of corruption, greed, and just plain evil that are behind the curtains of our medical, legal, government, etc., institutions. It is really quite depressing. I'm glad you made it through to tell your story. (I have my own stories I could tell about such corruption and how it affected my career....) Anyway, thanks again for your comment and best wishes to you. Jeff
To dig further, check out 4 star reviews of a book called “Summary Judgment” (my 4 stars was very generous as the author, Donald Cameron Clark Jr was a classmate of mine in college) and see my picture in the review holding his book which was carefully edited and promoted whereas mine was more like a rant just to get my story preserved in cyberspace . I am holding his book entitled Summary Judgment and mine which Archway required me to write as “fiction” even though everything can be sourced. Also I think Archway does give sample passages of many of the chapters on its own webpage.
Anyway, back to my drum kit. The Byrds' album version I think was cut by the studio band called “The Wrecking Crew” with Hal Blaine on the drums.
I have always thought of 'My Back Pages' as Dylan's 'farewell to protest'. At least for a while.
Agree
I think you’re right about that, and that Maggies (Magee’s) Farm on his next album was confirmation of that.
I heard the song by way of the Byrds back in the day, but lyrically it stood out from the other songs on their album "Younger than Yesterday" a little like All along the Watchtower and Hendrix. I might have been a big Dylan fan had it not been for the fact that he couldn't carry a tune.
Hi Jerome. Thanks for commenting. Yes, many fans heard their favorite Dylan songs via The Byrds. My intro to Dylan was via the early Peter Paul & Mary records. Jeff
My Back Pages always reminded me of Carole King's "Going Back" Gerry Goffin was obviously not the poet Dylan was/is but I thought the themes were quite similar, albeit, Dylan was 1964, and King was 1966 ua-cam.com/video/AWzgbleoZYE/v-deo.html Keep up the great work! J.@@CalicoSilver
Great review, I really enjoyed it.
Thanks Carlos! Jeff
This is my favourite Dylan Song. Okay now you know it. In Short :Dylan is LEARNING comething about life. No wonder the title of this fine record is: Another Side of .....
Even after titling his album "Another Side" and after including songs such as this one on the album, people were STILL unwilling to hear what he was saying and insisted that he was what THEY wanted him to be. Haha! No wonder he stopped talking to anyone about his songs. Why bother? ".....with truth so far off, what good will it do...."
Another great song you do a good job agsin
Thanks for all the encouragement you give, Maggie. Without comments like yours’ and others’ I probably would have been done with UA-cam by now. Thanks again. Jeff
In the late 60s I worked in a payroll function for the State Dept. I realized that some operatives in Indochina were keeping hazardous duty pay rates long after returning stateside, in effect defrauding the U.S. govt. Still a teen I listed them all in secret to a general and got the money recovered. I did not have the courage to reveal this scandal to the press where some soldiers were coming home in caskets while others were banking unentitled wealth. The general gave me a cash award and I bought ape hangers and a sissy bar for my chopper, accepting this Judas money to keep quiet. " My Back Pages " helped me through my loss of patriotic idealism at the ripe old age of eighteen.
Wow, thanks for sharing your story. Things like that kinda stick with you, I know.
The amazing thing about My Back Pages...to me at least...is that he was in his early 20s when he wrote it.
So true, Jack. The insight he had at such an early age. And poetic expression. At that age I was mainly trying to be as close as possible to females. And listen to and play music, yes. But mainly the girl thing. Not exactly a Dylan-level of thinker back in my early 20s.
Great song to play for today's woke activists 😄
Isn't that the truth!
Is this the same guy who said don't trust anyone over 30?
That was Jack Weinberg.
Dylan was much smarter then that’ll fkng politician now. Combined. Damn it 2024
What books does b.d. reads?
He mentions several of his literary interests in his “Chronicles, Volume 1” book.
I don’t understand the “I was older then; I’m younger than that now.” Isn’t the fact that you get wiser and less passionate/impulsive the older you get?
I always took that line (a brilliant one, by the way) as a sarcastic comment about how when he was younger and so sure of himself and his ideas and thoughts, as if he were a wise and experienced "older" man, the truth was that he was actually just the opposite - he was naive and arrogant. It took him some time to realize this truth and to realize that he really doesn't know all that he thought he knew (he became more humble) and therefore now sees himself as a "younger" (more humble) man.
@@CalicoSilver Thank you!
the song makes no sense but it is awesome
I disagree somewhat with the analysis here. It is not so much about going from an antiquated way of thinking to a definitive new and better one, but about a the ever-ongoing process of going from the old and moribund to something which is better, to being born again...ever again.
Love that you do this. And I ave to echo @maeshalanadae 's comment: there's not enough lyrical analysis. This is needed! Love interpreting and analyzing lyrics, music, film. Thank you!
Thank you very much, Ryan.
I'm a little embarrassed listening to this video Jeff. Just like you say, l too have been that selfrighteous evangelist in my past...
Thank you so much Jeff, great analysis 👏👏👏
Nothing wrong with there being worthy evangelists promoting worthy causes.....but perhaps not a 20-year-old one, haha! I don't think Dylan was saying that NO one should take stands on issues....just not HIM at his age, perhaps. Or perhaps not most people at all, because most people don't take the time to actually properly prepare themselves for such a role, and instead just use emotion over reason. Whatever.....I just like the song and can relate so much to what he is singing here, as I am sure you can also. One thing that the world needs is a little more humility, IMO. Thanks, Mick. Jeff
Self-reflection at age 23 is not based on any meaningful experience, and is worth jack shit.
The lyrics just exploit the IDEA that good and bad are not that black and white (think anti-WOKE)-a revelation indeed (to some). So anything goes, you have moral relativity. I’m sure many people like this IDEA.
I took the song's lyrics to indicate that, even at the young age of 23, he'd already realized the folly of all the leftist protest-movement BS that surrounded him (and to which he'd momentarily subscribed) and was steering away from it. I did likewise in my 20s. It amazes me that there are people who, at advanced ages when they should know better, still subscribe to such Utopian BS.
You can always have a contrarian view on anything, not exactly an epiphany.
America has YET to adequately address civil rights, indigenous rights, women’s rights and climate change, to name a few. So I would say that Dylan’s insight on the ‘folly’ of the protest movement was pretty misplaced.
But I would not have expected any better from my 23 year old self. In fact, 60 odd years on, we need protest movements and songs even more. Occupy Wall Street movement was not that long ago.
@@CalicoSilver
From NYT:
“Last week the governor of Alabama signed a bill that purports to limit the teaching of “divisive” topics in its colleges and universities. The bill is similar to Florida’s ban on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives in public colleges, which was signed into law last May. … The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that Republican lawmakers have proposed 81 anti-D.E.I. bills across 28 states. (So far, 33 haven’t become law, and 11 have.)”
@@CalicoSilver
i think dylan by being so good with words and keeping things vague is saying think for your self kids , rothbard his fellow Austrian economist pseudo libertarian flip-whits are saying think like us or eff off , when you listen to people at say the von mises institute they are the least tolerant libertarian people you could find , the idea that Rothbard or anyone else from that clique would want peoples minds to be free is ludicrous , of course some of their ideas are great but their world view so restrictive , i mean dismissing anything that contradicts what you derive from 'first principals' how is that anything but an a priore denial that anyone can show you you are wrong ever ? 1 pillar of austrian economics is logical look at the world which gets some things right and some wrong but the other is a cult based on a cluty principal of logical deduction (their logical deduction) over any facts from the real world
Great song it is easy to prejudge people. Picking sides is todays america but nothing is black and white.
I agree. Thanks.
Jesus is Love; Jesus is the savior of the World; all who are Simple and Humble enough to accept that Truth are promised eternal life: Jesus said: “ Suffer the children to come onto me, for such are of the kingdom of heaven; anyone who does not humble themselves as a child cannot see the kingdom of heaven. “