Good analysis. It is an absolutely beautiful song, and it could well be about all the stuff you mentioned. There is always a deep emotional current running through Bob's songs, and he then clothes it in universal images that work on many different levels, but they all stem from the emotions he's feeling that brought forth the song in the first place. I must have played this song hundreds of times over the years, and I never tire of it. Joan's version of it is gorgeous, so is Bob's, and the lyrical differences, as always, are fascinating. Yes, the connections to "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" are quite evident, and I'd say it was the same basic feelings that delivered both songs. You just can't get better songwriting than that, in my opinion. And then the way he *sings* it! That is the final icing on the cake. Nothing else equals that. Dylan's greatest single power is in his voice and his phrasing....and his courage to keep moving and changing. That's how to stay alive, and not become a relic in a museum display.
Great comment, George! I was just listening to 3 hours of Dylan today as I was driving, and it amazes me that I get something new and/or different from each listening. So I have no idea what his songs are about other than what they say to me during any particular listening. Haha! That’s how art works.
Perhaps he thought it and Baby Blue were too similar in message or something.....but yeah, it is good enough that I wish it had been included on the album, for sure.
I'm glad someone requested it. In fact, most of the songs I've reviewed have been viewer requests. The only request so far that I've declined to even consider is "Sad Eyed Lady...", because that song seems to me to be perhaps the most personal song between two people in all of Dylan's catalog....and I think much of what is sung in that song cannot be really interpreted outside of the context of those two people and what they've experienced. I may be wrong, but that is what I think when I hear it. Stunning song, though.
Thanks, Rick! I really appreciate it. Like I always say, I have absolutely no idea if any of my interpretive efforts hit the mark at all, but it is still fun thinking about it and sharing ideas with others. Cheers! Jeff
hey jeff...i cannot begin to tell you how inspiring it is to hear words again....i love these lyric reviews...and the fact that it's dylan is like walking thru a tempest of the soul....thank you again for another brilliant passage....bleeding is easy...opening the wound is the magic...peace always my friend...rocky
Great song that I also first heard on the Joan Baez Vanguard record. Later a lady I was very fond of sang her version of it with her guitar accompaniment for me. That was what got me learning to play guitar when prior to that I was just a below average bass player. Not sure of your take on the lyrics, but you could well be right*. Somehow that entire period of Dylans writing from about the time of Hard Rain to the song Visions Of Johanna and others on Blond On Blond always seem to me to be his very best. There was certainly really great ones before and after, but that time seems like his gifts were just exploding. *Seems we all have our own visions of what those songs mean. (-:
I hear ya, Andy. Beautiful song. And yes, those songs from Hard Rain to Visions and Stuck Inside of Mobile and others.....what a great period. Each person gets what they get from the lyrics based on our own experiences, poetic sensibilities, outlooks, etc.. That is what makes those songs so powerful and so eternal. My take on his songs change somewhat over time also, as my experiences and sensibilities shift with age.....as I'm sure they do for even Dylan. Thanks again for a great comment, Andy. Jeff
Wow to actually know this song let alone do a lyrical review on is really something. "Farewell Angelina." is such a beautiful song, that I listened to over and over again in the sixties. Sadly, I had forgotten about it. Now I'm definitely going to listen to it again. Thx. for sharing. Have you listened to Dylan's "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight". "Yesterday's a memory" " tomorrow's never what it's supposed to be" great lyrics..It was just down loaded from Dylan's channel. It's version 2 and it's great.
Hi Pamela! Hahaha, I knew this song existed (via Baez) before I even realized who "Bob Dylan" was. But I never paid much attention to it lyrically until the Bootleg Series came out. I do like "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" very much but haven't seen the new video posted today, but will do so right now. Thanks for pointing me to it. (I think '80s Dylan is very underappreciated) Cheers! Jeff
I don't know why I enjoy analyzing songs like this so much, Maggie. I fully know how absurd it is to do so, but I do it anyway. I need to seek help. Haha!
Thank you ,like yourself heard it in the late 60s as a very young teenager,didn't really understand it back then ,you analasist of it are super,think your so close to the truth,Bob is very elusive ,but most of his songs are about change ,I'm not sure bobs totally aware of his own genius,he has said himself they are God given ,he writes about himself about the changes he passing through,and as a non comformist, with compassion for the underdogs,and people who don't quite fit who he relates to,also Bob himself s always moving on that's Bob dylan
You're so right, John. Dylan sings about change, moving on, not staying in the same place ("I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down"). And no, I don't think he is aware of his own genius - excellent point you made there. I think the rapt enthusiasm people have about his art actually surprises and befuddles him, even. I don't think he really knows how to respond to it. Anyway, thanks for your great comment and nice words. I very much appreciate it! Jeff
I'd never thought of it, but I think you're right about why the song was left off the album because it gave the same message Baby Blue - and maybe it was a bit too subtle, which Baby Blue isn't :D - One thing that occurred to me for the first time listening to you is that the idea of the sky 'folding' is another card reference - 'I fold' ( which would suggest that he liked the image and Baby Blue was a later song that he re-used it in less appositely)
Love the Baez version. Love the Dylan version, too - nobody knew Dylan had actually recorded this song until it turned up on the Bootleg Series. I wonder if he ever recorded Love Is Just A Four Letter Word (another Baez cover, which is supposedly unfinished - Joan and Bob are seen having a conversation to that effect in Don’t Look Back). Yes, I’d also related this to It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue - they both evoke a similar mood, which is why FA was left in the can, I suppose. Other critics have related the imagery to art cinema (the table standing empty by the edge of the sea). The final verse is pretty impenetrable, but it’s also my favourite. If it is indeed about Baez, I think the line about ‘shutting the eyes of the dead not to embarrass anyone’ is significant, as Bob may have begun to find Joan a bit overwhelming at that point, possibly a bit embarrassing, too. I like JB, but I can understand why Dylan recoiled from her (have you heard her song, To Bobby? If someone sang that to me, it’d be a long time before I felt moved to communicate with them again). Btw - I wonder if you like Stephen Sondheim?
Love Is a Four Letter Word is great, yes. I have never heard a Dylan version of it, no. As for Baez, I never owned an album by her. My parents had a few (including Farewell Angelina) but to be honest I never cared for her singing, even though I acknowlege she was good at what she did. As for To Bobby.....well, it wasn't like Dylan didn't make it crystal clear that he didn't want any more of that kind of thing that "they" wanted him for....they wanted to own him and he would have nothing of it. This song is one of many that nailed that fact home, IMO. I know nothing about theater music, sorry....other than the cheesy "jazz standards" squeezed out of the theatrical genre that I gigged with "jazz cats" for several years just to make extra money playing music in my "musician for hire" days, haha! But no, I don't know much about Sondheim but I am SURE I know many of his songs if I heard them.
@@CalicoSilver if you like lyrics, you’ll probably like Sondheim. I never liked musical theatre much before I discovered him. I’ll stick my neck out and say he’s one of the few acknowledged geniuses alive today.
First heard this song when i was a boy sung by nana miuskouri and with no evidence thought the song was about the mexican revolution, only this year looking for the nana version learned dillon wrote it,60yrs old now your never to old to learn new thing,
I only heard Bob Dylan singing this song very recently on a UA-cam video. Other than that, I have only heard it sung by Joan Baez, a favorite folk singer of mine. Farewell, Angelina is one of the few Dylan songs I learned to sing. I have to say its imaginary and creative phrases remind me of Donovan and his fanciful songs like Land of Doesn't Have to Be and Summer Day Reflection Song. I am afraid I end to simply enjoy the lyrics and melody, and what reflectons I may have without trying to figure out what they mean unless it at least seems obvious. While I enjoy reading others' interpretations of various songs, some of which I agree or disagree with (I wonder if American Pie holds the record for number of interpretations), I still focus the beauty of the song, how well-written it is, how the melody enhances the lyrics, and of course how well it is sung. Tjat is enough for me.
Yep, there is something for every fan in Dylan's music. Obsessive nerds like me can dig deeply into the lyrics, and others can just enjoy the way they sound and feel. I love Dylan not only for his literary qualities, but for his way with a melody and especially his performance style. A true "song and dance man", haha! Thanks for your great comments, Nancy! Jeff
Bob has such a great catalogue of songs of moving on, like restless farewell and its all over now baby blue maybe he could not fit farewell angelina on the album, with its similar theme, but which makes the bootleg series so rich.
During this time (and many other times in Dylan's career) he was so prolific that it must have always been hard to choose which songs appeared on the official albums, but you are right: we win as fans in that we now get these amazing bootleg releases. So true, Gavin. Thanks! Jeff
Thanks, Randy. It would come as no surprise to me to one day find out that everything I ever thought about Dylan's lyrics was wrong! D'oh!! Hahaha. ;-)
There was great interest in the Surrealist Movement in the early 1960s . I’m just wondering about Dali’s pictures , Time etc with reference to “hands of clocks “ sunset descriptions and “ tables by the edge of the sea “ BCNU ....
It's not one of my favourites, but I think it's connected with Angelina that could be one of the best songs in Shot of Love. As always around that time, Dylan took out some of the best songs of the albums - the bootleg series are absolutely necessary.
Yeah, I mention Angelina at the end of the video, and will probably do my next lyrical review on it, since I've already done the Farewell Angelina one. Haha!
Joan's last verse is very different from how Dylan wrote it unless I am not understanding the words she sings. I sing, "Machine guns they roar, the puppets heave rocks. The fiends nail time bombs to the hands of the clock. Call me any name you like, I will never deny it. Farewell, Angelina, the sky is erupting; I must go where it's quiet."
I think Dylan often changed his lyrics multiple times from writing to recording to performing, etc.. He'd most likely laugh with derision at my attempts to "interpret" his lyrics. Haha!
Always felt Farewell Angelina was a great song about leaving something behind for the better. Great to see how you connected it to his transition from folk to electric. Can't wait for the Angelina review. I remember suggesting that one a while back. By the way, are you by any chance a fan of Townes Van Zandt? If so, would love to see you do one on either "Lungs" or "Mr Mudd and Mr. Gold". I can't for the life of me figure out what those two songs mean haha
Hi Dhiren. I have not heard much of Townes Van Zandt, no, but I probably should. Any recommendation on an album(s) to start with? Other than the songs "Lungs" and "Mr Mudd", that is. I suppose I should start there! Haha. Thanks for your comment. Jeff
@@CalicoSilver I pretty much only discovered his music a few months ago and was amazed by his songwriting ability. Albums to start with would be either "Our Mother the Mountain" or "Townes Van Zandt", but I feel the best takes of his songs are from the live albums. "Rear View Mirror" is a good example of that, and was the album that got me really into his music.
Yes Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease do 'Angelina' -easily in my top 10 Dylan songs :) btw - you might want to listen to the earlier 'Springtime in New York' take - a few interesting lyric differences :)
Yes I will do that song next, Graham. Check out Marco's (Varlam Platonov channel) brand new commentary on the Springtime in New York release at ua-cam.com/video/mPjvZjic2LM/v-deo.html
It's an interesting analysis and I enjoyed hearing a different version from Joan's but for me Dylan has no idea what he means or what he wants us to think. It's more of painting of disconnected thoughts, beautifully senseless ideas that somehow make an impression that feels beautiful. I think the Beatles learned from him, that it's okay to not make sense as long as the music and words touch the listener. Remember. "Here come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly, He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller, He got hair down to his knee. Got to be a joker, he just do what he please." Does anyone really care what that means?
@@CalicoSilver Not silliness, this song became a week long earworm for me. Cross eyed ponies and the Jack and the Queen and gypsies and sawed off shotguns ....... gotta stop now.
I always thought it was a lamentation of a dying soldier on the battlefield saying goodbye to his love. Maybe you are right, but that means it's about Dylan. If that's so, who is Angelina?
Who knows? Who is Johanna too? Or Queen Jane? Etc.? You may well be right about it being about a dying soldier. Whatever imagery works for you is right. That's why I love Dylan's lyrics so much. Thanks for the comment, Mark. Jeff
Maybe this? "The bells of crown were stolen by bandits" The British Invasion, specifically the Beatles who have taken American music and moved it forward, and he must follow the sound" & go electric.
This blew me away when I first heard it on the bootleg album. Only years later did I hear the Joan Baez rendition, which is nice, but I prefer Dylan's haunting rendition. I don't buy the antiwar interpretation, I don't buy the rejection of the voice of a generation. But escape from something, indeed. Terrible interpretation. I think the logic of the song is more abstract, applicable to any situation where someone follows something new and settles accounts with a compromised world.
“Terrible interpretation” right back at ya, pal. I guess you never heard of disagreement without being disagreeable. Or is that concept too “abstract” for you?
Good analysis. It is an absolutely beautiful song, and it could well be about all the stuff you mentioned. There is always a deep emotional current running through Bob's songs, and he then clothes it in universal images that work on many different levels, but they all stem from the emotions he's feeling that brought forth the song in the first place. I must have played this song hundreds of times over the years, and I never tire of it. Joan's version of it is gorgeous, so is Bob's, and the lyrical differences, as always, are fascinating. Yes, the connections to "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" are quite evident, and I'd say it was the same basic feelings that delivered both songs. You just can't get better songwriting than that, in my opinion. And then the way he *sings* it! That is the final icing on the cake. Nothing else equals that. Dylan's greatest single power is in his voice and his phrasing....and his courage to keep moving and changing. That's how to stay alive, and not become a relic in a museum display.
Great comment, George! I was just listening to 3 hours of Dylan today as I was driving, and it amazes me that I get something new and/or different from each listening. So I have no idea what his songs are about other than what they say to me during any particular listening. Haha! That’s how art works.
@@CalicoSilver - Yessir! Dylan, Joan, and Buffy (Sainte-Marie). Those three (all born in 1941) together have been the soundtrack of my life.
We could/should hang.
My father gave me The Bootleg series my freshman year of college. Farewell Angelina is my favorite track and I always think of my dad when I spin it.
What a great gift your dad gave you.
I absolutely love this song too Jeff...imagine having a song like that and not putting it out on your album!!!
Perhaps he thought it and Baby Blue were too similar in message or something.....but yeah, it is good enough that I wish it had been included on the album, for sure.
This blew my mind when I first heard it on the Cutting Edge series. It's now on my shortlist of top Dylan songs. Glad to hear your take on it!
I'm glad someone requested it. In fact, most of the songs I've reviewed have been viewer requests. The only request so far that I've declined to even consider is "Sad Eyed Lady...", because that song seems to me to be perhaps the most personal song between two people in all of Dylan's catalog....and I think much of what is sung in that song cannot be really interpreted outside of the context of those two people and what they've experienced. I may be wrong, but that is what I think when I hear it. Stunning song, though.
Great pick any way you look at it. It's amazing that Dylan did one take and never touched it again, it's a lost gem.
Joan beaz did a great version of the song 🎵
This is my first time hearing you great insights thanks😎
I bought the album back in 1965, too -always loved this song. your interpretation of it is fantastic
Thanks, Rick! I really appreciate it. Like I always say, I have absolutely no idea if any of my interpretive efforts hit the mark at all, but it is still fun thinking about it and sharing ideas with others. Cheers! Jeff
hey jeff...i cannot begin to tell you how inspiring it is to hear words again....i love these lyric reviews...and the fact that it's dylan is like walking thru a tempest of the soul....thank you again for another brilliant passage....bleeding is easy...opening the wound is the magic...peace always my friend...rocky
Thanks so much for your continued support and encouraging words, Rocky.
Love this song too! Thank you for reminding 🙏
Great song that I also first heard on the Joan Baez Vanguard record. Later a lady I was very fond of sang her version of it with her guitar accompaniment for me. That was what got me learning to play guitar when prior to that I was just a below average bass player. Not sure of your take on the lyrics, but you could well be right*. Somehow that entire period of Dylans writing from about the time of Hard Rain to the song Visions Of Johanna and others on Blond On Blond always seem to me to be his very best. There was certainly really great ones before and after, but that time seems like his gifts were just exploding. *Seems we all have our own visions of what those songs mean. (-:
I hear ya, Andy. Beautiful song. And yes, those songs from Hard Rain to Visions and Stuck Inside of Mobile and others.....what a great period. Each person gets what they get from the lyrics based on our own experiences, poetic sensibilities, outlooks, etc.. That is what makes those songs so powerful and so eternal. My take on his songs change somewhat over time also, as my experiences and sensibilities shift with age.....as I'm sure they do for even Dylan. Thanks again for a great comment, Andy. Jeff
Wow to actually know this song let alone do a lyrical review on is really something. "Farewell Angelina." is such a beautiful song, that I listened to over and over again in the sixties. Sadly, I had forgotten about it. Now I'm definitely going to listen to it again. Thx. for sharing. Have you listened to Dylan's "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight". "Yesterday's a memory" " tomorrow's never what it's supposed to be" great lyrics..It was just down loaded from Dylan's channel. It's version 2 and it's great.
Hi Pamela! Hahaha, I knew this song existed (via Baez) before I even realized who "Bob Dylan" was. But I never paid much attention to it lyrically until the Bootleg Series came out. I do like "Don't Fall Apart on Me Tonight" very much but haven't seen the new video posted today, but will do so right now. Thanks for pointing me to it. (I think '80s Dylan is very underappreciated) Cheers! Jeff
'Methinks thee protesteth too much'.
Now that's funny Thanks..
I really like your theory I think you are spot on.
Thanks.
Love this song I
It's is alot like baby blue love love one of my fav bob songs I never try look to deep but but love listening to yours not sure about this one
I don't know why I enjoy analyzing songs like this so much, Maggie. I fully know how absurd it is to do so, but I do it anyway. I need to seek help. Haha!
@@CalicoSilver I always like listening to your takes
Is saw somewhere in the letters he wrote to Tony glover that he said he wrote its all over baby blue for David blue but you never know
Thank you ,like yourself heard it in the late 60s as a very young teenager,didn't really understand it back then ,you analasist of it are super,think your so close to the truth,Bob is very elusive ,but most of his songs are about change ,I'm not sure bobs totally aware of his own genius,he has said himself they are God given ,he writes about himself about the changes he passing through,and as a non comformist, with compassion for the underdogs,and people who don't quite fit who he relates to,also Bob himself s always moving on that's Bob dylan
You're so right, John. Dylan sings about change, moving on, not staying in the same place ("I've been in trouble ever since I set my suitcase down"). And no, I don't think he is aware of his own genius - excellent point you made there. I think the rapt enthusiasm people have about his art actually surprises and befuddles him, even. I don't think he really knows how to respond to it. Anyway, thanks for your great comment and nice words. I very much appreciate it! Jeff
I'd never thought of it, but I think you're right about why the song was left off the album because it gave the same message Baby Blue - and maybe it was a bit too subtle, which Baby Blue isn't :D - One thing that occurred to me for the first time listening to you is that the idea of the sky 'folding' is another card reference - 'I fold' ( which would suggest that he liked the image and Baby Blue was a later song that he re-used it in less appositely)
Haha, cool idea, Graham, about the folded cards! Thanks! Jeff
Love the Baez version. Love the Dylan version, too - nobody knew Dylan had actually recorded this song until it turned up on the Bootleg Series. I wonder if he ever recorded Love Is Just A Four Letter Word (another Baez cover, which is supposedly unfinished - Joan and Bob are seen having a conversation to that effect in Don’t Look Back). Yes, I’d also related this to It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue - they both evoke a similar mood, which is why FA was left in the can, I suppose. Other critics have related the imagery to art cinema (the table standing empty by the edge of the sea). The final verse is pretty impenetrable, but it’s also my favourite. If it is indeed about Baez, I think the line about ‘shutting the eyes of the dead not to embarrass anyone’ is significant, as Bob may have begun to find Joan a bit overwhelming at that point, possibly a bit embarrassing, too. I like JB, but I can understand why Dylan recoiled from her (have you heard her song, To Bobby? If someone sang that to me, it’d be a long time before I felt moved to communicate with them again). Btw - I wonder if you like Stephen Sondheim?
Love Is a Four Letter Word is great, yes. I have never heard a Dylan version of it, no. As for Baez, I never owned an album by her. My parents had a few (including Farewell Angelina) but to be honest I never cared for her singing, even though I acknowlege she was good at what she did. As for To Bobby.....well, it wasn't like Dylan didn't make it crystal clear that he didn't want any more of that kind of thing that "they" wanted him for....they wanted to own him and he would have nothing of it. This song is one of many that nailed that fact home, IMO. I know nothing about theater music, sorry....other than the cheesy "jazz standards" squeezed out of the theatrical genre that I gigged with "jazz cats" for several years just to make extra money playing music in my "musician for hire" days, haha! But no, I don't know much about Sondheim but I am SURE I know many of his songs if I heard them.
@@CalicoSilver if you like lyrics, you’ll probably like Sondheim. I never liked musical theatre much before I discovered him. I’ll stick my neck out and say he’s one of the few acknowledged geniuses alive today.
First heard this song when i was a boy sung by nana miuskouri and with no evidence thought the song was about the mexican revolution, only this year looking for the nana version learned dillon wrote it,60yrs old now your never to old to learn new thing,
You might be right. Who knows? Haha. Thanks, Malcolm. Jeff
Brilliant. Art for art’s sake. The artist speaking about the creation process.
Indeed! I love how Dylan seems to fully understand the joy of the creative process and how he expresses that joy in his songs.
I only heard Bob Dylan singing this song very recently on a UA-cam video. Other than that, I have only heard it sung by Joan Baez, a favorite folk singer of mine. Farewell, Angelina is one of the few Dylan songs I learned to sing. I have to say its imaginary and creative phrases remind me of Donovan and his fanciful songs like Land of Doesn't Have to Be and Summer Day Reflection Song. I am afraid I end to simply enjoy the lyrics and melody, and what reflectons I may have without trying to figure out what they mean unless it at least seems obvious. While I enjoy reading others' interpretations of various songs, some of which I agree or disagree with (I wonder if American Pie holds the record for number of interpretations), I still focus the beauty of the song, how well-written it is, how the melody enhances the lyrics, and of course how well it is sung. Tjat is enough for me.
Yep, there is something for every fan in Dylan's music. Obsessive nerds like me can dig deeply into the lyrics, and others can just enjoy the way they sound and feel. I love Dylan not only for his literary qualities, but for his way with a melody and especially his performance style. A true "song and dance man", haha! Thanks for your great comments, Nancy! Jeff
Bob has such a great catalogue of songs of moving on, like restless farewell and its all over now baby blue maybe he could not fit farewell angelina on the album, with its similar theme, but which makes the bootleg series so rich.
During this time (and many other times in Dylan's career) he was so prolific that it must have always been hard to choose which songs appeared on the official albums, but you are right: we win as fans in that we now get these amazing bootleg releases. So true, Gavin. Thanks! Jeff
I've always loved this song but I have never dug deep into the lyrics. I quite like your view of his looking at his status in the Folk movement.
Thanks, Randy. It would come as no surprise to me to one day find out that everything I ever thought about Dylan's lyrics was wrong! D'oh!! Hahaha. ;-)
There was great interest in the Surrealist Movement in the early 1960s . I’m just wondering about Dali’s pictures , Time etc with reference to “hands of clocks “ sunset descriptions and “ tables by the edge of the sea “ BCNU ....
It's not one of my favourites, but I think it's connected with Angelina that could be one of the best songs in Shot of Love. As always around that time, Dylan took out some of the best songs of the albums - the bootleg series are absolutely necessary.
Yeah, I mention Angelina at the end of the video, and will probably do my next lyrical review on it, since I've already done the Farewell Angelina one. Haha!
Joan's last verse is very different from how Dylan wrote it unless I am not understanding the words she sings. I sing, "Machine guns they roar, the puppets heave rocks. The fiends nail time bombs to the hands of the clock. Call me any name you like, I will never deny it. Farewell, Angelina, the sky is erupting; I must go where it's quiet."
I think Dylan often changed his lyrics multiple times from writing to recording to performing, etc.. He'd most likely laugh with derision at my attempts to "interpret" his lyrics. Haha!
Always felt Farewell Angelina was a great song about leaving something behind for the better. Great to see how you connected it to his transition from folk to electric. Can't wait for the Angelina review. I remember suggesting that one a while back. By the way, are you by any chance a fan of Townes Van Zandt? If so, would love to see you do one on either "Lungs" or "Mr Mudd and Mr. Gold". I can't for the life of me figure out what those two songs mean haha
Hi Dhiren. I have not heard much of Townes Van Zandt, no, but I probably should. Any recommendation on an album(s) to start with? Other than the songs "Lungs" and "Mr Mudd", that is. I suppose I should start there! Haha. Thanks for your comment. Jeff
@@CalicoSilver I pretty much only discovered his music a few months ago and was amazed by his songwriting ability. Albums to start with would be either "Our Mother the Mountain" or "Townes Van Zandt", but I feel the best takes of his songs are from the live albums. "Rear View Mirror" is a good example of that, and was the album that got me really into his music.
@@dhirenram4971 Thanks!!
trembling sky's could be just an artist being restless.
Interesting point, yes! Thanks.
Yes Pleeeeeeeeeeeeease do 'Angelina' -easily in my top 10 Dylan songs :)
btw - you might want to listen to the earlier 'Springtime in New York' take - a few interesting lyric differences :)
Yes I will do that song next, Graham. Check out Marco's (Varlam Platonov channel) brand new commentary on the Springtime in New York release at ua-cam.com/video/mPjvZjic2LM/v-deo.html
It's an interesting analysis and I enjoyed hearing a different version from Joan's but for me Dylan has no idea what he means or what he wants us to think. It's more of painting of disconnected thoughts, beautifully senseless ideas that somehow make an impression that feels beautiful. I think the Beatles learned from him, that it's okay to not make sense as long as the music and words touch the listener. Remember. "Here come old flat-top, he come grooving up slowly, He got ju-ju eyeball, he one holy roller, He got hair down to his knee. Got to be a joker, he just do what he please." Does anyone really care what that means?
Haha! You’re probably right there. Makes me wonder if I have spent unwisely some time in trying to interpret this silliness. Oh well…. 😂👍
@@CalicoSilver Not silliness, this song became a week long earworm for me. Cross eyed ponies and the Jack and the Queen and gypsies and sawed off shotguns ....... gotta stop now.
what about staying on topic? "Farewell Angelina"
I always thought it was a lamentation of a dying soldier on the battlefield saying goodbye to his love. Maybe you are right, but that means it's about Dylan. If that's so, who is Angelina?
Who knows? Who is Johanna too? Or Queen Jane? Etc.? You may well be right about it being about a dying soldier. Whatever imagery works for you is right. That's why I love Dylan's lyrics so much. Thanks for the comment, Mark. Jeff
Maybe this?
"The bells of crown were stolen by bandits" The British Invasion, specifically the Beatles who have taken American music and moved it forward, and he must follow the sound" & go electric.
Interesting idea, thanks!
Can you explain "Or was it a hyena?"
No, since I don’t know what you’re referring to, sorry.
I always thought there was something regarding the American Mexican war.
Fair.
But in a nutshell, the songwriter sums up "the meaning" of this song with a single line prior: "he not busy being born is busy dying".
This blew me away when I first heard it on the bootleg album. Only years later did I hear the Joan Baez rendition, which is nice, but I prefer Dylan's haunting rendition. I don't buy the antiwar interpretation, I don't buy the rejection of the voice of a generation. But escape from something, indeed. Terrible interpretation. I think the logic of the song is more abstract, applicable to any situation where someone follows something new and settles accounts with a compromised world.
“Terrible interpretation” right back at ya, pal. I guess you never heard of disagreement without being disagreeable. Or is that concept too “abstract” for you?