Tangled Up in Blue: Deciphering a Bob Dylan Masterpiece
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- Опубліковано 11 тра 2024
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00:00 Intro
00:49 Title Card
00:56 A Love Song
01:21 Time
01:57 Verse 1
03:34 Musical Arrangement
04:04 Verse 2
04:56 Song Structure
05:45 Verse 3
06:12 Verse 4
07:23 Verse 5 / Vita Nuova
08:38 Verse 6
09:56 Final Verse
10:52 Conclusion
I wrote these lyrics on a on my practice page during an English essay, and I didn't know the teacher was keeping them. She called me up to her desk the next day, and basically told me how big of a fan she was of Bob Dylan as well. Just a fun memory I thought I'd share.
The phrase "tangled up in blue" is, by itself, so brilliant that if he'd just come up with that song title and never bothered to record or even write the song itself, Dylan would still be a genius on that basis alone.
To me “Tangled up in Blue “ means how we are all connected in a way in the universe, by our shared experience.
Darius Rucker infused "Tangled up in Blue" in Hootie & The Blowfish's hit "I only wanna be with you."
2nd verse:
Put on a little Dylan
Sitting on a fence
I say, "That line is great."
You ask me what it meant by
"Said I shot a man named Gray
Took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks
And when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky"
I only wanna be with you
Ain't Bobby so cool?
I only wanna be with you
Yeah, I'm tangled up in blue
I only wanna be with you
@@sunsetcaptiva8573 Dylan himself often quotes other writers in his lyrics. Unlike Darius Rucker, he does it cleverly and with taste.
Please don’t speak.
See this is the big secret (imo) once a good title appears, the song follows.
I can’t help but think that Bob is laughing at all of this deciphering! He would just say it didn’t mean all of that and move on so I guess we’ll never know. In the end, it all might just be his way of messing with everyone’s heads like he loved to do.
It means whatever it means to you.... we always did feel the same, just saw it from a different point of view.... we are all tangled up in Blue....
@@markusbuergin6934 ur righter than right
This perfectly describes how Bob responds, with that sh** eating grin.
That is what he would say. He would also be lying somewhat, as some of that is very specific wordplay. He like to F..k with anyone asking a question. "So bob you talk about congressman don't block up the hall, who do you mean? Are you a protest singer? A voice for the kids?" Then ol' Bob would rub his eyes, and act slow and dumb.." I just wanted to write a song...you know.... something to dance to". That is his act,, off stage around media. But around friends he is possibly different, I am sure he is. Definitely would like to have dinner with the man and talk and talk.
Christina! You just made me wanna be a folk singer!!!
😜
"Split up on a dark sad night..."
I always thought it was "split up on the docks that night"!
Same here.
Me too
A mondegreen
lol, same here. Maybe it is , that sounds better. That's what I loved about records, it left some words ambiguous.
me too
“He started in to dealing with slaves and something inside of him died.
She had to sell everything she owns and froze up inside “
This line always reminds me of any of the autobiographies written by Frederick Douglass. Specifically, Hugh and Sophia Auld are featured prominently in all three. Frederick is given to the Aulds when he is roughly a preteen. He describes how the Aulds never held slaves before and how owning slaves changed them, especially Sophia. At first she is almost motherly to him. She even teaches Frederick to read. But, when her husband found out he chastised her informing her that it’s dangerous to teach slaves to read because they’ll become discontented and that this will cause them to not work as hard or try to run away. Douglas Describes the change in Sophia over time. He describes how she becomes hardened and cruel. He talks at length about how slavery affects the slaveholder sometimes even more than it affects the slave. It forces them into a mindset of cognitive dissonance against the natural human feelings of compassion. Being a slaveholder can harden even the gentlest spirit. I always picture Sophia “selling everything she owned” as her giving up her best qualities to remain a slaveholder.
Dylan sings the sh** out of this song .. can we talk about that every once in a while?.. dude, is one of the most incredible singers that has ever existed.
If you don't believe me, listen to all the covers of all his songs and ask yourself, beside the handful of obvious ones (Hendrix, etc), no one even comes close to matching what he does vocally. Might not be the most pleasant-sounding voice in the world, but, THAT'S THE POINT.
#theMaster
he had the voice of the people my favourite singer ever personally
Bob Dylan is a s**t singer. Get over it. Want proof? www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/100-greatest-bob-dylan-songs-65159/like-a-rolling-stone-1965-158865/ And Hendrix his All Along The Watchtower proves Dylan his All Along The Watchtower is a piece of c*ap because it's not a cover but a drastic improvement
@@stnbch3025 crap isn't a cuss word. crap.
My absolute favorite song is it’s all over now baby blue, and I love van Morrison’s cover now that’s incredible, well THEM
100% agree. His phrasing and control are amazing.
He chose (mostly) to sing in a Woody Guthrie pastiche and a lot of people didn't like that, and, fair. If you don't like it, you don't like it.
But, if you don't like it, it's not because it's poorly sung.
I remember hearing Shelter From The Storm and being absolutely blown away by the images the song created in my mind, I was young and didn't quite grasp the lyrical metaphors so it seemed sacrilegious and frightening in a strange way, but it burned onto my consciousness in a way that was so vivid I still remember that moment like it was yesterday. A few years later I bought Blood on the Tracks and discovered there was even a greater song on that album, which was of course, Tangled up in Blue. For my money, it's Bob's greatest song. I know most people will say Like a Rolling Stone or Blowin' in the Wind but for me Tangled Up In Blue is his finest moment as a songwriter.
Dealing with slaves could imply heroin addicts as they are slaves to the drug.He became withdrawn as In trying to kick the habit. She had to sell everything she owned and froze up inside.Any junkie can relate to this.
An earlier version of the song bears out this analysis. I always assumed he became a dealer (and a user of heavier stuff than what was in the pipe from the earlier verse) a,d there went their lives. Also, the narrator "lived with them", making it apparent he was not referring to himself as the "dealer with slaves". In my opinion.
Literary device using past lives to extend the depth of the love affair. The 3rd person is the poet Rimbaud, who got entangled in the slave trade.
@Patrick Williams If Dylan read Rimbaud's letters (which isn't a stretch if he read an anthology of his poetry), then it's very obvious that the slave-dealer is Rimbaud because the poet references the slave trade multiples times in his letters from Africa... going from dismissing it entirely to wondering whether he should venture into it. And as for Dylan knowing Rimbaud's work, this is indisputable: you only have to look at "Chimes of Freedom" or "Mr. Tambourine Man" to see this, and I am willing to bet that I can identify the exact poem that inspired "Chimes of Freedom", but I don't have my book of Rimbaud on me right now.
Agreed
fed1108
Sang the song a thousand times, this thread never appeared to me
Please do Desolation Row!!
Daniel Levy tangled up in blue is a marvelous song, another song about Bobs past. Bob is "Blue" as in what did you see my blue eyed son and it's all over now baby blue. The seven verses describe some periods of his life that he will always be tangled up in. The first verse begins his oddesy when he hitchhiker to NY. He used to listen to records at Echo's house and helped set the stage in his musical knowledge and radical point of view- was she the same, the firebrand rebel he knew ( was her hair still red)? The second verse brings up images of Joan Baez and his folk phase- we drove that car( folk music) as far as we could, he split the folk scene, but "She" would come back into his life various times. Third verse he gets canned from his cook's job and gets a job fishing down south . His influences to his music remain, but his lifelong goal, the " girl" who never escaped his mind, was always there. Bob states who his true love was- TRUTH in love minus zero divided by no limit. Fourth verse , he's got a hit record and his love, his musical poetry is sold like a sexy topless dancer but there is a deeper meaning than her boobs hanging out while she bends over embarrassingly- the lines or meaning of his lyrics on their faces.. Fifth verse getting high in the kitchen and being influenced by classical poetry. Sixth verse. I think this period describes the situation in Frankie lee, Dylan, and Judas Priest, Goldman touring him to death, dealing in slaves, and he saw his revolutionary phase fade as he just kept keeping on. Last verse, he wants to connect with all the phases of his career the mathematicians and carpenters wives are illusions to him they all were parts of him and parts he played and all he has now is the endless tour, another joint. It's certainly hard to reference Bobs tremendous art work, but he uses such marvelous poetic expressions but always with a goal, a story in mind- a key to deciphering his lyrics is who is he singing to and why? Any comments, which I welcome, can be received at stevesonmusic@yahoo.com. Thanks.
Who is she? She's religion, government , the establishment and she belongs to Bob!
Gosh that’d probably be a six hour video
"Blue" is what you call a redhead.
Oh Yeah!
This and Like a Rolling Stone are my favorite Dylan masterpieces.
20 years ago when I was 19 I bought this album around midnight at Wal-Mart on Cd. I put it on and it was raining and this song hit so hard since i had just lost my first real love. I have loved Dylan from that very moment..no one can write such words not even most greatest authors.
you forgot to mention Dylan was listening and tangled up in Joni Mitchells album 'Blue' over a weekend, which helped inspire the song as he said in an interview in 78'
Thanks - I don't know that interview - can you help?
read 'Reckless Daughter' by David Yaffe
@@robertnewell5057
my bad....read 'Reckless Daughter' by David Jaffe@@robertnewell5057
It's not for nothing that Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature, a first for songwriters as far as I know. His genius for taking us on painful, complex lyrical journey's is almost too much to take in. From the trippy psychedelic world of Mr Tambourine Man, to the cynical Things Have Changed he continues to amaze, astound.
Tera O.
Sure but you didn’t mention that he can play harmonica.
'Standing in the doorway' is a masterpiece.
I remember that snare drum hitting then launched into one of the greatest songs ever written. Like a rolling Stone. I was 11 years old, I was only into metal and some punk. But this song just blew me away. He captured the angst, humility, and humor most of those bands could never. I immediately went through his catalog of music. Was never disappointed.
@@caseylewis8768 me too Lewis...but I didnt know why at first. Dad was a Dyla maniac so of course I was highly suspicious I might be a lot more like him than I wanted to be. TUIB (and LARS) bore repeated listening (another thing I was suspicious of. Theme here?) Just the way the words tumbled on out and yet also fit together simultaneously. Then too I realized was being told a story. That was novel! (pun intended) I wanted to know what happened to this dude who gets chicks to make them dinner and pass a pipe. Did they get marrried? Oh yeah, he already said that. I think, I'm pretty sure. I used to lose my mind at Jerry Garcia shows when he'd cover Tangled (whereupon I would get the insight that it is a HARD song to cover, I wasnt alone if the great wizard garcia had trouble with stamina while playing it), a troubled version, but I would go spastic. I would be tempted to put my hands on some dreadlocked kids shoulders, a stranger mind you and look earnestly into his or her eyes and impart to them 'I LOVE this song. I LOVe Bob!!#!' (Deadheads can get REAL exuberant). I saw bob play with ge smith who I used to think was this smarmy kinda cliche, but ive seen him interviewed on YT and uh, pretty cool guy.
1st of all, I'm your #1 fan, please don't ever stop making these! 2ndly, thank you SO much for covering this song, it was the favorite Dylan song of my fiance' that passed a few years ago... So this video really pulled on my heart strings in all the right places, never thought I could get choked up during a video essay, but you've done it sir! Thank you from the bottom of my heart...
1st.ly, I must confess you hit the nail on the heaD 2ndlY, what you saiD 🤔👌
INDEED
If you are alone and feeling blue 💙
Just remember that everyone around you is probably feeling the same way to.
Remain in light 🌍
James Farrell If you’re alone and feeling blue and everyone around you is too, doesn’t that mean just you?
I love all these millennials narrating these videos with that same high pitch voice sounding so profound, knowledgeable and informative and everyone gets so impressed at their brilliant disclosures of this music that was written and performed well before they were even born. Thank God we have them to explain what we could never have figured out on our own.😏
@@MrThermostatic that's a slightly silly argument, if your point was valid then no one that wasn't contemporary to the time that any piece of music/poetry/movies/books were written should or be qualified to critic, comment, understand.
Unless the author releases information on why a phrase or word was used and how context is used, then all we have is our own opinion. Some people who are older or were closer to the source may offer a more unique opinion than the average joe, but it's no more important than the opinion from a 20 odd Yr old who has found the magic for the first time.
If you feel that this vlog is inaccurate or you have a different perspective then you are free to upload it for public scrutiny.
Peace 🖖
Knocked me off my feet nearly fifty years ago, still moves me to bits today… more people who I’ve lost and loved swirl in as the years go by and I rehear this brilliant song♥️
Beautiful analysis. This song grabbed me by the throat in 1975 and never let go. So gorgeous and so eternally mysterious.
I would love to see you dissect Visions of Johanna like this! That song is truly astonishing.
PLEASE DO THIS Polyphonic!
Another twin flame song. I made comments above on this under the head comment "do you think the shoelaces is related to ...." Visions is an absolute masterpiece.
A lot of times we leave our divine other half in heaven to come here and do a mission. Great spiritual beings do and that is why they are chaste or celibate. Heae profound game changers for society like Dylan and Garcia etc they are very attuned to and live for their muse and believe me it sucks when she doesn't appear but is somethings that will be fixed and forgotten with a little time and a lot of merit when full union comes. Visions is a masterpiece. So is forever young. So is queen Jane and idiot wind and fucking everything Dylan ever did.
I agree 100% I want to see a 1966 song in detail
I think am the only person alive other than Dylan who knows what the last verse of that song means , skeleton keys in the rain and all that. I'd rather people didn't attempt to figure out what it could mean but rather wait until they absolutely know what it means to make a statement on it. Too many times now people say all kinds of things about dead songs and that's great but there is an actual truth to the lines of the song that is beyond interpretation. Am afraid the deep true meanings can be lost in the oceans of ideas about what they mean.
The second verse is about a murder.
"She was soon to be divorced. I helped her out of a jam... But I used a little too much force."
He killed her husband. That's why they had to leave town, split up and abandon the car "on that dark sad night". They were in love but now they couldn't stay together. This is the tension in their (his) life. He spent his life on the run. (Working in the north woods, Drifting down to New Orleans..) He tried to see her now and then when he could, but knew it couldn't be for long "the past was close behind". She's the only one who knows his biggest secret, wants to be with her, but can't.
What a genius Bob is.
Interesting take, but not enough evidence, I think. There are lots of ways to use too much force that don't even mean physical force and drive you apart. You should also check out some of the alternative versions of this verse which don't even mention divorce/force.
The song is about 2 women. It's haunted me ever since I first heard it. I saw Bob Dylan on the tour after Rolling Thunder. He barely spoke during the set but made a point of saying this song was about loving 2 women at the same time.
Very interesting. Hmmm...
Well... Now you just gave me an entirely new perspective to listen "Tangled Up In Blue"...
This Song could be about 7 Women. Or 1 Woman. Dylan leaves it up to You to Decide. There is No Mention of a Name or Names.
That is exactly as it sounds. Even more so on some of the alternative versions. I don't always believe what Bob says about his songs (as he says contradictory things), but it does fit.
I would love to see this kind of analysis of Lily, Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts.
Yes so would I. THAT is truly one of the greatest songs ever written. Seventeen verses a one act play like "El Paso" by Marty Robbins
Yes, please.
One of the best stories in a song
agreed. this guy talks about stuff that never came close to occurring to me after 30 years of listening
I’m on a quest! For 25 years of my life I’ve been intrigued by this song. I’m doing a deep dive now and readdressing old assumptions.
One of the greatest songs of all time! I heard it once and fell in love.
Wow. What a deep adventure into a song and album that has meant so much to me since I was 16 and hitchhiking the States. On long, empty hours of car free or ride free road, I sang "Blood on the Tracks:" in order. How a kid that age could be so wrapped up in a work of such longing and yearning has me shaking my head, at 60, that somewhere I had an old soul inside that was infused with the same feelings. There are works of this era--The Who's "Quadrophenia"--and before--"Music From the Big Pink" that have stayed so close to my essence in the same manner.
"She lit a burner on the stove and offered me a pipe
"I thought you'd never say hello, " she said
"You look like the silent type"
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burning coal
Pouring off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue"
💙
That verse gives me chills every time.
Definitely the climax of the song.
Is this cristi Logan from Oklahoma City because if it is this is Patty russell
On of the most important songs of muy entire life. It's been great to relive its details. I highly appreciate this video. Thanks.
Everyone's writing about what you should do next but I just wanna say thank you so much. No words can explain how much this song means to me. It's literally a part of me. And although I've listened to it hundreds of times I still learned something new from this video. You're amazing. Keep doing such great work.
Great 👍Bob love 💘 all your music your good fan lan hunter fae motherwell Scotland ye ha
This whole channel is pure gold! I'd really really love to see you decipher "It's all right Ma (I'm only bleeding)" by Dylan, like soooo much!
Honestly, these video profiles of amazing songs are why I keep coming back to this channel. It might soon be my favourite on youtube. Well done!
Just like Einstein could think in ways that no other scientist could, Dylan can write poetry and tell a story like no other songwriter can.
This song brings so many images to my mind, just as you mentioned. It's like being immersed in a really good book. Dylan is a true master. Really good video!
He’s really a genius for sure. Not only for his words but the unlikely way that he works them in to the time signature, they don’t seem to fit initially but they do and are like a glove.
And just two chords that morph into four. Hurries along, like that person that tells you their life story at the bus stop
I'd love to hear this for every other track on Blood on the Tracks
So would I, to be honest.
Dylandude89 especially simple twist of fate
I'll second that
Dylandude89 That would do my #+*@&*# head in , still it takes all sorts I suppose
agreed
Excellent summing up of Dylan's masterpiece! Thanks for posting this.
You could earn a PhD with an analysis and review like this of songs. Excellent work on a legendary song.
Bob always smiles when people interpret his songs, as only he knew what was in his mind when the melody came and he put pen to paper as the lyrics began to almost magically appear in his thoughts.
The whiteness of the whale represents man's search for ... What's that smell? Better put on my waders; the BS is getting deep.
@@80cardcolumn "I don't know what the big deal is.I had a lot of bills to pay so I just hacked it out."Herman Melville responds to the great reviews
and the deep meanings some have found in Moby Dick.
Wow, you might be legit one of the best channels out there.
Analyzing Dylan is a very personal thing to the listener. Everybody gets something different from it. Often wildly different! That's what makes his music so damn good.
Like the review. In addition, I remember somewhere Dylan said the the song was an attempt to write a song as if it was a cubist painting. Hence the emphasis on "points of view" So it has multiple times and multiple perspectives. Its about his relationship journeys, not just one. As he also said of the song. "It took me two years to write and ten years to live" Paul
Man, this channel is easily one of the best
good lord this is the greatest thing ever
I agree, obviously most have never had a Love So Deep, A Love that was always there, but being too into yourself to see something so Real.
These are incredible videos. I truly appreciate the care you take in making these!
Usually I pass on posts like this. Glad I didn't. Yours was interesting, informative and a good walk down memory lane. Thanks for your take on one of my favorite songs ever
Hey man, love the video. I’m 32 now, been obsessed with Dylan since I was around 15 or 16. I felt the passion you have for the music come through. And I totally get what you mean about how his songs remind you of memories you haven’t experienced. Sometimes the way he sings a line makes me feel like he’s singing about the exact situation I’m remembering or experiencing.. especially when I was a teenager. Absolutely love Dylan and feel sorry for people that don’t get it.
I have chills running up and down my body.
What a journey Bob Dylan takes us on.
I have had similar life experiences but nothing as intense as the song talk's about.
I have turned a couple of people on too this song and they always don't know how to feel because it is such a sad and incredible journey it takes you on.
Remain in light 🌍
If you think about it love is kind of like the song. The memories of times with them, seeing them in the present, and a filter you want with them. Brilliant!
One of my favorites, thanks for exploring this.
Jacob Dylan talked about this album and summed it up by saying that it was essentially a record of his parents conversations and arguments they had at home...bob has always maintained that it was about nobody in particular, but that was always bobs M.O.
All his songs were pure poetry. Some of the phrases are just devastating. Even his rhymes alone sounds like put so much into it. Not just singing whatever.
13th century Italian poet. I always thought it was Francesco Petrarca. Spending half his life writing poems about a woman he only saw one time in a church. the encounter made him quit being a priest and idolized her image and memory. They never spoke to eachother or met again. After his death his work became a model for young poetry students throughout Europe and was copied through the centuries those days.The book of poems then would be "Rerum vulgarium fragmenta"
Wow. I stopped my car while traveling once just to hear this song. Keep on keepin’ on.
dude, you should have millions of subscribers
Agreed... Fuckin' UA-cam, should put him in all recomendations
CONOR He will have one day give it a little time
CONOR for video to subscriber ratio he is doing super well, back when he had to videos he had like 50k subs and they keep coming
He will soon!
he deserves the world
I wish you'd looked at the lumberjack verse, my favorite line in all music is "and one day the axe just fell"
In one of the live versions he sings "one day it all just went to Hell" I've always liked that
@@gunsite45 Are you sure that wasn't a mondegreen?
Cook, not lumberjack 😉. Also version in Santa Fe working in an old hotel, and one where he's staying in the woods not working. I've heard most of the variants in life or on record, but the ultimate source is Dylanchords, who is a real anorak.
Brilliantly thought through and finely written/spoken....I was just a kid back then, but this song kicked my soul. Thanks for covering it!
"... one of the greatest works of art of the modern age."
I could not agree more. The best of his extensive catalog.
Every one of them words rang true and glowed like...etc. That’s Bob to me. From bertie
Literally my fav song of all time heard it back in like 2008 in my teens and turned me onto all the music i like now
Was the "literally" intended? A punning opening? Eire, there is nothing wrong with a little precociousness. I imbibed myself, back in the day. Makes some people nervous but you be you.
I didn't think I could love this song more and you just gave me more. Thank you so much
Interesting take on a masterpiece. Thanks , keep up the good work.
This song gives me the chills. I absolutely love it.
The whole album is a masterpiece: Simple Twist of Fate, Shelter from the Storm, Idiot Wind...it just goes on. Not a weak note to be found anywhere--which isn't the case with his earlier classics.
Is there a specific album, or albums, where you find that to be the case? Just curious.
Just simply incredible and incomprehensible at the same time. Only Dylan and muster up such a masterpiece!
Enjoyed this. Loved Mr. Dylan all my life. Don’t plan to change anytime soon.
So many Dylan songs could be called the”best” so many masterpieces.
His masterpiece Don’t worry mama I’m only bleeding.
@@soulvaccination8679 I love the Dylan classic "don't worry mama I'm only bleeding"
@@soulvaccination8679 both are legendary songs!
@@jacksonharrison6871 :)
I’ve always thought the line “I must admit, I felt a little uneasy when she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe” could be taken literally, as well. It could be taken as being uncomfortable that this woman, whom he isn’t certain of, helping him do something that might seem insignificant but is actually very personal. Or it could be taken as him worrying about appearing either weak or in need, which he is but doesn’t want to show.
Sneaking a peek at cleavage!
I think it's about him being uncomfortable giving up his self reliance . Letting someone into his heart and trusting her to take care of him is hard to do when you never let anyone in.
I always understood it as a euphemism for fellatio
I am not religious, but I think of that line as some sort of action akin to "washing of the feet". A sort of Christ-like act. And he was so uneasy that she would be willing to do that for him. Maybe he felt himself unworthy of that act.
@@willmccullough3464 Bingo. Dylan could be playful and funny, even in such a profound serious work. I believe you are closer to the true intent than the other overthunk theories here. And since she was working in a topless place, it may well be safe to say that a bit more than cleavage was exposed, that he recognized her in the lights and she had not quite placed him yet, and you can guess the rest . . . that line was made to be taken literally, not as Jung may have seen it, says I.
Love this so much. Great work. What a gift to see this. Thank you
I come back to this video from time to time to remind myself how good this song is. Good work there, guys.
This is very well done. I totally agree with your assessment that this is not just a song but an expansive work of art. One of my favorite songs of all time. There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air. One of Dylan's best lines.
I was very happy -- you might say "validated" when Dylan got the prize for literature. In 1968 I was a Senior at UC Berkeley studying English Literature. My Senior paper was on the Blond on Blond album. I wish I still had it. I wonder if it might have been the first (certainly among the first) academic paper to focus on Dylan as a poet.
One of my favourite songs. I kind of get blown away several minutes in when these lyrics just keep coming out in a stream of consciousness which are so clever....Bravo Bob Dylan !!!
wow, thank you for your examination. Really wonderful insights on your part.
I was sent to the guidance counselor when I put down Blood On the Tracks as my favorite album and Tangled up in Blue as my favorite song during my 11th grade english class. Saying Memphis was a strange place to grow up in would be an understatement.
This has always been one of my favorite songs, love the imagery in the lyrics.
And this music... What a rythm!
This was incredible, great video, thanks for this
Love this! Thank you for doing it.
It's one of the greatest songs ever written in all of the centuries in any language. It will, I'm sure , out last all of us. That's what great works of art do.
A brilliant study of my favourite song of all time. Thank you.
These segments are awesome! Thank you!!
Wow! Great job deciphering the lyrics to this incredible Dylan classic. I was a bit too overwhelmed to approach it, myself. I love this song and you have given me a new way to look at this work of art. It's obvious that you have given it a thoughtful approach. An interlude of conscientious elaboration I hadn't even imagined it contained. Dante too! I love Bob Dylan and I'm subscribing...
He's of the few from his era not destroyed by drugs and mental anguish.
He has controlled his own path.
that's what true geniuses do,, the others are just clever forgeries-true we have been fooled but it's better to burn out than fade away? No.Lennon said Young was wrong -and he was right - but he was murdered -in the middle of healing,,
I definitely think Dylan has struggled mentally and with anguish. Look at his "Christian period"...that was a mess.
@@bent6293 dylan went thru many transitions, you cant say what is a mess, its all a process he had to go thru, An outsider can never know what is on the inside of a person, only your interpretation
oh boy, another know it all.
I liked Bob's christian period. Slow Train being one of my favorite Dylan albums. The music he wrote and performed was inspiring. The accompanying live cds were pretty good too.This was the only time I saw him live. There was a top notch band backing him up but he was the only guy on stage. Bob was very popular then. The place was packed. The audience was excited! You'd have thought the Beatles or Elvis was performing.
I've loved BOTT since the first time I heard it. It's a masterpiece. I always had it on in my car. My son thought it was "The Best of Bob Dylan." He learned there was a lot more!
Thank you for your untangling of Tangled Up in Blue. Wonderful.
I know this was posted slightly over 2 years ago but I just discovered it and I must say WELL DONE.
Dylan has been very clear about this song on numerous occasions. It's neither autobiographical nor a coherent story. It's word painting, directly inspired by his study of actual painting. Narrative impressionism might be a useful term. There's nothing to decode, just let it flow past your ears.
I agree. There may be a structure simply because most compositions are built on patterns. Any artist can be clever with symbolism. Word painting is much more attractive to me because it embodies art itself. it communicates ideas on a different level. Painting a picture with symbols to me is the pinnacle of art forms.
He lies.
@@roaring_angels Yeah he do.
He's full of it. His deteiorating marriage is all over the album. He never wanted to admit to anything. "Tanglesd Up in* Blue*, that title has nohimg to do with deep blues and karmic ensnarement over a woman -right.-Yes he fleshes out his inner feelings with surrealstic impressionism but don't think for one momnt, his inner life does not inform his music. The agony of "You're a bigGirl Now" is incredible as is the rage of "Idiot Wind".. Journey Through White Heat from Street Legal written after his divorce is the same, an extraordinarily powerful impressionistic look at the aftermath. It has incrediblty specific references to the divorce itself..
We truly are entering a new era of the world. For people my age, (born around 1980) the lyrics about Montegue st. and dealing in slaves were an obvious reference to a prior life, as the woman who tied his shoes was an old soul who had once known him, and handed him this book. For us, this music was a half-forgotten leftover from our parent's collection that we stumbled upon, or heard at a record store and started crying for no reason.
Soon will come the days when this kind of song will no longer be understood at all. This good effort to analyze it comes from a place of blinded instinct. This reviewer values this song and recognizes the valuable patrimony to culture, but he cannot ever be inside the song in a way that I am thankful I and those I have lived with have been able to.
Truly, this wins the award for Most Millennial Comment Ever. Not only does this make no sense whatsoever, you manage to make it all about you.
Well done, award winner!!!
@@DC-js4gk This makes no sense to you and all you perceive is self absorption? I rest my case regarding the "new era of the world." To those with ears, let them hear.
Thanks for pointing out the possibilities and aspects of Dylan's genius, particularly in this song. One of my favorites, both song and album. Now I have concrete reasons why.
And let's not forget Bob's lyrical nod/acknowledgement to/of the Beatles..'from me to you' and 'like a bird that flew'...cunning wordsmith he was....brilliant.
Dylan's genius is/was his ability to turn the personal into the universal, the subjective into the objective.
When I listen to tangled up in blue, I hear and see the great love stories of MY life, not his. And that is what
a great song writer does.
One must not forget, back in those days of 2 tape there was no grid no do over. This track has imperfections a plenty. Those minute imperfections actually enhance the overall life of the track. It's far from perfect by today's standard. And that dear fellow audiophiles IS what makes it perfect. Clarence White working the 12 string on the left channel has many phopahs. But that's what makes it wonderful. It gives it life. The fact that it speeds up throughout the track because of the live performance, gives it subtle nuances you will not find in today's compressed and gridded music. Just my .02
Excellent video.
Probably his best album to date. A measuring stick for any serious written music out there.
"Dylan does an incredible job of putting us in the narrator shoes and sometimes at least to me, the lyrics of the song seem to conjure crystal clear memories of experiences that I never even had" Wonderfully stated @polyphonic
I would say that the 5th/6th verse would refer to the 'bohemian' lifestyle fallen apart, the group, including his love, their way of living is changing, the only thing he can do is to "keep on moving on".
Would 100%agree that it's one of the best, a work of art.
Peace 🖖
Keep on keeping on. Jesus
This was fantastic! So many videos I'd love to see from you, I'm sure you get this all the time haha!
- Supertramp - Studio mastery
- Rage Against The Machine - Music and Politics
- Django Reinhart - Who needs 5 fingers?
- Allman Brothers - Bringing the South to the World
- Miles Davis (Kind of Blue) - A Jazz album for the masses
- Prince - I'll record that myself, thank you very much
- Sublime / Bob Marley - Genre Kings
- The War on Drugs - Creating a feeling
:)
Great ideas!!
Supertramp
Rage is kids music. Be serious.
Blessed to have seen Bob play this song live. Great breakdown. Great art can be reinterpreted in a myriad of ways.
Great great analysis of a song so personal yet universal. Thank you.
I’ve listened to this album for 25 years. I’ve performed TUIB a hundred times and heard it a thousand. And until a few minutes ago, I thought it was “split up on the docks that night.”
And me!
Me too
And me
Dylan has been my songwriting hero since I was 13 years old. Although I'll never achieve a fraction of his genius, I finally gathered enough bravery to put together a few songs of my own: search bandcamp for "rainbow danger club" "treehouse empire"
Awesome!
Good job, gave a lot more meaning to this great song. Thanks
Now you did it, I'm back to collecting LPs again. Thanks, I needed that to help ground myself. Wayne
I've always thought that "I muttered something underneath my breath..." was an underconfident declaration of love.
Blood On The Tracks was a record about his marriage dissolving, even Jakob Dylan said I can't really listen to that record because it's about my parents divorcing. So I'm sure a big part of Tangled is about that. I always assumed that the "slaves" he referred to was about a pimp/prostitute relationship. The drug angle seems more likely tho'. They finally released all of those outtakes of Blood On The Tracks, I highly recommend it.
Apparently it was a reference to Arthur Rimbaud, who was somehow involved in that.
Lol.....sorry, I didn't know it was going to be mentioned in the video!
I think there is no doubt that BOTT is a result this dissolution, but it is also so much more. Sara's footprints are all over this album, but that doesn't mean its about her. Like you say, the outtakes are important, as are the various live versions, which are likewise often very different from the canonical takes.
Brilliant analysis of a song I have loved for over 40 years!!
well, one of his many so great poems, I never got tired listneing at it, it's so damned profound