When the surrealism got silly
really real
good Dylan sounded singing the song with Happy Traum on Greatest Hits
volume 2. Perhaps I was just carried away by the remastering, but I
thought I could sneak it past my Dylan hating wife. No such luck.
I was bugged, however by the way the lyrics went in the
Dylan /Happy Traum version. I like the way it opens, with:
Clouds so swift an' rain fallin' in
Gonna see a movie called "Gunga Din"
But by the third verse, the song has deteriorated into silliness:
Buy me some rings an' a gun that sings
A flute that toots an' a bee that stings
A sky that cries an' a bird that flies
A fish that walks an' a dog that talks
Dylan can get away with a line or two like this in Peggy Day, but a
whole four line verse of it seems like overkill, kind of a fey-Basement
Tapes attempt.
The real Basement Tapes variation is much more sardonic. I love that line:
Get your hat, feed the cat
You ain't goin' nowhere
And while there's no denying that the surrealism is silly in this
version, it's a heavier kind of silliness:
Now, look here, you pile of money
You best go there to find a pal
I see out beatin' down your hammer
You ain't no head lettuce
Feed that buzzard
Lay him on the rug
You ain't goin' nowhere
I think I will replace the Dylan/Happy Traum version with this version.
If my Dylan-hating wife is going to be bugged by the vocals, I might has
well use the heavy lyric version.
Bound for Story
at will. You really have stepless versions here. Recombinant
surrealism. It's great for others to add onto and a lot of fun to sing.
I consider it to be one of Bob's best sing-alongs.
Speaking of surreal, I think in this age of ambiguity it serves a valid
purpose in song and literature by helping cut through the ambiguity, or
rather using it cleverly so as to avoid it or maybe even exploit it. A
side effect is that some fans will actually try to hunt down meanings,
but that's Ok; at least they're listening.
You know what is surreal? Traveling hours through corn fields, turning
the bend and finding a deep water international harbor with access to
the world smack dab in the middle of America. Yeah, Duluth, and that
monumental high school up there in a place called Hibbing. Now that's
surreal. Such things could cause quite an imagination to develop in
young writers...
Bound for Story
Went back and played both versions after I posted my previous remarks
and offer these comments:
You're right, it does degenerate into silliness, but I think a song
like that is meant to. Still, it doesn't come close to the silliness I
heard in that bootleg duet I heard Bob do with Allen Ginsberg, See You
Later Allen Ginsberg.
Nor does it sound like dropped lines. Many bands, including the BOTT
Live band, can't seem to either get the lines straight or, if they do,
inject them with the requisite silliness to make the song fun. Sounds
bungled rather than silly.
My sweetheart adores Bob's crooning from the Nashville Skyline period.
The Greatest Hits Vol. 2 version is a lot closer to that sound than the
other version, hence she is more responsive to that version, regardless
of the lyrics. So if I were picking a version based on the reaction of
the female in my life, it would have to be the heavier lyric version.
Interestingly, the Byrds version doesn't do anything for her at all.
Roger's voice is just a bit too high to get her going. She enjoys the
lyrics in all cases, but there is something about Bob's croon style
that really makes her happy.
As Archie Shepp teaches in music theory, there is something about the
sound of the tenor sax that turns girls on because it sounds like the
calling of the virile male voice. I think Bob may have hit those same
notes during his Nashville days and hasn't returned to them until Love
and Theft.
Love and Theft? That's right. She likes Love and Theft too. Instead of
sounding like a crooning suitor, Bob sounds like a wise old uncle. Or a
tenor sax. Both make my girl happy and drive her into my arms.
Frankly, I don't know why Bob abandoned that crooning style. I love the
way he did Spanish Is A Loving Tongue. Well, I love all his songs, but
I love my woman too.
Sorry to hear about your Dylan-hating wife. Maybe you can play her The
Band?
really real
>
> Sorry to hear about your Dylan-hating wife. Maybe you can play her The
> Band?
She is a big fan of the Band.
Sorry to hear about your Byrds-hating wife. Has she ever heard the
McGuinn version of You Ain't Going Nowhere on the Vision Shared album,
where McGuiin says, "pick up your tent, Dylan, you ain't going nowhere?"
That version is very accessible.
>
Ken Shain
Lisa doesn't hate anything, truly, really real. ANYTHING. She is one of
God's sweethearts on this world, sent by the maker himself to remind us
of what we could be if we only open our hearts. Softened the callous
that was building up on my heart with her sweet and loving ways.
But I'm sorry if I gave you that impression. It's just that she doesn't
respond to the vocal range and harmonies of The Byrds; too high. Or as
she'd say but didn't: Too alto-ish.
She likes to feel the music reverberate her body and soul. Bass and
tenor. Kind of like a charismatic. Her uncle got her The Band (you
know, the second album) years ago and it became something of a genre
standard for her, as it had been with me. But she also likes music as
disparate as Live, Lenny Kravitz and, would you believe, Yanni.
In any case, I love The Byrds, even though I found them after Bob, and
will look for the Vision Shared version. For me, its good listening
music; for her it's more of a background sound. But hate? We don't use
that word around here, unless we talk about her arthritis.
I would love to take her to see Bob one of these days, but we missed
our chance this year; we forewent (is that a word?) his show in Iowa
hoping he would play somewhere in MN during his tour hiatus. So far,
not.
Maybe he'll do something here after he gets back from Europe...
One can only pray.
really real
> She likes to feel the music reverberate her body and soul. Bass and
> tenor. Kind of like a charismatic. Her uncle got her The Band (you
> know, the second album) years ago and it became something of a genre
> standard for her, as it had been with me. But she also likes music as
> disparate as Live, Lenny Kravitz and, would you believe, Yanni.
>
> In any case, I love The Byrds, even though I found them after Bob, and
> will look for the Vision Shared version. For me, its good listening
> music; for her it's more of a background sound. But hate? We don't use
> that word around here, unless we talk about her arthritis.
Sorry to hear about her arthritis, because health problems put
everything into perspective, but if I could be allowed to be frivolous
again, I think it is healthy to hate bad music. I'm not sure I've ever
heard Yanni but I love to hate the idea of Yanni. Ditto for Enya.
I remember the good old days of 50s radio when we loved rock 'n' roll
and hated the shlock that came before. True, now we're rediscovering how
great that shlock was, but still, it's nice to hate bad things.