BOTT - a pain-filled album?
Ed Nash
Reading a reading a recent post about break-ups and Bob, and listening to
"If You See Her, Say Hello" and so on, I got to thinking again about the
popular interpretation of BOTT. This all comes from that Dylan quote where
he says "I can't relate to that [people enjoyinh BOTT], enjoying that kind
of pain". And whether or not it's all about his wife or whatever, there is
a pretty common concensus that it's an album filled with pain and misery.
Well...
Tangled - OK, so there's a lot about break-ups, sadness etc, but the whole
things so uplifting, and in the end you know the guy's gonna "keep on
keeping on". It never makes me sad.
Simple Twist of Fate; You're a Big Girl Now; Idiot Wind - Fair enough.
Painful, sadm angry. I've no argument with these ones.
[Not 100% sure about the order from here, so don't get cross if I get it a
bit wrong!]
You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome Whe You Go - Although the title shows it's got
sadness in it, the style of the song and most of the lyrics - "You might be
spoiling me, too much love" and so on - give me the impression of someone
who's basically happy, and that the girl's only going away temporarily
anyway (IMO).
Meet Me In The Morning - What a scream. Where is Wabasha anyway? I can't
call this a sad song, try as I might. Maybe he's trying to convince the
girl and maybe she's proving hard to convince, but he doesn't seem too
worried about it. And out-running the hound-dog was probably quite a laugh.
Lily Rosemary - Not really part of the rest of the album, so far as I can
see. Cool song, though. If this expresses Dylan's sadness he's got one
hell of an odd way of expressing it.
If You See Her, Say Hello; Shelter From The Storm - Again, I'll give you
these no problem.
Buckets of Rain - Like You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome, optimistic despite
problems. I always find it very uplifting. I was in a similar situation
not long ago, where a girl was making me crazy and I was thinking about her
all the time, but couldn't have her. But it was a good feeling. Not as
good as being with her for the last three years though.
So that's my view. 5 v 5. So how come everyone always thinks of it as such
a sad album? Any thoughts?
P.S. The above is of course ALL just MHO and so on.
Jokerman71
contain elements of hope, but all ten of them exhibit some varying degree of
sadness.
"Lily" is probably the most cheerful and
you've got people dying right and left at the end ... you get my point.
Ricky
Ed Nash
sweetm...@my-deja.com
> Tangled - OK, so there's a lot about break-ups, sadness etc, but the
> whole
> things so uplifting, and in the end you know the guy's gonna "keep on
> keeping on". It never makes me sad.
This song has especially taken on the vibe you're talking about in
recent years. And, it comes across as "uplifting" to many Dylan fans
because, well, it's a good song, no, a great song, and it's great Bob.
I don't need much more to uplift me than that.
> You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome Whe You Go - Although the title shows
> it's got
> sadness in it, the style of the song and most of the lyrics - "You
> might be
> spoiling me, too much love" and so on - give me the impression of
> someone
> who's basically happy, and that the girl's only going away temporarily
> anyway (IMO).
Interesting thought. I've always thought that in this song, he's kind
of saying "yeah, we were a thing, it was fun, it's not the end of the
world that we split, but I like you enough that I'll feel a little sad
when you take off."
> Where is Wabasha anyway?
Minnesota, I think. Could be wrong. The movie "Grumpy Old Men" with
Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau took place in Wabasha (although the
reference in the song is to a street name, I think)
--
"And your feet can only walk
down two kinds of roads..."
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Chris Lee
>
>Minnesota, I think. Could be wrong. The movie "Grumpy Old Men" with
>Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau took place in Wabasha (although the
>reference in the song is to a street name, I think)
Yes, "Meet me in the morning/56th and Wabasha"
I remember reading somewhere that there are streets named "Wabasha" in St. Paul
and Chicago. There isn't a 56th anywhere near Wabasha in Chicago. There isn't
near Wabasha in St. Paul either, but it does cross both 5th and 6th Streets. So
maybe Bob was singing "5th or 6th and Wabasha" and it just happens to sound
like "56th".
SOMEONE has to think about things like this!
Christopher L.
"I love mankind, it's people I can't stand"
-Linus Van Pelt
"If you don't underestimate me, I won't underestimate you"
-Bob Dylan
http://members.aol.com/ezclee4050/spareroom/home.htm
Why wait for spring? Do it now!