Bob Dylan - Desire

[Vennie Fireman]

JoeyWhat a horrible person to set up as a hero. Mine is certainly not an original criticism on this score, at the time the album was released music critic Dave Marsh noted it in his Rolling Stone review ( -album-reviews/desire-255500/):

Michael H. Little at The Vinyl District, who I genuinely regard as the greatest music critic in the known universe, was even more scathing (see his entire review of the song at -droppings-bob-dylan-joey/):

Riding on a lusty piano figure, Dylan delivers an almost Kipling-esque rip roaring tale of romance and adventure, loaded with juicy rhymes, and climaxing in a delicious declaration of love and desire.

In my year as a language assistant at a French college, I had to transcribe the lyrics to this song for use as teaching material (these days you can get them on the internet in two seconds). It took all afternoon to decipher Bob's mumbles and I must have listened to it a hundred times. I'm not sure it's my favourite Dylan song, but it's the one that's nailed into my brain.

Let me whisper this very quietly. I have never much liked Bob Dylan or understood why he provokes such slavish devotion. But then a friend gave me a cassette tape, mixed to change my mind. And I heard Hurricane, his song (co-written with Jacques Levy) about the imprisonment of Rubin "Hurricane" Carter, found guilty of murder in a hugely controversial case. It's a perfect piece of narrative, powered by its fierce lyrics and that wonderful, haunting mixture of guitar and violin. I got him at last.

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