I got interested in a story about the movie Easy Rider, and thought it might be of interest because of Peter Fonda's recent death, plus the 50th anniversary of the film this year. Background: The soundtrack of Easy Rider featured 10 songs. The star and script writer, Peter Fonda, had initially intended to use Bob Dylan's song "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" in the film, but after failing to license the track [Dylan refused to grant it], Fonda asked Roger McGuinn of the Byrds to record a cover version of the song instead. Fonda also wanted Dylan to write the film's theme song, but after he declined, Fonda asked McGuinn. Long story short, Bob Dylan wrote most of the lyrics of the Ballad of Easy Rider, but strongly objected to being credited in the film in any way. Peter Fonda's version of the story is about 5 minutes long, in the middle of a 12 minute video. Click HERE to skip to the correct spot (5:51) if interested. Ballad of Easy Rider McGuinn's version of, It's Alright, Ma (I'm only Bleeding)
Maybe this song belongs in the country music thread, but it has a connection to Bob Dylan. The lyrics were 25+ years in the making. . The chorus of the song Wagon Wheel. was written by Bob Dylan in 1973, but he never finished the song or recorded it. Critter Fuqua [a person] picked up a bootleg copy of a Dylan practice session of Wagon Wheel, then titled “Rock Me Mama,” when Fuqua was in the 9th grade. Fuqua later became a member of the band Old Crow Medicine Show (OCMS), let bandmate Ketch Secor listen to it, and Secor wrote the verses. OCMS recorded it, certified Platinum in 2013. . Darius Rucker won the Grammy Award for Best Country Solo Performance (2014) for his version of Wagon Wheel. Grand Old Opry performance of Wagon Wheel, 2012.. Ketch Secor is lead singer. Critter Fuqua is second from the right on banjo. Bob Dylan's practice session. Lyrics included in the comments on Youtube, but not guaranteed accurate.
Queen Jane Approximately, 1965 Reminiscent of..Like a Rolling Stone "Similar to other Dylan songs of this period, 'Queen Jane Approximately' has the singer criticizing the subject of the song, warning her of an imminent fall from grace." Lyrics When your mother sends back all your invitations And your father, to your sister, he explains That you're tired of yourself and all of your creations Won't you come see me, Queen Jane Now, when all of the flower ladies want back what they have lent you And the smell of their roses does not remain And all of your children start to resent you Won't you come see me, Queen Jane Now, when all the clowns that you have commissioned Have died in battle or in vain And you're sick of all this repetition Won't you come see me, Queen Jane When all of your advisers heave their plastic At your feet to convince you of your pain Trying to prove that your conclusions should be more drastic Won't you come see me, Queen Jane Now, when all of the bandits that you turn your other cheek to All lay down their bandannas and complain And you want somebody you don't have to speak to Ah, won't you come see me, Queen Jane
"When Bob Dylan became world-renowned in 1965 – with the eventful summer hit “Like a Rolling Stone” – he seemed mystifying, uncanny, unrivaled". "It wasn’t simply his appearance – his mazy hair, more far-out than the Beatles’; his gaunt visage, more dissolute than the Rolling Stones’ Brian Jones. It wasn’t his snarling inflection, which nettled some people’s nerves, nor that he’d written protest anthems that ratified youthful upheaval". "What set Bob Dylan apart from everybody was something more outlandish: It was how he wielded language. “Like a Rolling Stone” was surreal – in the sense of infusing the known with the unknown, certainly in ways never heard before in a popular song. Phantasmagoric images flew by as retribution and entered our parlance. Some heard it as arbitrary wording, nonsense. Others called it neologism, a new direction".
The neuroscience of Bob Dylan's genius "It took a few days to adjust to the quiet of Woodstock. Dylan was suddenly alone with nothing but an empty notebook. And there was no need to fill this notebook – Dylan had been relieved of his creative burden. But then, just when Dylan was most determined to stop creating music, he was overcome with a strange feeling. "It's a hard thing to describe," Dylan would later remember. "It's just this sense that you got something to say." What he felt was the itch of an imminent insight, the tickle of lyrics that needed to be written down. "I found myself writing this song, this story, this long piece of vomit," Dylan said. "I'd never written anything like that before and it suddenly came to me that this is what I should do." Vomit is the essential word here. Dylan was describing, with characteristic vividness, the uncontrollable rush of a creative insight. "I don't know where my songs come from," Dylan said. "It's like a ghost is writing a song." This was the thrilling discovery that saved Dylan's career: he could write vivid lines filled with possibility without knowing exactly what those possibilities were. He didn't need to know. He just needed to trust the ghost".
This book is bound to appeal to both children and adults, especially adults who are fans of Bob Dylan. “May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung, May you stay forever young… May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong May you stay forever young…”
Dylan's biographical rhetoric and the myth of the outlaw‐hero John J. Makay & Alberto Gonzalez Pages 165-180 | Published online: 01 Apr 2009 "This essay extends the literature on the rhetoric of music, specifically the rhetorical potential of Bob Dylan's songs. The paper focuses on Dylan's biographical songs, a genre largely overlooked by scholars. In the lyrics of these songs Dylan promotes the myth of the outlaw‐hero and offers powerful cultural criticism by appealing to three ethical traits: resistance to corrupt authority, integrity of the self, and simplicity. We contend that Dylan's use of the myth of the outlaw hero builds his own ethos as an outsider loyal to American cultural systems who successfully criticizes our culture. We show how Dylan's use of biographical rhetoric defines a social context with appeal to the vast audience attracted to his work".
His real name is Bob Zimmerman, and I'm not knocked out by any of his compositions. He's just another pot-smoking Hippy. Hal
Shelter From the Storm, from 1975’s ‘Blood on the Tracks’: ’Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm”
"Tomorrow is a Long Time" (Lyrics) "Tomorrow is a Long Time" is about longing for a loved one, pure and simple. Specifically, it's about Suze Rotolo. Rotolo is the woman seen walking with Dylan on the cover of his second studio album, The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan. She dated Dylan from 1961 to 1964 and was a formative influence on his life and art. SONG FACTS & VIDEO "Dylan fans often present this song as defense of the man's vocal talents. There are few, if any, other songs that show the tenderness and soft emotion that Dylan was capable of evoking when he chose to".