Monday Music: In the Summertime (Bob Dylan)

A Shot of Love, ironically is an album that is usually not recognized and one of Dylan's best, yet it has some of his most memorable recordings: "Every Grain of Sand," "Lenny Bruce,"The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar," and "In the Summertime."

 

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Monday Music: Political World (Bob Dylan)

 

 

Political World

by Bob Dylan 

We live in a political world
Where love don't have any place
We're living in times where men commit crimes
And crime don't have a face

We live in a political world
Icicles hangin' down
Wedding bells ring and angels sing
And clouds cover up the ground

We live in a political world
Wisdom is thrown into jail
It rots in a cell misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up the trail

We live in a political world
Where mercy walks the plank
Life is in mirrors, death disappears
Up the steps into the nearest bank

We live in a political world
Courage is a thing of the past
The houses are haunted, children aren't wanted
Your next day could be your last

We live in a political world
The one we can see and feel
But there's no one to check, it's all a stacked deck
We all know for sure that it's real

We live in a political world
The cities are a lonesome fear
Little by little, you turn in the middle
But you're never sure why you're here

We live in a political world
Under the microscope
You could travel anywhere and hang yourself there
You've always got more than enough rope

We live in a political world
Turning and a-thrashing about
As soon as you're awake, you're trained to take
What looks like the easy way out

We live in a political world
Where peace is not welcome at all
It's turned away from the door to wander some more
Or put up against the wall

We live in a political world
Every thing's hers and his
Climb into the flame and shout God's name
But you're not even sure what it is

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Monday Music: Percy's Song

Fairport Convention was a British folk/rock group that earned a reputation for recording unreleased Dylan songs. "Percy's Song is a fine example of their (and Dylan's) work. It follows a folk formula of using a beautiful melody to tell a tragic story. Dylan did not release the song himself until his 1985 Biograph. Here is Fairport Convention's beautiful version.

 

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Monday Music: Political World (Bob Dylan)

Oh Mercy was a terrific album by Bob Dylan, hailed by one critic as a sign that Dylan still has something to say in the 80s (1980s). Amazingly, he is still saying some things in his 80s. "Political World " is one track from the album.

 

Political World

by Bob Dylan 

We live in a political world
Where love don't have any place
We're living in times where men commit crimes
And crime don't have a face

We live in a political world
Icicles hangin' down
Wedding bells ring and angels sing
And clouds cover up the ground

We live in a political world
Wisdom is thrown into jail
It rots in a cell misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up the trail

We live in a political world
Where mercy walks the plank
Life is in mirrors, death disappears
Up the steps into the nearest bank

We live in a political world
Courage is a thing of the past
The houses are haunted, children aren't wanted
Your next day could be your last

We live in a political world
The one we can see and feel
But there's no one to check, it's all a stacked deck
We all know for sure that it's real

We live in a political world
The cities are a lonesome fear
Little by little, you turn in the middle
But you're never sure why you're here

We live in a political world
Under the microscope
You could travel anywhere and hang yourself there
You've always got more than enough rope

We live in a political world
Turning and a-thrashing about
As soon as you're awake, you're trained to take
What looks like the easy way out

We live in a political world
Where peace is not welcome at all
It's turned away from the door to wander some more
Or put up against the wall

We live in a political world
Everything's hers and his
Climb into the flame and shout God's name
But you're not even sure what it is

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Monday Music: Bob Dylan 80 - A Birthday Tribute

 A great concert with some of the best Dylan covers I have heard. 

"Billy Bob Productions and Spirited productions bring you the Montreal music scene's tribute to Rock 'n Roll Hall of fame, Nobel Prize and Grammy winning poet laureate, Bob Dylan on his 80th birthday." 

The producers indicate, "This video is not monetized and is meant solely as a tribute."

If you watch on the YouTube site, there is a list of songs and you can click on the one you want to hear if you don't have time for an entire concert. 

 

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...But It's Getting There

Monday Music: I Shall Be Released (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band)

"I Shall Be Released," from Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s new album, "Dirt Does Dylan,"

 

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Friday Funnies: Who would you like to be?

 

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Dylan the Welder

I wrote and posted the following poem back in 2013 when I heard about Bob Dylan's projects of turning scrap pieces of metal into iron gates. It struck me as the perfect metaphor. I am reposting it here upon learning of Dylan's most recent and largest welding project: 

Here's to the subterranean fires and the luminous eye of Bob Dylan!  ~ CK

 

Dylan the Welder*

Bob Dylan is a welder

Taking words

That have been scattered

Abused

And misused

And putting them through the fires

Of humanity’s forge.

It takes a hot pen

To bind mythic thoughts to modern ways;

And a fiery riff

To weld common chords to forsaken phrases,

Fashioning a memorable song of love or theft or ruin.

It takes a spark that was lit by subterranean fires

To ignite the passions

Of a restless generation

Until they gather on the streets

Or courthouse lawns

Or the National Mall

To sing of how many roads.

It takes the fire of human consciousness

Erupting without summons or awareness

To fashion songs that can

Shake a tambourine

Survey a watchtower

Foretell a hard rain

Or catch a slow train.

It takes old embers

To join hands with

Woody

Blind Willie

Hattie Carroll

And the sad-eyed lady.

It takes new fire

To speak to the hopes of a young woman

In a world that is spinning

Or the dreams of an old man

When shadows are falling.

Bob Dylan is a welder

Fashioning new gates

From worn-out words,

Burning old hopes

Onto new frames.

It takes ancient fire

To fashion timeless tales

Of joy and struggle,

And a luminous eye

To forge a song that is true.

                              ~ Charles Kinnaird

*The inspiration for this poem came from an online article telling about how Bob Dylan keeps welding supplies at his home in Malibu where he creates iron gates from scrap pieces of metal. Some of his welding work has been on display at London’s Halcyon Gallery.

(photos by John Shearer via Daily Mail)



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Monday Music: Hard Times (Bob Dylan)

As we celebrate Bob Dylan's birthday this month, here is one of my most delightful finds: Dylan's rendition of Stephen Foster's, "Hard Times," written in 1854. Bob performed this one at Willie Nelson's 60th birthday television special. He is accompanied by John Jackson (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass), Bucky Baxter (accordion) & Marty Stuart (mandolin).

 

 

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Of Empires and Old Men

 

   Russian military vehicles arrive in Belarus, near the border with Ukraine 

Jan. 29, 2022 (Russian Defense Ministry/AP)

      A convoy of U.S. Marine Corps arrives in Northern Iraq, March 2003. 

Credit: Andrew P. Roufs, USMC 

Russian President Vladimir Putin used fabricated lies to justify to the Russian people an invasion of Ukraine. Some twenty years ago, the Bush White House also used fabrications to justify to the American people the military invasion of Iraq. In the U.S., at least half the population could see through the lies, but we could not stop the invasion. It is as if the lies are always a mere formality preceding an empire’s use of military force.

 

Come you masters of war

You that build the big guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

 

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly

 

Someone posted the preceding Bob Dylan quote from his 1963 song, “Masters of War” on Facebook right after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Shortly afterward, someone else responded, saying that in a 2001 interview, Dylan claimed, “There’s no antiwar sentiment in that song, I’m not a pacifist. I don’t think I’ve ever been one. If you look closely at the song, it’s about what Eisenhower was saying about the dangers of the military-industrial complex in this country. I believe strongly in everyone’s right to defend themselves by every means necessary*.”

This 2001 quote is emblematic of our human nature, that as young men we see and decry the follies of war, then as old men, we capitulate to the necessity of war. Unfortunately, it is always the young men who are sent out by the old men to fight their wars.

It is the way of Empire to make a mess of things with weapons of war, whether it is the U.S in Iraq, or Russia in Ukraine. Empires destroy lives and communities in order to preserve their own power.

I remember watching on the nightly news back in August of 1968 as Soviet tanks rolled into Czechoslovakia. The world watched, helpless to intervene. I was just beginning my eighth-grade year in school. Those 1968 images, in addition to a prolonged war in Vietnam, colored my dark view of the modern world for many years. 

Putin seems to have expected to see that same sort of helplessness from onlooking nations today as the Kremlin saw at the height of the Cold War. Today, the free world hurts for Ukraine and many have rallied to her cause, inspired by a people who will not roll over to a bully, and a president who stands with his people rather than fleeing in exile.  

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* I was able to find the source of the Dylan quote. It is from a 2001 Robert Hilburn interview (Los Angeles Times). It was cited by Lee Marshall in his book, Bob Dylan: The Never Ending Star, (p. 263).  The quote was also cited in The political World of Bob Dylan: Freedom and Justice, Power and Sin, by Jeff Taylor and Chad Israelson.

*    *    *

Masters of War

By Bob Dylan

 

Come you masters of war

You that build the big guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

 

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly

 

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won

You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes

And I see through your brain

Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain

 

You fasten all the triggers

For the others to fire

Then you sit back and watch

When the death count gets higher

You hide in your mansion

While the young people's blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in the mud

                            

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

 

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
That even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

 

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good?
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could?
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

 

And I hope that you die
And your death will come soon
I'll follow your casket
By the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand over your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

 

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Monday Music: Bob Dylan's Birthday Celebrated from Ireland

Dylan has long had a strong fan base in Ireland and this is a lovely celebration. It includes poetry readings and folk-style acoustic covers of Dylan's songs.

 

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Monday Music: Ring them Bells (Bob Dylan)

 "Ring them Bells," from Bob Dylan's album, Oh Mercy.

 

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Monday Music: New Morning (Bob Dylan)

Celebrate a new morning with Bob Dylan's song that has been remastered with horns added. The horns give the song a more expansive sound. Who doesn't need a new morning and a new day from time to time?

 

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Monday Music: Hard Times (Dylan Covers Stephen Foster)

As I  searched for songs from Dylan performances to celebrated his 80th birthday this month, my most delightful find was his rendition of Stephen Foster's, "Hard Times," written in 1854. Bob performed this one at Willie Nelson's 60th birthday television special. He is accompanied by John Jackson (guitar), Tony Garnier (bass), Bucky Baxter (accordion) & Marty Stuart (mandolin).

 

 

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Dylan Duets: Celebrating Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday

Bob Dylan, Willie Nelson, and Tom Petty at Farm Aid, 1995

During the month of May, I've been celebrating Bob Dylan's 80th Birthday (May 24) by featuring videos of Bob as he is accompanied by another artist in a duet. If you missed any, or want to hear one again, here is the list:

With God on Our Side (with Joan Baez)

Crossroads (with Eric Clapton)

One Irish Rover (with Van Morrison)

The Times They Are a-Changin' (with a fan from the audience)

The Sound of Silence (with Paul Simon)

Abraham, Martin, and John (with Clydie King)

Pancho and Lefty (with Willie Nelson)

Dark Eyes (with Patti Smith)

One Too Many Mornings (with Johnny Cash)

Knockin' On Heaven's Door (with Tom Petty)

NATIONAL ARCHIVES/HULTON ARCHIVES/GETTY IMAGES

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Dylan Duets: Knockin' On Heaven's Door (with Tom Petty)

We're celebrating Bob Dylan's 80th birthday this month by highlighting a few duets. This one was the final number in the Hard to Handle concert film. Bob Dylan was backed by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers during their Australian tour in 1986.

 

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Dylan Duets: "One Too Many Mornings" (Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash)

A great song from Bob Dylan's Nashville recording sessions. Dylan's "One Too Many Mornings" is a natural for Johnny Cash in this duet by two American songwriting icons.

 

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Dylan Duets: "Dark Eyes" (Bob Dylan and Patti Smith)

Patti Smith joins Bob Dylan in a 1995 concert to perform "Dark Eyes." Years later, Patti Smith would go to Stockholm in 2016 to accept Dylan's Nobel Prize for him. 

 

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Dylan Duets: Pancho and Lefty (Willie Nelson & Bob Dylan)

 Continuing our feature of duets during Bob Dylan's birthday month

Bob Dylan & Willie Nelson  perform "Pancho And Lefty" (recorded April 28,1993 for Willie Nelson's birthday television special, The Big Six-0). The song, written by country music artist Townes Van Zandt, tells the story of a Mexican bandit named Pancho and a more enigmatic character, Lefty. The lyrics tell of Pancho's death, implying that he was betrayed by his associate Lefty who was paid off by the Mexican federales.

 

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