Bob Dylan and John Lennon Interview
This interview serves to show just how Bob Dylan was so nonchalant about so many things in his life. He is a little intoxicated and acts in an annoying manner. Even though Bob Dylan insists he did not make protest music for the young generation, his attitude alone shows how he felt a stronger connection to the unpredictable and rebellious younger crowd.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Album Interpretation: Summer of Love
Although it occurs after Dylan writes the album,
we believe many of the songs and lyrics in Bringing It All Back Home
coincide with the mentality of the youth at ‘Summer of Love’ in 1967. The
Summer of Love was
a social phenomenon that conformed San Fransisco into the center of the hippie
revolution, a “melting pot of music psychoactive drugs,
sexual freedom, creative expression, and politics”, all of which are subtext in
Dylan’s songs.
Ultimately, this album works to bridge the widening generational gap between the older and younger generations. Rather than side with a particular age group, Dylan sympathizes with adults and young adults because his lyrics express his own personal thoughts rather than conforming to the ideas of others. This peaceful attitude was desparately needed by a country that was struggling to work through a time of significant change.
Song Analysis: It's All Over Now Baby Blue
The song “It’s All
Over Now, Baby Blue” starts off very similar to “Love Minus Zero / No Limit”
yet instead of being an upbeat love song like the latter is a lamenting ballad.
With the first few lines talking about an imminent departure, “You must leave
now, take what you need, you think will last”, it almost directly opposes the
title of the album. While the Album talks of coming back home this song talks
of leaving comfort and home. It talks about leaving a relationship that the
couple had known to call comfort and a home and now what used to be comfort for
them is foreign and they, realizing its all over, must part ways and “leave
home”. While the sixties were known to bring hype about leaving home and
starting camp for a new life elsewhere, this song illuminates the downsides
that came with leaving home. Emphasis on the fact that there was a not so
positive aspect to leaving home at a young age, “Its All Over Now, Baby Blue”
shows how not all leaving the home was in excitement. Some of it was sad and
hard but thought of as inevitable. The live version performed in 1966 is in the
video below!
Friday, May 18, 2012
Analysis of Album
By listening to and examining Bob
Dylan’s Bringing It All Back Home, a
significant feature of the album was revealed to us. Unlike Dylan’s previous
albums which were rooted solely in the folk style, Bringing It All Back Home contains both folk and rock music. In
fact, the 7 songs on Side A of the record are of the electric style while the 4
others on Side B are more folk. Leading up to the release of Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan’s fan
base was largely comprised of folk listeners. That is why it was so risky of
Dylan to publish an album that’s style was so different from that of his
previous works. How would his audience react to the electric instruments and
rock lyrics? Even more shocking was the fact that these electric songs could
also be interpreted as protest music. The lyrics of the 7 Side A songs address
issues in American society that were very controversial in the 1960’s, issues
such as the Vietnam war and Civil Rights. Though Dylan declares to this day
that he is “Not a protest musician,” his songs do cast a critical light on
significant features of American history.
The
first song of the album, Subterranean Homesick Blues, is written in the “stream
of consciousness” style. The lyrics flow from Dylan without so much as a breath
between lines. The rhyme scheme and rhythm of the song are very catchy and
repetitive, making this song easy to listen and sing along to. This feature of
the song probably helped spread its message of political corruption. The
inability for the common man to rise above the wealthy, as well as America’s
dependence on conformity, are expressed through its lyrics. Subterranean
Homesick Blues is often considered a precursor to rap music due to its style,
sound, and content, and was a great stylistic leap for Bob Dylan.
She
Belongs To Me is the second song on Bringing
It All Back Home, and it has a more relaxed and bohemian tempo or style
than Subterranean Homesick Blues. There is even a harmonica solo, bringing back
traces of Dylan’s folk past. Rather than critique establishments, this song
comments on the constant needs of an artistic woman who looks to her lover for
creative inspiration. Many young people were turning to this type of a creative
or artistic lifestyle, and Dylan is expressing how superficial he believed it
to be. The girl in the song uses her lover to feed her creative energy, causing
him to wait on her hand and foot. She Belongs To Me is Dylan’s way of
critiquing the needy flower child individuals within American society, again
distancing himself from previous works. Love Minus Zero/No Limit is the fourth
song on the album, and it too is a type of love ballad that addresses the
inability of a man to please his lover. Both She Belongs To Me and this song
are meant to connect with listeners on an emotional level by assessing the
painful nature of love. Love Minus Zero/No Limit can be considered a protest
song against the harsh realities of love that is similar in style to She
Belongs To Me.
In
his third song, Maggie’s Farm, Dylan jumps back to an upbeat electric music
style. Maggie’s Farm has a catchy rhythm, rock guitar, and fast drumming, a
style that is in strict contrast with She Belongs to Me. This song not only
deals with Civil Rights, but is also a declaration or Dylan’s freedom from the
confines of folk music. Maggie’s Farm can be interpreted as the need for
African Americans to reject the limits imposed upon them by society. Many
African American’s have ancestors who worked as slaves on various plantations,
and Dylan uses Maggie’s Farm to promote the idea of rejecting any racist
treatment. The first line of the song, “I ain’t gonna work on Maggie’s farm no
more,” is a clear statement to African Americans that they must no longer
settle for segregation, and instead work for equality. Maggie’s Farm can also
be interpreted as Dylan telling his fans that his musical styling will not be
limited to folk music. He will instead be free to explore rock music despite
what critics have to say. We consider this song to be the most outspoken and electric
one in the album, officially recognizing Dylan as a rock artist in addition to
folk.
Outlaw Blues, the
fifth song in Bringing It All Back Home,
is another declaration of Dylan about being free from the classification of a
folk artist. The track combines both rock and folk elements like the electric
guitar and tambourine, is loud and upbeat, and also has many instrumental
solos. This rock song expresses Dylan’s desire to explore a more bohemian or
“outlaw” lifestyle than folk music allowed him to. Again, Dylan is making a
very distinct leap from his old self to a new image. But in his next song, On
The Road Again, more folk instruments are integrated into the song. This track
is also a critique on the poor living conditions that a bohemian lifestyle imposes
on an individual. While Outlaw Blues expressed Dylan’s desire to live a more
free spirited life, On The Road Again makes this dream seem unpleasant; it is
almost like a step backward toward his folk past. Perhaps this is why Dylan
does not classify himself as a protest musician, since he cannot identify with
one particular attitude.
Being the longest
song in the album, Bob Dylan’s 115th Dream, is an elaborate and
fantastical recollection of one of Dylan’s dreams. This song catalogues the
discovery of North America involving characters from Moby Dick. Interestingly,
the song starts out with an acoustic and folk style, is interrupted by
laughter, and then restarts in a rock style with electric instruments. As the
last song on Side A of Bringing It All Back
Home, this track serves as a transition from the rock to the folk side of
the album. This is why it started out as folk because Dylan was preparing his
audience for his old musical styling. The content of the song is a mixture of
crazy fantasy, which can be seen to represent rock, and history, which can be
represented by the more docile folk style. Dylan combines these two attributes
to create a balanced rock and folk song, readying his listeners Side B of the
album.
Side B of Bringing It All Back Home begins with
Mr. Tambourine Man, one of Bob Dylan’s most celebrated songs. It is undoubtedly
of the folk style for it uses instruments like the tambourine, harmonica, and
acoustic guitar, and has a slower yet catchy tempo. Dylan encourages artistic
growth and development through this track, for he calls upon the tambourine to
lighten his mood throughout the song. Only the cheerful, upbeat influence of
the tambourine is able to give Dylan back his senses. The next song, Gates of
Eden, builds on the message of Mr. Tambourine Man. It too is of the low key
folk style, and comments on the tribulations of society. But unlike Mr.
Tambourine Man, there is no tambourine to lighten the mood. The loss of
innocence and sense of foreboding for the future that the younger generation
was experiencing is expressed through this song.
Though the folk
style of It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding), may make the song appear
harmless, Dylan uses it to again attack the state of politics in America.
Through lines such as: "It's easy to see without looking too far / That
not much is really sacred"; "Even the president of the United States
/ Sometimes must have to stand naked"; "Money doesn't talk, it
swears"; "If my thought-dreams could be seen / They'd probably put my
head in a guillotine.," it is clear that Dylan is not pleased with the
state of U.S society. This second to last song of Bringing It All Back Home reasserts Dylan’s initial distrust of
American government that he first mentioned in Subterranean Homesick Blues.
Followed by It’s All Over Now Baby Blue, these last two tracks of Dylan’s album
end Bringing It All Back Home on a
dismal note. Baby Blue is short, slow, and typically folk with a harmonica solo
in the middle of its performance. This track is a call to society to start
anew, rather than continue to live in current society. That type of lifestyle
is “all over,” and people need to “strike another match, go start anew,”
because the current state of America was not working.
Bob Dylan himself
chose to “start anew” through this album, and redefined himself as a musician
through it. Though daring, his leap from folk to electric music helped spark
much discussion over his music. Additionally, the protest nature of the songs
in Bringing It All Back Home reflect
a deep and intellectual musician behind the microphone.
Bibliography
Roberts,Jeremy; Bob Dylan: Voice of a Generation; Lerner Publications Company / Minneapolis(2005)
http://www.ronaldreaganweb.com/thesixties/timeline6466.htm
http://www.ronaldreaganweb.com/thesixties/timeline6466.htm
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Album Information / Reviews
“With
Bringing It All Back Home, he exploded the boundaries, producing an album of
boundless imagination and skill. And it's not just that he went electric,
either, rocking hard on "Subterranean Homesick Blues," "Maggie's
Farm," and "Outlaw Blues"; it's that he's exploding with
imagination throughout the record. After all, the music on its second side --
the nominal folk songs -- derive from the same vantage point as the rockers,
leaving traditional folk concerns behind and delving deep into the personal.
And this isn't just introspection, either, since the surreal paranoia on
"It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and the whimsical poetry of
"Mr. Tambourine Man" are individual, yet not personal. And that's
just the tip of the iceberg, really, as he writes uncommonly beautiful love
songs ("She Belongs to Me," "Love Minus Zero/No Limit")
that sit alongside uncommonly funny fantasias ("On the Road Again," "Bob
Dylan's 115th Dream"). This is the point where Dylan eclipses any
conventional sense of folk and rewrites the rules of rock, making it safe for
personal expression and poetry, not only making words mean as much as the
music, but making the music an extension of the words. A truly remarkable
album. “
-
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, allmusic.com
“It's
very complicated to play with electricity," Dylan said in the summer of
1965. "You're dealing with other people. . . . Most people who don't like
rock & roll can't relate to other people." But on Side One of this
pioneering album, Dylan amplifies his cryptic, confrontational songwriting with
guitar lightning and galloping drums. "Subterranean Homesick Blues"
and "Maggie's Farm" are loud, caustic and funny as hell. Dylan
returns to solo acoustic guitar on the four superb songs on Side Two, including
the scabrous "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" and the closing
ballad, "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue," arguably his finest, most
affectionate song of dismissal.
-
Rolling
Stone Magazine
“Musically,
Bringing it All Back Home is dissimilar to most of Bob Dylan’s other albums.
There is electric guitar, there is harmonica, and there is pessimistic
vulgarity. While he was liked for the soothing acoustic guitar and thoughtful
lyrics that provoke images of beauty and euphoria, Dylan gets down and dirty
for a battle royal with America on this album. Nice shocker for all those quiet
Dylan listeners out there. He strums his acoustic throughout the whole album,
though. It wouldn’t be his music without the acoustic. But the big new addition
to his music is the bluesy electric guitar with the deep delta blues harmonica
technique. So how different is this album from other Dylan stuff? Pretty
different, but it’s crazy enough to work and doesn’t sound like anyone else but
Bob Dylan. The song structures are simplistic, and his lyrics are sardonic, but
his voice and emotions further the satirical state of the album. His lyrical
structures rhyme quite often and he has this nasal honk in his voice that is
just a sonic hyperbole for freedom of speech.”
-
Sputnickmusic.com
“Bringing It
All Back Home was a milestone for Dylan, but I still have some serious problems
with this album. It seems too schizophrenic and lacking coherency. One side
seems to be the "frivilous side" and the other the "serious
side". Side two, the "serious side", almost seems as if it were
made up from outtakes from the previous album, although this is obviously not
so. Side one, the "frivilous side", is Dylan rocking out for the
first time (ok, not really the first time if you consider that he used a
backing group for the Freewheelin' sessions
back in '62) and singing a lot of songs that don't appear to carry any deep
hidden meanings (deceptively so, as it turns out). I would rather have the
songs mixed up a little better so that the electric songs were interspersed
with the acoustic, but I guess that's a small complaint compared to the
greatness of the album.”
-
Punkhart.com
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Released
|
March 27, 1965
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Recorded
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Columbia Recording Studios, New York City January 13–15, 1965
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Length
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47:23
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