After a brief hiatus, I'm back. Faulty internet connections, fishing expeditions, and the Amagansett beaches can all be blamed for the absence, in no particular order.
Bob Dylan's new album just came out. The radio has been playing choice cuts from it leading up to it's release, and by all accounts it's being received well. Did you think it would be otherwise? I'll abstain from passing any judgement before I've heard the album in full at least a handful of times. What I can say as of right now though, is that Modern Times had a much stronger hold on me right out the gate. There's no "Nettie Moore," yet on this album, that forced me to put the world on hold as I got lost in the song.
I'm die hard for Dylan. Sure, I was set up for this since birth being that I was named after him, but in my eyes that was just an introduction. It's not like everyone who was named after their grandfathers really gives a shit about them. Bob Dylan has been somewhat of a spirit guide for me through life. When I was barely three, I remember my dad would sing Blowin' In The Wind to me at night. That and House Of The Rising Sun were the only two songs he knew and could actually sing (my mother has the voice, pops may be a little tone deaf), but he knew how to make them work. When I was a kid, Bob Dylan albums would always be playing in the car, or in the yard, or at the beach on the boom box. One of the first albums I really remember knowing all the songs on oddly enough was Oh Mercy. I can still see the image of "The Man In The Long Black Coat" that I created in my mind as a kid. In middle and high school he got me through those weird years of self doubt, alienation, awkwardness (with myself and the fairer sex) and anger. In college, I discovered the more rare stuff, live albums, and really started to go through his collection album by album, and finally through my twenties, he's taken on a much deeper meaning, influencing my own musical ventures. I don't condemn those who don't like him, but I don't understand them either. Like Bruce, I stand by my assertion that if you don't like him, then you simply haven't heard enough of him.
The Man In Me has become somewhat of an anthem for the film The Big Lebowski, but taken out of that fabricated context, it's really a nice way of saying you bring out the best in me, in song. If I were a woman and a guy sang this song to me, I'd feel pretty good about myself. It's complimentary and explanatory. It's basically a man saying, "Hey babe, I may have a lotta shit going on, and life is a tough mother, but when you're around I feel like I can be the best version of myself." I mean sure, there may be a bit more to it than that, but not much. I think it's pretty self explanatory.
Also worth noting, is that the song came out on the 1970 album, New Morning. This album came out only four months after Self-Portrait, and was much better received. It wasn't recorded all at once, there was a bit of moving around in the studio, and a lot of time spent and verions trashed. Many songs and versions of them were recorded before the album was finalized. From what I've read, it wasn't an easy process, but then again that's not all too uncommon for Dylan.
"If Not For You" is the opening track, which was also probably the most successful and memorable song off the album. This is due largely in part to George Harrison's cover version (George Harrison - If Not For You). "Went To See the Gypsy" is another favorite of mine, but in my eyes, the album in total is worth something. It was a return to the Dylan that people and critics loved, not that that meant so much to him probably.
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