Bob Dylan All the Songs
Page 69
COVERS
“Sweetheart Like You” is one of the songs chosen by Joni Mitchell for her album in the Hear Music’s Artist’s Choice series (2005).
Neighborhood Bully
Bob Dylan / 4:38
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar (?)
Mark Knopfler: guitar
Mick Taylor: guitar
Ron Wood: guitar (?)
Alan Clark: keyboards
Mark Rivera: saxophone (?)
Robert Funk: trombone (?)
Laurence Etkin: trumpet (?)
Robbie Shakespeare: bass
Sly Dunbar: drums
Sammy Figueroa: percussion (?)
Recording Studio
The Power Station / Studio A, New York: April 19 and overdubs May 8 and 10,
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler
Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Lyrics
When Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone asked Dylan if “Neighborhood Bully” was a Zionist political song, Dylan replied, “I’m not a political songwriter. Joe Hill was a political songwriter; uh, Merle Travis wrote some political songs. ‘Which Side Are You On?’ is a political song. And ‘Neighborhood Bully,’ to me, is not a political song, because if it were, it would fall into a certain political party. If you’re talkin’ about it as an Israeli political song—in Israel alone, there’s maybe twenty political parties. I don’t know where that would fall, what party.”135
The lyrics to “Neighborhood Bully” are equally cryptic. It is clear that this bully of the neighborhood refers to the state of Israel: “The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land” and has had to learn to “live by the rules that the world makes for him / ’Cause there’s a noose at his neck and a gun at his back.” Despite this, “Every empire that’s enslaved him is gone / Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.” Edifying words, but at the same time ironic, if not provocative: “Well, he’s surrounded by pacifists who all want peace.” Dylan’s view is still colored by evangelist Hal Lindsey’s apocalyptic vision. He was inspired by the book of Daniel (12:2), “Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth will wake, some to everlasting life and some to the reproach of eternal abhorrence.”
Production
The first rock song on the album, “Neighborhood Bully” puts the guitars in the spotlight. Mark Knopfler plays the main riff, backed by Robbie Shakespeare on bass and Mick Taylor on slide guitar. Dylan seems to have contributed to the rhythmic track, probably on his black Fender Stratocaster. Sly Dunbar provides a rather linear drum beat, different from his usual style. Dylan sings his lyrics with an angry and cynical tone of voice. But the instrumental section does not accentuate the rhythm: Taylor’s slide guitar could have been more up front, the rhythm section less rigid, and Clark’s keyboard freer. Taylor’s guitar, added as an overdub on May 10, offers a rhythm part very “Stones” in style (listen at 4:12). Sammy Figueroa played percussion on May 8, but this remains inaudible.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
According to Michael Krogsgaard, a recording session, or more likely overdubs of “Neighborhood Bully,” was held on May 17 at the Power Station, with Ron Wood on guitar, Mark Rivera on saxophone, Robert Funk on trombone, and Laurence Etkin on trumpet. However, the result of that session was not selected for the album.
License To Kill
Bob Dylan / 3:35
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, harmonica; Mark Knopfler: guitar; Mick Taylor: guitar; Alan Clark: keyboards; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Sly Dunbar: drums / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: April 13, 1983 Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler / Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Production
In 1983, the same year the Reagan administration proposed the ambitious Strategic Defense Initiative (known as “Star Wars”), Bob Dylan asked a fundamental question: If technology can both send a man to the moon and destroy the planet with nuclear bombs, where is the progress? For the songwriter, humanity needed to return to its origins. “License to Kill” is not only a diatribe against the arms race, but also an environmentalist manifesto—a plea for living in harmony with our environment. But Dylan does not have any illusions. Instead, the lines “Now, there’s a woman on my block / She just sit there as the night grows still” are a reminder that the error committed by humankind can no longer be repaired: nobody will take away the “license to kill.”
“License to Kill” was recorded in one take on April 13, 1983. The recording went smoothly without any production problems. Dylan sings this simple and efficient melody in an almost resigned tone of voice. The group plays in unison; the arrangements are simple. Knopfler plays the rhythm with nuance and delicacy on his Strat (left channel in stereo), and Taylor provides the solo parts on his Gibson (right channel). Dylan concludes the song with a harmonica solo (in F), which results in an abrupt ending. Dylan sang “License to Kill” for the first time in Verona, Italy, on May 28, 1984.
Man Of Peace
Bob Dylan / 6:32
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, harmonica; Mark Knopfler: guitar; Mick Taylor: guitar; Alan Clark: organ, piano; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Sly Dunbar: drums / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: April 14, 1983 (Overdubs May 10, 1983) / Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler / Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Production
Here Dylan was inspired by the Second Epistle of Paul to the Corinthians (11:14), “Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.” In this song, Satan comes as a “man of peace,” “a great humanitarian,” and “a great philanthropist,” while he is actually a dictator—“a man got his hand outstretched / Could be the Führer.” The songwriter, at the same time, tells us listeners not be resigned but instead to rebel against evil forces. The song also contains an allusion to the Gospel according to Matthew, “You must not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword” (10:34). The interpretation is not a declaration of war, but rather a metaphor for the awakening of consciousness.
The song has a rock feeling, halfway between the Rolling Stones and the Velvet Underground. “Man of Peace” was recorded on April 14 in three takes. The third was selected for the album. Four different instrumental solos are heard in the song, a first in Dylan’s discography. The first is probably played by Knopfler on his National (1:39), followed by two slide guitar solos by Taylor (3:05 and 4:30, by overdub on May 10), and the last by Dylan on harmonica with saturated effect (5:27). They are all excellent, with only one regret: they deserved additional enhancement in the mix.
COVERS
Many artists have covered “Man of Peace.” The best cover is by Joe Perry, Aerosmith’s guitarist, who recorded it for Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, released in 2012 to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Amnesty International.
Union Sundown
Bob Dylan / 5:26
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Clydie King: backup vocals
Mark Knopfler: guitar
Mick Taylor: guitar
Alan Clark: keyboards
Robbie Shakespeare: bass
Sly Dunbar: drums, percussion
Recording Studio
The Power Station / Studio A, New York: May 2,
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler
Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Lyrics
With this song written in 1983, Dylan gives another example of his visionary gift. Here he produces a manifesto against globalization of trade that transformed human beings into mere consumers. The songwriter balances humor and derision. Shoes from Singapore, flashlights from Taiwan, tablecloths from Malaysia, shirts from the Philippines, silk dresses from Hong Kong, dog collars from India… It all adds up to a protest against imported consumer goods. This globalization “from Broadway to the Milky Way” was initially intended to bene
fit the West, but it is the developing countries that are reaping the benefits.
Dylan is firmly on the victims’ side. The Americans are helpless witnesses of a system beyond their control, seeing their jobs go to Argentina and El Salvador: “Well, the job that you used to have / They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador.” However, Dylan also scrutinizes American hypocrisy: “Lots of people complainin’ that there is no work / I say, ‘Why you say that for? / When nothin’ you got is US-made?’ / They don’t make nothin’ here no more.” He no longer recognizes the America of the pioneers: “Well, it’s sundown on the union / And what’s made in the USA / Sure was a good idea / ’Til greed got in the way.” Dylan’s song is genuinely reactionary. “Union Sundown” is not a political song, but rather a fierce diatribe against politicians. As Dylan stated in an interview with Martin Keller, “Political songs are slogans… Show me an honest politician, and I’ll show you a sanctified whore.”
Production
With a rock delivery wrapped in a pronounced delay, Dylan leads a crusade against unbridled capitalism. Accompanied by Clydie King in the choruses, a backup vocalist since the album Saved, the songwriter has composed a blues-rock song that is tailor-made for his two guitarists. Mark Knopfler plays the basic riff, but Mick Taylor has the bigger role with his great, lithe slide guitar. The first two takes were recorded on April 27, but Dylan was not totally satisfied. He was not even sure if the song would fit the album and considered excluding it. On May 2, he returned to the tune, pushing through five additional takes, rerecording a new vocal, and including a rhythm guitar part. The last cut was chosen as the master. He performed “Union Sundown” for the first time in Houston on June 20, 1986.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
According to Clinton Heylin, Dylan recorded a demo of six verses. The first two and part of the fifth were selected for the final version. However, this is unconfirmed.
I And I
Bob Dylan / 5:11
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar (?); Mark Knopfler: guitar; Mick Taylor: guitar; Alan Clark: keyboards; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Sly Dunbar: drums / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: April 27, 1983 / Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler / Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Production
“I and I” makes little sense unless one turns to the Rastafarian religious movement. For Rastafarians, especially Dylan’s icon Bob Marley, the expression “I and I” means that God lives in every human. In 1991, Dylan told Paul Zollo, “[‘I and I’] was one of them Caribbean songs. One year a bunch of songs just came to me hanging around down in the islands, and that was one of them.” Without a doubt, this is one of the sources of inspiration that led Dylan to use this important Rastafarian concept.
The song also contains an explicit allusion to the book of Exodus, in which the Hebrew people cross the Sinai desert to reach the Promised Land. What does the songwriter want to tell us? That the life of man is a long quest for God? It is also possible that the narrator of the song is dreaming while awake or is carried away by some confused thoughts.
In 1984, Mark Knopfler praised Dylan’s songwriting: “To hear the first lines of ‘I and I’ that’s enough to make anybody who writes songs want to retire. It’s stunning.”131 And Knopfler blesses the song from the first note with his Stratocaster, producing the outstanding phrasing as only he could. The feeling of the song is ethereal, sober, but also dark. Although no overdub was done, an acoustic guitar is heard, played by either Knopfler or Taylor, who already played his Gibson Les Paul. “I and I” was recorded on April 27 in eight takes. The sixth was chosen for Infidels.
FOR DYLANOLOGISTS
In a letter to Georges Izambard and Paul Demeny on May 13, 1871, Arthur Rimbaud wrote, “Je est un autre,” translated as “I is someone else.” He implied that the artist does not control what he creates. Bob Dylan was inspired by Rimbaud in the last verse of this song.
Don’t Fall Apart On Me Tonight
Bob Dylan / 5:57
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Mark Knopfler: guitar; Mick Taylor: guitar; Alan Clark: keyboards; Robbie Shakespeare: bass; Sly Dunbar: drums; Sammy Figueroa: percussion (?) / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: April 12, 1983 (Overdubs May 8, 1983) / Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler / Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
Genesis and Production
For the last song on Infidels, Dylan chose a story about the breakup of a relationship, something he had sung about many times since the 1960s. In previous albums, he wrote love songs in which the narrator sings to his partner. Here he continues the tradition. What makes this song unusual is the advice given, that times are tough and dangerous—“Street are filled with vipers /… it ain’t even safe no more.” He questions himself and clearly evokes the flamboyant past of a woman so beautiful that “Clark Gable would have fell at [her] feet / And laid his life on the line.” He reviews his own life, wishing he would have been a doctor to save someone who was lost. Again, there is no hope, as “Yesterday’s just a memory / Tomorrow is never what it’s supposed to be.”
“Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight” was recorded on April 12 in eleven takes. The first was chosen for the album. This beautiful song highlights the guitarists, including Mick Taylor and his Gibson Les Paul. He demonstrates his talent by playing a dazzling slide guitar. Listen to his great touch at 3:51. Dylan is not left out. He provides an excellent vocal and harmonica performance (in F). Note that there is a video of an outtake showing all the musicians performing “Don’t Fall Apart on Me Tonight” in the studio.
Infidels Outtakes
Bob Dylan recorded some twenty additional songs left off the album Infidels. “Angel Flying to the Ground” was released as a single in 1983, the same year as the album. In 1991, four of these outtakes were selected by Sony to be officially released on The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991, including “Blind Willie McTell.” Others may appear on future bootlegs.
Blind Willie McTell
Bob Dylan / 5:52
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, piano; Mark Knopfler: guitar (?); Mick Taylor: guitar (?) / Recording Studio: The Power Station / Studio A, New York: May 5, 1983 / Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler / Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman / Set Box: The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3: Rare & Unreleased, 1961–1991 (CD 3) / Date of Release: March 26, 1991
Blind Willie McTell (1898 [?]–1959) was born William Samuel McTier. As one of the main creators in the history of blues, he was an important touchstone for rock musicians, even if he left this world just before the American folk music revival in the early 1960s. He was a street performer in several Georgia cities, including Atlanta. He recorded extensively, beginning in the second half of the 1920s: first in 1927 for Victor Records and into the thirties for different labels, without releasing a major hit. In the 1940s, he was recorded by folklorist John Lomax. Blind Willie McTell left many blues songs for posterity that became standards after his death. The most famous is certainly “Statesboro Blues,” covered by many artists, including the Allman Brothers Band.
“And I know no one can sing the blues / Like Blind Willie McTell,” sings Dylan. Indeed, the songwriter pays tribute to the Georgia bluesman and, following his example, sings with exceptional emotional intensity. The “hoot owl singing,” “big plantations burning,” “the cracking of the whips,” and the lines “With some fine young handsome man / He’s dressed up like a squire / Bootlegged whiskey in his hand” are all reminders of what life was like for a bluesman in the South and what the blues stand for. The end of “Blind Willie McTell” sounds like a sermon: “But power and greed and corruptible seed / Seem to be all that there is.”
“Blind Willie McTell” is one of the great Bob Dylan songs, brilliantly performed. It is very strange, if not incomprehensible, that Dylan left it off the final selection of Infidels. The question has been asked at least twice. The first time Dylan explained to Kurt Loder of Rolling Stone, “I didn’t think I rec
orded it right. But I don’t know why that stuff gets out on me.”135 In 2006, he confirmed to Jonathan Lethem of Rolling Stone, “I started playing it live because I heard the Band doing it. Most likely it was a demo, probably showing the musicians how it should go. It was never developed fully, I never got around to completing it.”136
On April 11, 1983, Dylan and his band recorded many takes of “Blind Willie McTell,” some probably under the title of “Run Down.” They reworked two others on April 18, but Dylan was dissatisfied with the electric versions and decided to redo it alone at the piano, accompanied by an acoustic guitar. One of the two takes from May 5 was released on the bootleg. Dylan expresses all his talent in six intense minutes. Although his piano performance is not perfect, the emotion released makes this song one of the highlights of his work. Mark Knopfler likely played his Ovation Adamas 12-string. However, it is possible that it is Mick Taylor. Neither is confirmed, yet it is more likely Knopfler. In any case, this version of “Blind Willie McTell” is a real triumph.