Author Archives: TonyAttwood

Spanish Mary is a song that one might associate very much with Dylan’s writing around the time of When the ship comes in (1963) although we are told that the notebook that includes the song comes from 1967.  Assuming 1967 is right … Continue reading →

By Jochen Markhorst In 2017 he releases his 21st studio album, simply titled Robyn Hitchcock. It rightly receives good to enthusiastic reviews, is filled with beautiful songs, psychedelic pop and even a country song (“I Pray When I’m Drunk”), and … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe There is, as already pointed out, a school of academists who maintain that a goodly portion of Bob Dylan’s song lyrics are actually written by Christopher Marlowe. This error stems from the fact that a number … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood “Nothing to it” is a song from “The New Basement Tapes ” the collection of lyrics jotted in a notebook in the 1960s, with music now added by a collection of the highly talented, and released as … Continue reading →

Jochen Markhorst “Everything Is Broken,” says Sam Shepard in an interview with Village Voice in 1992, “that’s a great song.” When Shepard dies in 2017, the media commemorate the talented playwright, acclaimed screenwriter and celebrated actor, but in Dylan circles … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood I started to review “Gone but not forgotten” but stopped because I was having such a problem with the words.   Larry and Aaron worked on the lyrics and came up with this – something it was necessary … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe There has been an ongoing debate among academic scholars, and for some time now, that Bob Dylan, well known for his travels in space and time, is the author of only a few of the lyrics … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Aaron Gailbraith has been doing a great job recently as Untold’s official bloodhound, searching out unlisted Dylan compositions, and here he has found another one: Gone But Not Forgotten Below is the initial commentary on the song, … Continue reading →

Jochen Markhorst Unfaithful Music & Disappearing Ink, the autobiography of Elvis Costello (2015), matches up to Chronicles, the memoirs of Bob Dylan. The tone is different, of course. Whereas with Dylan the atmosphere is often coloured by sepia tones, Costello … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Often on one level in his lyrics, Bob Dylan explains how he comes up with a song: Well, I’m a stranger here in a strange land But I know this is where I belong I ramble … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This is another of the “Lost on the River” tracks by “The New Basement Tapes” band.  Details of the origin of the songs, for which Bob Dylan wrote the words in the 1960s, and the band itself … Continue reading →

Jochen Markhorst In October 2013 The Mercury News from San José reports that the building at 2066 Crist Drive, Los Altos, was granted historical monument status. The Los Altos Historical Commission has unanimously decided that the house with the attached … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe Untold: So tell us, Bob, about the conservation you say you had with William Shakespeare. Bob: Well, I was in Mobile one time, guitar in hand, when I bumped into this fellow wearing pointed shoes and … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood With this composition I’m starting to look at the songs on Lost on the River by the band “The New Basement Tapes” which consisted of Elvis Costello, Rhiannon Giddens, Taylor Goldsmith, Jim James and Marcus Mumford. Dylan’s input is a set of lyrics … Continue reading →

Pledging My Time (1966) In the year 797 Charlemagne secretly sends a Frankish delegation with gifts to Baghdad, to Caliph Harun ar-Rashid, to make peace through the diplomatic way between the Arab and the Frankish Empire. Five years later, the … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Those readers and listeners of Bob Dylan’s song lyrics who scoff at the idea that the American singer/songwriter includes autobiographical information in some of these lyrics will surely change their minds when faced with the following … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood The song “Worth The Waiting For” by Bob Dylan and Dave Stewart- appears on Stewart’s album The Blackbird Diaries… this is Dave Stewart, Bob’s long time friend who is perhaps most well known for being part of … Continue reading →

Jochen Markhorst There are many reasons why we regret the premature death of Otis Redding, and “True Love Tends To Forget” is one of them. It’s not difficult to dream away in a fantasy how Otis would have handled this … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe Bob Dylan presents in his song lyrics bits and pieces of  autobiographical material. The stories about his adventures as a time traveller are  particularly interesting – his journey back to the Elizabethan era, for instance: Well, Shakespeare, … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Update: We found a recording – don’t know how long it will stay on line… http://www.radio4all.net/files/outofthewoodsradio@gmail.com/4461-2-OOTW2016-11-1902.mp3 It’s on a radio show and if you jump to 18 mins in the song starts…. Now back to the original commentary…. … Continue reading →