Bob Dylan And Cindy Walker

by Larry Fyffe

Along with classics of literature, singer/songwriter/musician Bob Dylan draws from the deep well of country music:

For I never knew the art of making love
Though my heart aches with love for you
Afraid and shy, I let my chance go by
The chance that you might have loved me too
(Cindy Walker: You Don't Know Me)

In his rendition beneath, the lyrics are manned-up a bit:

For I never knew the art of making love
For my heart it burns for you
Alone and shy, I let my chance go by
The chance that you would love me too
(Bob Dylan: You Don't Know Me ~ C. Walker)

https://youtu.be/GXxNPe04aCY

Later on, the song gets souped up; flipped over in modern times:

I've been sitting down studying in the art of love
I think it will fit me like a glove
I want some real good woman to do just what I say
Everybody got to wonder what's the matter with this
cruel world today

(Bob Dylan: Thunder On The Mountain

The romantic feeling of old turns cold:

Don’t talk to me about men

Just fill up my glass again
I want to forget every man that I met
And the trouble that they've got me in
Don't mention love to me
I know the game from A to Zee
I'll carry the torch until there's just a scorch
In the place where my heart ought to be
(Cindy Walker: Don't Talk To Me About Men)

Echoed in the cynical lyrics below:

When a man he serves the Lord
It makes his life worthwhile
It don't matter 'bout his position
Don't matter 'bout his lifestyle
Talk about perfection
I ain't never seen none
And there ain't no man that's righteous
No not one
(Bob Dylan: Ain't No Man Righteous, No Not One)

That’s just the way reality is; not the way it’s transcendentally depicted to be:

Across the way they call me
And I'm lonesome, and so blue
For the blue Canadian Rockies
And the one I love so true
(Cindy Walker: The Blue Canadian Rockies)

Time marches on; it’s time to get real.

Sentimentalism be damned.

So says the narrator in the following song lyrics

And the sun is coming up over the Rockies
Now I know she ain't you, but she's here
And she's got that dark rhythm in her soul
But I'm too far over the edge
And I ain't in the mood anymore
To remember the times when I was your only man
(Bob Dylan: Brownsville Girl ~ Dylan/Shepard)

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