By Tony Attwood
“The Man in Me” seems to be one of those songs where there is Bob’s original version, and there are many reggae versions – and most people who have recorded the song go with following one of those two routes. And that gives me a bit of a problem – I don’t find that much that is wonderful in the original Bob version, and I’ve never made the cultural leap that many of my friends have, in order really to appreciate reggae as an art form.
So I’ve struggled to find anything new that I really want to offer, so forgive me if you know all of these versions and have been here before. I’ll try and do better next time.
Here’s the one that does stand out for me – but we’ve covered it before… Emma Swift doesn’t do that much to the song, but her voice is so pure and without an artifice that it just feels right for this song.
On the other hand Vandaveer highlight what seems to me to be wrong with quite a few of the cover versions: that feeling that whatever Bob did, the cover has to do – thus the introduction. But they do have some variations, such as the way they play the end of every fourth line by changing the rhythm. It’s interesting… but then that’s the main thing. They don’t overplay it, which is good but having shortened the phrase “The Man in Me” musically, is there much else?
The instrumental break has an unusual organ or syth sound, followed by the start of the next verse part unaccompanied, but it feels to me as if they are searching for differences to put in, rather than feeling them.
At least Michael Henry Martin does play a little with the accompaniment in a way that seems to fit exactly. But… once more I find myself thinking, “is there anything else?” Worse I have a nasty feeling that the producer felt this as well, and so re-mixed the piece with extra organ.
At least with the Pesuasions, we get them doing what they do, a beautiful a cappella version, although even here I am not sure I want to play it again. I found my mind wandering as I pondered what it is like to be the bass singer in an a cappella ensemble just going bom bom bom bom all the time. It takes real talent and focus, but I wonder if it doesn’t come a bit boring as a lifestyle.
And now for something completely different – although not as different as I expected. It’s another reggae version which I’ve decided to keep in the list just because it is the Clash. It’s not that it is not very good – not that at all. But it is different from the rest, but perhaps I was hoping for a bit more difference.
Maybe it is just one of those songs that it is not possible to do much more with…
The Dylan Cover a Day series
- The song with numbers in the title.
- Ain’t Talkin
- All I really want to do
- Angelina
- Apple Suckling and Are you Ready.
- As I went out one morning
- Ballad for a Friend
- Ballad in Plain D
- Ballad of a thin man
- Frankie Lee and Judas Priest
- The ballad of Hollis Brown
- Beyond here lies nothing
- Blind Willie McTell
- Black Crow Blues (more fun than you might recall)
- An unexpected cover of “Black Diamond Bay”
- Blowin in the wind as never before
- Bob Dylan’s Dream
- BoB Dylan’s 115th Dream revisited
- Boots of Spanish leather
- Born in Time
- Buckets of Rain
- Can you please crawl out your window
- Can’t wait
- Changing of the Guard
- Chimes of Freedom
- Country Pie
- Crash on the Levee
- Dark Eyes
- Dear Landlord
- Desolation Row as never ever before (twice)
- Dignity.
- Dirge
- Don’t fall apart on me tonight.
- Don’t think twice
- Down along the cove
- Drifter’s Escape
- Duquesne Whistle
- Farewell Angelina
- Foot of Pride and Forever Young
- Fourth Time Around
- From a Buick 6
- Gates of Eden
- Gotta Serve Somebody
- Hard Rain’s a-gonna Fall.
- Heart of Mine
- High Water
- Highway 61
- Hurricane
- I am a lonesome hobo
- I believe in you
- I contain multitudes
- I don’t believe you.
- I love you too much
- I pity the poor immigrant.
- I shall be released
- I threw it all away
- I want you
- I was young when I left home
- I’ll remember you
- Idiot Wind and More idiot wind
- If not for you, and a rant against prosody
- If you Gotta Go, please go and do something different
- If you see her say hello
- Dylan cover a day: I’ll be your baby tonight
- I’m not there.
- In the Summertime, Is your love and an amazing Isis
- It ain’t me babe
- It takes a lot to laugh
- It’s all over now Baby Blue
- It’s all right ma
- Just Like a Woman
- Knocking on Heaven’s Door
- Lay down your weary tune
- Lay Lady Lay
- Lenny Bruce
- That brand new leopard skin pill box hat
- Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts
- License to kill
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Love is just a four letter word
- Love Sick
- Maggies Farm!
- Make you feel my love; a performance that made me cry.
- Mama you’ve been on my mind
- Man in a long black coat.
- Masters of War
- Meet me in the morning
- Million Miles. Listen, and marvel.
- Mississippi. Listen, and marvel (again)
- Most likely you go your way
- Most of the time and a rhythmic thing
- Motorpsycho Nitemare
- Mozambique
- Mr Tambourine Man
- My back pages, with a real treat at the end
- New Morning
- New Pony. Listen where and when appropriate
- Nobody Cept You
- North Country Blues
- No time to think
- Obviously Five Believers
- Oh Sister
- On the road again
- One more cup of coffee
- (Sooner or later) one of us must know
- One too many mornings
- Only a hobo
- Only a pawn in their game
- Outlaw Blues – prepare to be amazed
- Oxford Town
- Peggy Day and Pledging my time
- Please Mrs Henry
- Political world
- Positively 4th Street
- Precious Angel
- Property of Jesus
- Queen Jane Approximately
- Quinn the Eskimo as it should be performed.
- Quit your lowdown ways
- Rainy Day Women as never before
- Restless Farewell. Exquisite arrangements, unbelievable power
- Ring them bells in many different ways
- Romance in Durango, covered and re-written
- Sad Eyed Lady of Lowlands, like you won’t believe
- Sara
- Senor
- A series of Dreams; no one gets it (except Dylan)
- Seven Days
- She Belongs to Me
- Shelter from the Storm
- Sign on the window
- Silvio
- Simple twist of fate
- Slow Train
- Someday Baby
- Spanish Harlem Incident
- Standing in the Doorway
- Stuck inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Sweetheart Like You
- Tangled up in Blue
- Tears of Rage
- Temporary Like Achilles. Left in the cold, but there’s still something…
- The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar
- The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll