I don’t know what it means either: an index to the current series appearing on this website.
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Commentary by Tony Attwood, audio kindly provided by Mr Tambourine.
Mother of Muses starts at around 1 hour 15 minutes
Bob starts with a growl but he then takes up the tune to the simplest accompaniments. All the instruments are there, but apart from the counter melody of the lead guitar the performance is primarily Bob’s voice, and that to me does not always feel that certain. In fact I find myself losing track of quite where the song is at times.
Of course if anyone has the right to sing a verse such as…
Sing of Sherman, Montgomery, and ScottAnd of Zhukov, and Patton, and the battles they foughtWho cleared the path for Presley to singWho carved the path for Martin Luther KingWho did what they did and they went on their wayMan, I could tell their stories all day
…then Bob Dylan absolutely has that right. It is just that musically I don’t find this is a performance I want to listen to.
A reflection on one’s own life is an incredibly hard concept to put into a song, and clearly the audience here utterly approves of what Bob is doing. But for me, having not been there, and listening to the music from afar, I find this is not something I get anything from. If I want to hear the song again I go to the album.
So once again I feel the need to compare the live performance with the album recording. Just listen to Bob’s voice here, and the way that the instrumental accompaniment fits together. Everything in this album recording seems to me to be so far beyond that which is delivered live, I find the two impossible to compare.
The Rough and Rowdy Ways series
- The Rough and Rowdy Way Tour: 2021.
- Part 2 Most likely you go your way and I’ll go mine
- Part 3: I contain multitudes
- Part 4: False Prophet
- Part 5: When I paint my masterpiece.
- Part 6: Black Rider and let’s not get too excited
- Part 7: “I’ll be your baby tonight”
- Part 8: My Own Version of You
- Part 9: Early Roman Kings
- Part 10 – To be alone with you
- Part 11: Key West (Philosopher Pirate)
- Part 12: : Got to Serve Somebody
- Part 13: I made up my mind to give myself to you
- Part 14: Melancholy Mood: Bob’s extraordinarily successful total reworking of a classic