It’s Alright Ma Part 5: 1999 –  2004. Stuffed graveyards, false goals

 

Publisher’s note: “It’s alright ma” is the third song to be considered in the “History in Performance” series.  A full index of the articles relating to “Mr Tambourine Man” and “Gates of Eden” appears at the end of this article.  Previously in relation to “It’s alright ma” we have published

• Part 1 1964 – 74 – From the fool’s gold mouthpiece
• Part 2: 1975/81 – Stuffed graveyards and false gods.
• Part 3: 1984 –  One who sings with his tongue on fire.
• Part 4: 1988 –  The darkness at the break of noon

It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) – A History in Performance, Part 5: 1999 –  2004. Stuffed graveyards, false goals

By Mike Johnson

Preface: I read somewhere once that if you wanted the very best, the acme of Dylan’s pre-electric work, you couldn’t do better than listen to side B of Bringing It All Back Home, 1964. Four songs, ‘Mr Tambourine Man,’ ‘Gates of Eden,’ ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ and ‘It’s All Over Now Baby Blue’ represent the pinnacle of Dylan’s acoustic achievement. In this series I aim to chart how each of these foundation songs fared in performance over the years, the changing face of each song and its ultimate fate (at least to date). This is the fourth article on the third track, ‘It’s Alright Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)’ You can find the previous articles in this History in Performance series here:

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‘It’s Alright, Ma’ is a song celebrating emergence. Emergence from all the lies and bullshit. Alongside that, it celebrates resilience – we can make it! We can ‘crash’ off our shackles, look around and say ‘What else can you show me?’ Other than lies and bullshit, that is. Can you show us the real and the true? Maybe even the sacred.

In this respect, the song is as vital today, perhaps even more so, than it was when it was written back in 1964. This is how the song ends:

My eyes collide head-on with stuffed
Graveyards, false gods, I scuff
At pettiness which plays so rough
Walk upside-down inside handcuffs
Kick my legs to crash it off
Say okay, I have had enough
what else can you show me?

I can’t think of a better image for resistance than walking ‘upside-down inside handcuffs.’ The handcuffs may be real, or shackles of the spirit, but that’s just ‘life and life only.’ We don’t have to put up with it.

That is the radical message of the song. Move beyond the ‘stuffed graveyards,’ the ‘false goals’ and the ‘pettiness.’ There is life on the other side of lies and bullshit. In that respect, the song is full of hope. There are better things to come. Resist, push back, don’t give up.

In the last article, we saw that, after the blistering performance in 1992, at The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration, Dylan dropped the song for seven years – we don’t know why, or why he picked it up again – so it’s to 1999 we must how turn. In that year it was performed some fifteen times. While Dylan is playing the acoustic guitar, he’s playing with the full band. It kicks off with a blues riff that I first heard on Sonny Boy Williamson’s ‘Help Me’ but was not uncommon. Dylan was to stick with this riff for some years and, I have to confess upfront now, I’ve never been totally convinced that it fits easily with the verse structure of the song. Dylan seems to have to babble through the lines to get them to fit. This is not so evident in 1999, however, in this performance from the Milwaukee concert, Oct 30^th.

1999

He messes up the lyrics a bit, but it’s on its way to becoming a rock-blues. The light, pattering beat prevents it from becoming too heavy and cumbersome, which is the danger in that Sonny Boy Williamson riff.

In 2000, the song comes back even stronger with some forty performances. We get the feeling here that Dylan is truly rediscovering his old classic. He keeps the riff nice and nifty, playing it on the acoustic guitar to deliver convincing performances. This one’s from the wonderful Newcastle concert, Sept 19^th.

2000

I don’t see the point in needlessly repeating similar performances, but I can’t resist putting in this beauty from London, Oct 5^th 2000. An excellent recording of an excellent performance.

2000

2001 was another ace year for the song in its new arrangement with over thirty-five performances. Tony Attwood has used this recording for his ‘Absolute Highlights series 10,’ making some interesting comments on the performance, and it (sorry no date for this one) could well be the apex of this particular style and a great vocal.

2001

 

Dylan kept up the pace in 2002 with multiple performances of the song. We have an interesting development in 2002, the year Dylan moved from guitar to keyboards, with Dylan trying out two distinct arrangements. 2001 – 2003 was a period of restless innovation for Dylan as he began to integrate “Love and Theft” songs into his performances and sought new ways to present his old material.

This first recording (again, date lost on this one, sorry) I used for my NET series sees Dylan slowing the song down and anchoring it more firmly in the Sonny Boy Williamson riff.

2002

However, on October 13^th, in Tahoe, Dylan presents a brisk, upbeat arrangement with a descending guitar riff, briefly abandoning the Sonny Boy Williamson riff. It’s a distinctly countrified version, an interesting experiment that Dylan didn’t repeat. Perhaps the arrangement is too brisk and upbeat, a little too jolly for the subject matter of the song. It sounds too cheerful. Where has the menace gone?

2002 (Tahoe)

In 2003 Dylan returns to the Sonny Boy Williamson riff, slows down the tempo so that he doesn’t have to gabble the words, and we have a highly effective arrangement of the song. It is, however, no longer a ‘folk song’ and there’s not much left of the acoustic sound that has characterised it up to this point. It is now a rock blues. It swings. It’s almost stately. It has grandeur, but no longer slashes by, shredding our minds as it goes.

Luckily, we have this excellent video of this fine performance from the Sheffield concert, Nov 20^th.

In 2004, which saw some thirty performances of the song, we find the same arrangement as 2003, although there are subtle but important differences. The drumming is heavier, the slow tempo thumpier, it’s lost some of its swing, and the problems inherent in that rock riff become evident. Can it carry a long song like this without becoming wearying? It can’t catch us up with that excitement that characterised the best of the acoustic style. It’s a good time to slip back to Part 2 of this series and re-listen to the 1981 performances.

In comparison to those, this 2004 version, from Glasgow June 24^th, lumbers along, buried in the rock riff.

2004

Is this magnificent song headed for sclerosis?

We’ll be back shortly to find out.

In the meantime

Kia Ora

Gates of Eden: A History in Performance, Part 1: 1964 Ancestral voices prophesying war

The Gates of Eden – A History in Performance, Part 2: 1974 – 1991 A crashing but meaningless blow

Gates of Eden Part 3: 1991 – 2001. Where Babies Wail: A Spooky Grandeur

Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance, Part 1: A masterpiece is born

Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance, Part 2: 1966 – Darker hues.

Tambourine Man: A History in Performance, part 3 – Chasing Shadows

Mr Tambourine Man, a History in Performance: 4. 1978-1986. Far From the Twisted Reach

Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance, Part 5: 1986-1993: Evening’s Empire

Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance, Part 6: 1994 – 99: My weariness amazes me

Mr Tambourine Man – A History in Performance, Part 7: 2000 – 2010: the jingle jangle.