- Bob Dylan, truth and fiction from 1963 to 1995. The Restless Farewell.
- Breaking down the rigidity of the popular song. Dylan in 1963
- Why does Bob Dylan so often re-write the music of his songs?
- The songs Bob wrote and then ignored: Tell ol Bill
By Tony Attwood
In a number of recent articles, I have been exploring the issue of the way in which Bob Dylan wrote music in the 1960s. We all, of course, know that quite often he borrowed music that already existed and manipulated it for his own purposes, while adding original lyrics. I have been wondering why he worked like this. Was he lacking in confidence in his own songwriting, or was it just easier to take the music of an existing song, and tweak it a bit? Or is there something else involved – something which maybe was influencing the way Bob would write the musical accompaniments to his songs?
It is an issue that I feel has rarely been touched upon by commentators who devote most of their time to writing about the lyrics. And as I have tried to admit through this series, I am not completely sure of the answer myself, but I do just have an inkling that this series might be taking us to a new view of Dylan’s songwriting from the perspective of the music, rather than just the lyrics.
Dylan’s approach of borrowing existing music was very much in keeping with the way in which traditional folk music had evolved across the centuries, and it was obviously something Bob could do with ease, and really without too many people being particularly worried about, or even interested in, what he was doing. As a result, from the start the focus tended to be on his lyrics; few articles have been written about the music per se, and most of those that have been published have simply focussed on the notion that Bob was not writing original music, but taking other people’s (or traditional) music to accompany his own lyrics. The fact is occasionally noted, but few if any conclusions are drawn.
And besides, does it really matter that Bob didn’t write the music for some of the songs he recorded and which show him as the sole composer of words and music?
In one sense, clearly it does not matter – whoever it was who wrote the music doesn’t actually change our appreciation of the song. The song as recorded by Dylan or as performed in concert, was very much there for us to appreciate and (should we be of that mind set) enjoy. I don’t appreciate “Restless Farewell” any more or less because it is a Bob Dylan song rather than a song composed by someone I have never heard of – or indeed if it were listed as “traditional”. I appreciate it for what it is.
But if it doesn’t matter that Bob didn’t write the tune to “Restless Farewell” when does it matter who wrote the song?
First it matters in the case of royalties. I’ve mentioned before that I write songs, and that in my earlier times I had some hope of becoming a professional songwriter. It never happened, almost certainly because I am not as talented as I like to imagine I am, and it didn’t matter too much because I found I could make money writing advertisements instead.
But on the other hand, it matters from the point of view of the accurate telling of how things are. I have said in these various articles, that Bob wrote “Times they are a changing” both in terms of lyrics and music. I’m not sure anyone has written in to contradict me, but of late I’ve been doing some digging (or “research” as we call it when being academic) and found suggestions that the music of Times is taken from “The 51st (Highland) Division’s Farewell to Sicily” by Hamish Henderson.
And then I also find a reference to the fact that the “Farewell” came from a piece played on the Scottish bagpipes “Farewell To The Creeks” in the first world war. In the video below it starts at around 38 seconds.
And here is another version
Now there are two things to argue about here. One is, are these songs actually the origins of the melody of “Times they are a changing”? And if they are, and if Bob heard one of them and then consciously based his song on one of these originals, does it actually matter? That is to say, are we to be annoyed or frustrated by the fact that he didn’t write “Traditional – arranged Bob Dylan” on the copyright note?
And now I start chasing this issue down, what I find is that there are three different issues circling around. One is, did Bob hear one of these performances and then write “Times” knowing that he was copying the song? A second is did he know of these ancient songs but copy one of them unconsciously? And a third point is, does any of this matter?
Certainly, it might matter if I listened to one of the recordings above and then wrote my own lyrics to it, and performed it on a record as a composition of my own, and then the company looking after Bob’s affairs decided to sue me for breach of his copyright. What fun we would have in court! (That is of course an ironic statement).
However, in reality, the main issue for me would be that most people would probably assume I had nicked the tune from Bob’s recording, and was trying to pass it off as my own, – which really wouldn’t do my already minuscule reputation as a song writer much good.
What all this brings to the fore is a basic point, which I have alluded to before. Songs are not novels – they are much, much simpler than that, and therefore some similarities are bound to crop up between one song and the next. We don’t have this sort of argument when it comes to concertos and symphonies because they are infinitely more complex. But the song is, by and large, simple, because in essence it arises from the notion of one person singing either unaccompanied or with a single instrument playing alongside the voice. Of course some has taken the song to new levels: Schubert is the obvious example
Thus, obviously, the notion of the song has ebbed and flowed. Pop music in the era of early Elvis Presley recordings took us back down to a period of absolute minimalism as Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller took to extremes….
But later popular music recovered and by the time we got to the era of Dylan’s early recordings we might argue that “Times they are a changin'” is a unique song because of the combination of the lyrics and the melody.
Yet Bob has never been satisfied, for while no one ever seems to have done a serious re-arrangement of Hound Dog for any reason other than pure effect, Dylan challenged all our notions about contemporary music, when he started to re-arrange his own compositions.
Now sometimes that move toward rearrangement simply gave us a slightly different way of hearing Bob’s music while leaving much of the essence of the music the same. Thus when we hear “All along the watchtower” in its original form we recognise it at once….
What hits us, even if we have no musical education or experience, is the three rotating chords played over and over again to a simple melody. What we might not notice if we don’t play the piece is that the notes of melody clash with the chord sequence.
So what makes Bob’s composition interesting and indeed very memorable is not just that it is just three chords (just like Hound Dog), nor that it is just two lines of melody constantly repeated (just like Hound Dog), it is that the melody clashes with the chords and that is what makes the music so singular, and makes the song so memorable.
“Times they are a changing” on the other hand, is a much more conventional piece, although this time primarily based on just two chords and with a melody which is clearly aligned to those chords. But what makes Times so utterly memorable are the lyrics and the incredibly powerful title line.
The lyrics start, as of course we all know, like a “Come All Ye” by saying “Come gather round people wherever you roam” and continues with its message that not only are times changing, but that the people who have been used to knowing and believing they are in power, are slowly realising they aren’t any more, because “your sons and your daughters are…” well, you know how it goes.
Thus what makes “Times” so exciting and challenging is not the novelty of the music, nor the opening of the lyrics (“Come gather round people wherever you roam” is after all just a variant on the traiiditonal “Come all ye fair and tender ladies” but with a much less interesting tune). No, it is the message that says, no matter what anyone does, the old order is losing power and control.
Indeed if you want entertainment from the music, Times is not the place to go, as this example of “Come all ye fair” makes absolutely clear.
In fact what makes Times they are a changing” work is the ordinaryness of the music and the lyrics combined with that most powerful of all messages; the fact that it is not that we are making things different, it is that it is happening by itself, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. The lyrics are simple, the music is simple, but the message is profound. “If you think you have power, forget it. It’s over.”
So to come back to the issue of originaliity, what Bob realised, or perhaps stumbled upon, was the fact that the message of “Times” was so powerful and so revolutionary (including also, as it does, the thought that the times are changing all by themselves and nothing can be done to stop this) that he could use a very ordinary melody with the slow solid pounding beat that the 12/8 time signature brings.
If you go back to the “Farewell to the Creeks” videos and listen to the music, you can hear that 12/8 beat there too, meaning the music is running 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3, 1 2 3 exactly as Times does
Come gather round people where ever you roam 1 2 3 1 2 3 1 2 3 1....
So what I am arguing is that Bob took elements of songs and combined them to make a new song and slowed it down. But then, (and this is the crowning glory of Times they are a-Changing) he used this very simple and basic musical form, which dates back centuries, to challenge to the entire ethos of Western civilisation. For the message contained in the song is, “We’re not creating a revolution; it is simply happening”.
And the fact is, as Bob also suggested, that those people who have held onto power for so long might not even notice this revolution is happening until it is too late. But it is there…
The battle outside ragin'Will soon shake your windowsAnd rattle your wallsFor the times they are a-changin'
So to come back to the music, and whether it is copied from older folk songs, which indeed to some extent it is, the point of the music here is that by putting it in 12/8 time, as much folk music from earlier eras was written, Bob is stressing that just as this music is of the older times, and has been surpassed, so the thinking of past years is now also being set aside. But the most ancient ideals of liberty and freedom, remain.
Thus, I would argue that having the song in 12/8, even if the vast majority of people don’t actually realise it is in an unusual time signature for the 1960s, is itself a signal. Just as, in a different way, the ceaseless repetition of the three chords in “Watchtower” is also a message (in that case of the similarity between one day and the next for those watching from the watchtower.)
Dylan undoubtedly wanted to make that point of life going on and on in the same way, for indeed…
There are many here among usWho feel that life is but a joke
Yes indeed. Life goes on and on, just as the music of Watchtower is simply one line going round and round. This is where we have got to, but now the times are changing. And so the music must start changing as well….
Come gather around people …
Echoes also:
Come all you gallant highway men …
(Bold Jack Donohue)