Author Archives: TonyAttwood

Bob Dylan And James Joyce by Larry Lyffe Before James Joyce reacts against the idealized love expressed in Elizabethan poetry and prose , as well as against the prudishness of Victorian writers, he first pays a young man’s tribute to … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood If you have ever taken a quick glance at the Chronology Files on this site (see for example Dylan in the 60s) what may well strike you are two things. First Bob Dylan has had periods of … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood Bob had written nothing since the collection of songs of 2005/6 when he started up again with Life is Hard in 2008; a slow movie song that had no connection with the rest of the songs that were to … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This is a Bob Dylan puzzle in the purest form of puzzles.  It’s either something or nothing or both or neither.  No, hang on, that last one isn’t possible.   It’s something or nothing or both something … Continue reading →

Please note, part one of this article is published as Bob Dylan and Geoffrey Chaucer: Thunder on the Mountain by Larry Fyffe Long before Frederich Nietzsche said that ‘God is dead’, and that Christianity killed Him by its ordaining Man … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And Geoffrey Chaucer: Thunder On The Mountain By Larry Fyffe Though it has roots in blues music, Bob Dylan’s song ‘Thunder On The Mountain” tells the story of the singer/songwriter’s pilgrimage through life. The mythological God of Thunder … Continue reading →

  By Joost Nillissen The first part of Modern Times revisited: Bob Dylan and Shmuel Hanagid can be found here Dylan and Shmuel Hanagid (993-1056) had the same Jewish upbringing, they shared the same minority, celebrated the same holidays, were … Continue reading →

by Joost Nillissen As I was writing my retellings of the songs on Modern Times, I found myself studying the Art of Poetry, more or less, I imagine, as Dylan took time out to study the Art of Love while … Continue reading →

Someday Baby / Rollin’ and tumblin’ / Bob Dylan How women always will get in the way By Joost Nillissen Music is my business and women get in the way. Blues is about men blaming women, while at the same … Continue reading →

Triplicate: Why a Cover Album? Bob Dylan has a really impressive career behind him. He is one of the very few who have won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe (both for “Things Have Changed” from Wonder Boys in … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe   Well, I got the fever down in my pockets The Persian drunkard, he follows me (Bob Dylan: Absolutely Sweet Marie) The poetic quatrains of Omar Khayyam, a Persian skeptic, and no stranger to hedonism, be … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood Forgetful Heart by Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter is clearly a favourite of Bob’s – he’s played 234 times (as of August 2017) on stage. It is a 12 bar blues in the minor key with some … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Down in his basement, Bob Dylan mixes up his medicine. He pours into his bucket of songs the search for emancipation expressed by Judaism, the forgoing of vengence advocated by Christianity, and mixes them together along … Continue reading →

  By Joost Nillissen These are ominous times, darling. If it keeps on raining, the levee gonna break. Look out your window and see the day as only the Lord could make. Shouldn’t we be moving on? I’ve been working … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood For me, Bob’s move songs are either utterly brilliant (Lay Lady Lay, Things have changed, Tell Ol Bill) or really not up to standard.  Sadly “Life is Hard is for me (and of course this is a … Continue reading →

Tell Ol’ Bill by Larry Fyffe Bob Dylan’s song ‘Tell Ol’ Bill’ has roots in a blues ballad: “Tell old Bill when he comes home this morning ….” (Traditional: Tell Old Bill) Applying the ‘Rhyme Twist Test’ (see: Listen To … Continue reading →

Riding on the bus by Joost Nillissen Spirit on the water Darkness on the face of the deep I keep thinking about you baby I can’t hardly sleep After a gig I get on my 1,5 million dollar bus – … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe The ‘Dylanesque Rhyme Twist’ applied to the song lyrics of Bob Dylan’s ‘Open The Door, Homer’, indicates that the lyrics have more to do with Omar Khayyam’s ‘Rubaiyat’ than with Count Basie’s ‘Open The Door, Richard.’ … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood All great writers seem to have the ability to come up with comments that are both simple in their execution but profound in their deeper meaning.   Lines, the meaning of which are so much deeper than … Continue reading →

It’s a cruel world today by Joost Nillissen I’ve been worried before and I’m worried now. I used to worry about a hard rain gonna fall, about the state of this union, about a lot of things. Today it’s this … Continue reading →