Author Archives: TonyAttwood

By Tony Attwood Songs, like stories, have long been a central part of western society, and although the absolute history of songs goes beyond my knowledge limits, I think that every society that we know anything about has songs as … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe In the ancient tale of adventure, the Greeks warriors who were victorious over the Trojans take credit for what the gods have done. As a consequence, Ulysses faces the wrath of the Sea God as the … Continue reading →

by Joost Nillissen When the deal goes down (Modern Times) is a pretty sombre, but straightforward song, except for the last line of each verse: I’ll be with you when the deal goes down. And it is that line that … Continue reading →

. By Larry Fyffe As I often have noted, Bob Dylan’s song lyrics are rather consistently double-edged. Many of his song lyrics show a side of life bathed in bright light, akin to the poems of the Romantic Transcendentalists who … Continue reading →

Angelina / Bob Dylan – A deep sense of regret by Joost Nillissen Tony Attwood struggled with this song in his commentary and Len hit the nail on the head with his comment of November 20, 2016. It’s about an … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood The journal “Psychology Today” has a long history of commenting on Bob Dylan so it was not too surprising to find it making the comment that “The attitude of dwelling in the pain of human finitude is … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe The ghostly poetry of Gothic Romanticist Edgar Allan Poe howls in the songs of Bob Dylan, in songs that depict psychological forces demonic and dark in conflict with those godly and light. In the poems of … Continue reading →

by Joost Nillissen The song starts with one of the greatest riddles in the Hebrew Bible. I and I is one of the possible translations of “ehyeh asher ehyeh” (Ex. 3:14). Other translations are: “I am who I am”, “I … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood When it was suggested that Dylan had lifted descriptions of three novels from summaries available on the internet when making his Nobel speech there were quite a few people who made a bit of a fuss about … Continue reading →

. Bob Dylan And Samuel Coleridge (Part ll) (or maybe III) (Part one appears as The Land Of Milk And Honey: Bob Dylan And Samuel Coleridge   while part II (ish) is published under  Bob Dylan And Henry Timrod: The Country … Continue reading →

By Joost Nillissen Now that I am about to enter a new phase of my life, I look for a song to ease the passage into retirement. Rather morbidly I thought Tombstone Blues might be appropriate I wish I could … Continue reading →

Untold’s Exclusive Interview With Bob Dylan Interview conducted by Larry Fyffe   Location: The ‘Untold Office’ on the roof of the 12-storey Saint James Hotel in New York City Untold: Thanks for coming up to visit us, Bob….You sound a … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And Allen Ginsberg By Larry Fyffe Poets who influence Beat Poet Allen Ginsberg include Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, and William Carlos Williams, and, especially, the pre-Romantic poet William Blake who exalts physical sex as an integral part of … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood After writing and recording “Love and Theft” Bob Dylan entered another sparse period of song writing, and indeed much of the 21st century can be characterised in terms of a far less active period of composition than … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe If you have been following Untold Themes, you will know I have pointed out previously that when the singer Bob Dylan pays tribute to a poet by referencing a poem, the songwriter may take direct quotes from … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This little article took me much longer than usual to write – for reasons that I think are quite apparent in the article itself.   But because I got so tangled up with the issues I faced … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And Lawrence Ferlinghetti By Larry Fyffe Under the influence of poet William Carlos Williams, Lawrence Ferlinghetti writes sardonic poems in plain language about the American vision of a Promised Land shattered by the material greed of New Babylon, a … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Song of the Year: Honest with Me  Returning to composition in 1996 after a five year break, Dylan spread the writing of Time Out of Mind across late 1996 and early 1997, and then once again stopped … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And Andre Breton By Larry Fyffe In his poetic basement, Andre Breton, French poet, mixes up the medicine of Karl Marx’s exploitative economics with that of the subconscious mind. Under its influence, Bob Dylan broadens protest against a … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood A short while ago I wrote an article in response to the accusation that some of us who like Bob Dylan’s music, were in fact obsessed by Bob Dylan. I thought it was a rather personal reflection … Continue reading →