Category Archives: Uncategorized

by Jochen Markhorst Samuel Pepys’ diaries reveal that the indestructible evergreen “Barbara Allen” already was a popular song 350 years ago: on January 2, 1666 he tells us about a New Year’s party where one of his mistresses, the actress … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe Singer/songwriter Bob Dylan comments on the movie ‘The Gunfighter’ in one of his songs: Well, there was a movie I seen one time About a man riding ‘cross the desert, and it starred Gregory Peck He was … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This article is part of a series on songs that Bob Dylan has confessed he likes in interviews, or self-evidently likes because they are among the small number of songs that Dylan has performed in concerts, but … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe Some of our Untold readers might be a little confused concerning the lyrics of the song by Bob Dylan entitled ‘Lay Lady Lay’. The old Dylan notebook lying in the vault of the Archives Department of the … Continue reading →

by Jochen Markhorst Music is not a small thing, in religious circles. Christians have been debating for centuries about the edifying quality, or the diabolical nature of music as such, and since the nineteenth century the many Christian divisions have … Continue reading →

Part one of Bob Dylan and Lord Buckley appears here. By Larry Fyffe In the following song lyrics, Bob Dylan pays a direct tribute to pre-Beat, stand-up comedian and recording artist Richard ‘Lord’ Buckley:  Hey Mr. Tambourine, play a song … Continue reading →

by Mike Johnson (Kiwipoet) ‘The empire never ended.’ (Philip K Dick) On hearing the news that Donald Trump had declared a state of emergency in order to build his border wall with Mexico, I thought of Bob Dylan and his … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood In his Nobel Prize Lecture, Bob Dylan paid homage to Buddy Holly, and then immediately after that he added,  And somebody – somebody I’d never seen before – handed me a Leadbelly record with the song “Cottonfields” … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe  Low burlesque is a literary technique that takes a subject matter – for example, the work of another artist that is esteemed, and presents it in a degraded manner that is often vulgar.  Singer/songwriter Bob Dylan low … Continue reading →

  Let’s have a quick look ahead at what’s coming this year in the world of Bob Dylan. First up is Trapper Schoepp’s album “Primetime Illusion”. The album is already released and came out on January 25th. This album includes … Continue reading →

by Jochen Markhorst Captain Haddock is not introduced until the ninth album, in The Crab With The Golden Claws (Le Crabe aux pinces d’or, 1941). The character is a golden find from Hergé. The impulsive, physical and upbeat Haddock gives an … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood, with research by Jochen Markhorst Of late I have been writing about some of the songs that Bob Dylan appears to have a particular affection for.  There’s a list of the other songs already covered in this series; … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And William Saroyan: A Thousand Miles From Sure  By Larry Fyffe Ramblin’ Jack Elliott performs the satirical song ‘Acne’ with the young Bob Dylan on radio. Elliott’s well known for a rendition of a traditional folk song that … Continue reading →

  by Jochen Markhorst T Bone Burnett is a fan. A great find is “Just Dropped In” in the performance of Kenny Rogers & The First Edition under the psychedelic trip scene in The Big Lebowski. When the popular ‘multimedia … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe ‘The Daring Young Man On The Flying Trapeze’ is a short story by William Saroyan, based on a song by the same name, in which a struggling and starving writer performs the amazing feat of surviving on … Continue reading →

  By Michael Johnson I’m not the first to approach this question. Ever since Dylan’s Christian period (1979 – 81) that question has been asked, and was raised again by the box set compilation of live and studio recordings, Trouble … Continue reading →

by Larry Fyffe To draw the attention of the listener to his thoughts concerning the alienation wrought by an industrialized society, singer/songwriter Bob Dylan compares humans to machines (See:”Bob Dylan And Depersonalization“). He’s not a one-trick pony, however – Dylan … Continue reading →

Yea! Heavy And A Bottle Of Bread (1967) by Jochen Markhorst In 1968 Beatty Zimmerman, Dylan’s mother, stays with the young family of her son in Woodstock for a while. In an interview with writer Toby Thompson (Positively Main Street, … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood The classic analysis of the content of lyrics of popular songs is that there are three options: love, lost love and dance.   And indeed for many a long year those three subject areas have dominated popular music. … Continue reading →

 by Larry Fyffe Bob Dylan’s oft down in the basement mixing up the musical medicine in a big pot. He notes that a good medecine man always attempts to balance the elements of  earth, air, fire, and water. Could be … Continue reading →