Category Archives: Uncategorized

  By Larry Fyffe Singer/songwriter Bob Dylan dons the mask of the earlier Judean prophet Isaiah. Dylan does not simply repeat the Book of Isaiah, as some Dylanologists would have it, but through analogies and allegories, he criticizes the political … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood It is interesting playing the Freewheelin version of “I shall be free” and then the outtake version.  Same key, sometimes the same lyrics, but somehow the Freewheelin version feels so much more accomplished.   I guess Bob was … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe In the liner notes of his ‘Saved’ record, Bob Dylan quotes the biblical prophet Jeremiah: Behold, the days come, saith the Lord That I will make a new convenant With the House of Israel and the … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This is the utter simplicity of a Broadside ballad taken to its ultimate level – and for me it really works, and I for one am so glad that we still have the recording of Bob and … Continue reading →

By Larry Fyffe It can be interepted that in ‘Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts’, Bob Dylan uses the symbol of the rose(mary) to represent historical nothern Israel/Sumaria and the lily to represent southern Judea/Jerusalem. As he so often … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood “The Buffalo Skinners” (also known as “On the trail of of the buffalo) is one of the most popular of all the American traditional songs.  It has been widely sung, widely recorded, and like everything in the … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe “Rosemary, Lily, And The Jack Of Hearts” is a song-play, a time-warped allegory by the word-alchemist Bob Dylan – starring the Jack of Hearts as ‘Ezekiel’; Rosemary as ‘Aholah’; Lily as ‘Aholibah’; and Big Jim as … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood In 1962, having written “Hard Rain’s a gonna fall”, “Hollis Brown”, “Blowing in the Wind”, “Dont think twice” and in fact a grand total of 27 songs (and that really was in this year alone) Bob Dylan … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe “Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack Of Hearts” is easily interpreted as a modern allegory that depicts the historical journey of the Jewish people: The festival was over, the boys were all planning for a fall The … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This is one of the songs from the Whitmark demos, which Dylan procured from the 16th century English tradition of folk songs and which eventually he turned into, “When the ship comes in”.  By the time of … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe Through analogy, allegory, and symbolism, Bob Dylan updates the story of the Jews and Israel in “Lily, Rosemary, And The Jack of Hearts”. With his gold and silver mines, wise King Solomon, represented by the King … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood For almost ten years after playing “Times they are a changin” at the Albert Hall in London in 1965, Dylan dropped the song from his set list.  Since then, apart from a handful of pauses each lasting … Continue reading →

You may also find these indexes useful… American poets and writers to whom Dylan pays tribute: an index British and French writers In reference to Bob Dylan’s song lyrics By Larry Fyffe Bob Dylan songs often crunch past and present … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood You might also like to see  Mixed up Confusion: Bob Dylan and Gnosticism  * * * * * “Mixed up confusion” comes from the what seems to have been a one off set of recording sessions in October … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe Allegorical and analogical Hebrew Gnosticism, with its emphasis on the power of words, has roots in the Book of Proverbs of the Old Testament. According to Gnosticism, from an Unknowable God of Light emanates fragmented pairs … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood During 1962 Bob Dylan went meandering around folk and blues music composing a whole variety of songs as he explored possibilities at every level, before finally arriving at Hard Rain.  Hard Rain doesn’t exist within all these … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Frederich Nietzsche criticizes Judeo-Christian for its ‘slave morality’; for its messenger prophets who put prospects for a better life off into the distant future, whether here on Earth or somewhere in an otherworldly Heaven. Western Gnosticism, … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This song, which appears on the Whitmark demos bootleg is another from that huge outpouring of songs that ran up to the composition of the absolute masterpiece that is “Hard Rain”.  And indeed we can hear in … Continue reading →

  You may also be interested in American poets and writers to whom Dylan pays tribute: an index By Larry Fyffe Bob Dylan songs often crunch past and present and future time into a singularity. To give listeners a linear time … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Looking back at the early songs that Dylan recorded claiming himself as composer it is amazing to think how he jumped from genre to genre and how he moved from songs that clearly are adaptations from older … Continue reading →