Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Larry Fyffe Part 1 of Dylan and Gnosticism appears here Many of the lyrics in Bob Dylan’s song lyrics are doubled-edged, laced with images both dark (devilish) and light (godly) – simply because the existence of very troubling conditions … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This song is listed as a Bob Dylan composition, but I think this is a case of where there is a forerunner that is so close to Dylan’s in both music and lyrics that some acknowledgement (if … Continue reading →

Part one of this series of articles by Larry Fyffe is available here:  Bob Dylan and The Allegory In considering a Bob Dylan song, Kees de Graaf notes that the biblical bride/bridegroom allegory in made use of by the singer/songwriter: God(Jesus) … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood The Death of Emmett Till is a song by Bob Dylan that was written around the time of Talkin John Birch and Ramblin Gamblin Willie.  As with those songs Dylan uses an old established musical format, alongside … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And The Allegory by Larry Fyffe It is always surprising to me when music critics and even many fans of Bob Dylan’s claim that particular song lyrics indicate a sudden change in his nonconformist philosophical position – his … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood If you have been reading through the reviews on this site, rather than dipping to read up on the songs you are thinking about (which is of course fair enough – every reader is very welcome) you’ll … Continue reading →

A New Dylan Christmas Song Uncovered by Larry Fyffe The unwavering detectives at the Untold Dylan offices have managed to lay their sleuth-hound paws on the lyrics of a yet-to-be-released new Christmas song by Bob Dylan. For the pleasure of … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe No one twists and turns the still existing themes of past times to make them better suited to modern times, more than does Bob Dylan. Contrary to what many music critics claim, Dylan chooses his double-edged … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe   It’s not at all surprising that Bob Dylan relates to Frank Sinatra whose songs often contain the fragmented ruins of the Transcendental school of poetry along with those of the Romantic school. Applying labels usually … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This fragment appears on “Biograph” and also appears on “Side Tracks” as a one verse piece with a sudden fade out, suggesting that there was more, but for some reason this is all we are offered. It … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Once again we have two versions recorded, but we seem to have got the same recording on both the original Basement Tapes double LP and the Volume 11 CD where the song is “restored” which apparently means … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Though the line of demarcation is a fuzzy one, the images contained within Bob Dylan’s song lyrics, like those in the poems of William Blake, oscillate between those that are Romantic – ie, humans possess an … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Last time I wrote about two versions of the same song appearing on different bootleg albums I got myself into a right old tangle and after readers had kindly put me out of my misery, had to … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe He who knows not American history, knows not Bob Dylan. Or, to be more precise, he who knows not the Romantic myths surrounding American history, knows not Bob Dylan. Poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow shoots his myth-bearing … Continue reading →

  by Larry Fyffe Singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, under the influence of the the modernist Surrealistc poets, focuses on human nature rather than on external Nature which is envisioned by Wordsworthian poets to be infused with God’s presence. As far as … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This really is a fragment of a song – one of the many that would not have emerged had it not been for the decision to release the complete set.  And it is one of those that … Continue reading →

Bob Dylan And Edward Cummings: The Romantic Revival by Larry Fyffe The poet Edward Cummings, inspired by the preRomantic poetry of William Blake and the subsequent Romantic Transcendental Movement, looks back to the innocence of childhood in search of natural … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This is yet another Basement song with no information on the official site – it’s never been played by Dylan, and has no official lyrics.  Indeed the inestimable Eyolf Østrem comments that,  “The lyrics seem to be nonsense … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood “Going to Acapulco” is one of those songs in which the official lyrics don’t match the lyrics that we hear.  It is most annoying when that happens – but here it is the result of re-writes and … Continue reading →

  By Larry Fyffe Though an orthodox Christian awaiting the future return of the Messiah, Romantic poet Samuel Coleridge finds temporary relief from worldly pain – a saviour and messianic fervour in opium: Weave a circle round him thrice And … Continue reading →