Category Archives: Uncategorized

By Tony Attwood The curious thing about Slow Train is that it is eternally associated with Dylan’s religious period of writing, and yet by and large the song isn’t actually religious at all.  It’s patriotic, inward looking, isolationist, “things ain’t … Continue reading →

From:  Ken Smith Re: Interpretation Black Diamond Bay, Bob Dylan   I think the piece is a reflection on Viet Nam. Black Diamond Bay => Vietnam (1 too many syllables) => or Black “Vietnam”. The dark side of the war … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood I am not at all sure that writing a song about Legionnaire’s Disease was Dylan’s best idea, and then mixing it with scattered musical elements of “Like Rolling Stone” didn’t really help much.  I have no idea if … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood This article is a 2018 update on an earlier piece; Updated because recordings are now available.  The Rundown Rehearsal Tapes vol 4 is on line and contains two versions of “Stop Now” written by Dylan and Helena Springs.  … Continue reading →

More Than Flesh & Blood (Please note that I have now incorporated all the incredibly helpful suggestions for the lyrics of the song into the version that is published below.  I can’t say it is a perfect rendition but it … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Of all the Dylan-Springs songs this is the one I have always enjoyed – although not totally for its own inherent musical qualities.  I’ve only delayed reviewing it here because I am bemused by the lyrics.  By … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood “Stepchild” was performed regularly by Dylan on tour for a short spell, but never recorded by him, and then dropped from the repertoire.   Quite amazingly the extraordinary Dylanchords web site has listed three of the performances … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Baby Stop Crying has its lyrical (although not its musical) origins in Robert Johnson’s Stop Breaking Down.  Just compare the lyrics Dylan: Baby, please stop crying You know, I know, the sun will always shine So baby, … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood This is one of the outtakes that Heylin rates, and he says that a full band version of it was tried out at the time of Street Legal.  Helena Springs says it was the third song that … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Uncharted territory here – before tackling the “1978” section of the Chronology on this site I didn’t have any ideas about this song, and there is precious little from other commentators around. I have two recordings of … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood As I have noted elsewhere, after Dylan finished writing “Desire” with Jaques Levy he had a long pause while he battled over the issue of access to his children through the divorce proceedings. He wrote just one … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Having written about Dylan as a protest singer, I returned to a much earlier theme of this site – and one that caused me no end of problems.  Trying to classify Dylan’s songs by subject matter. I … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood If you are a regular reader you’ll know I am not listing and reviewing every Dylan song – just the songs on the original albums and the outtake albums, plus a handful of others where other artists … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood First point: what is a protest song? These four definitions are taken from various on line dictionaries. Definition 1: a song that expresses disapproval, usually about a political subject Definition 2: Term which gained currency (first in USA) … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Sign Language was the first song Dylan wrote and completed after the collaboration with Levy that gave us Desire (there is at least one other song, but it is neither complete nor recorded, and I’m ignoring these … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood And so what I guess is Dylan’s longest and most fruitful period of collaboration with another writer (or have I been focussed on this period for so long I’ve forgotten something – tell me if so) comes … Continue reading →

by Tony Attwood Having been (quite rightly I am sure) called to book over my interpretation of Rita May I approach Hurricane – the next song on the chronological list of Dylan compositionss – and it causes me to pause … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood There has been a continuing commentary that this Dylan/Levy composition was based on the song “Bertha Lou” (written by Johnny and Dorsey Burnette in 1957) and indeed the structure and style are identical.  But to be fair, … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood I start with trepidation, because when I have touched on quintessentially American issues, as for example with “George Jackson” no matter how much and how often I say, “I’m a British guy and thus I can’t get … Continue reading →

By Tony Attwood Let me say from the start, I utterly love this song and always have, and that makes it harder to give anything remotely like a balanced review.  But I shall try. According to Heylin Abandoned Love was … Continue reading →