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Bob Dylan’s Hymns: What is Really Sacred?  Part 4: Ring them bells, Sad Eyed, Nobody ‘cept you

  Previously in this series Part 1: Lay down your weary tune Part 2: What is really sacred? Part 3: Every Grain, Released and Chimes of Freedom by Taigen Dan Leighton Ring Them Bells “Ring Them Bells” appeared on Dylan’s … Continue reading

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Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 6: O ye of little faith

Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 1 Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 2: All songs lead back t’ the sea Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 3: An amazing ability Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 4: The truth was not known Goodbye … Continue reading

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NET 2017 Part 3 You went through my pockets while I was sleeping

  By Mike Johnson An index to the entire series can be found here. In 2017 Dylan was still drawing heavily from Tempest (2012), with five songs regularly played. Before turning to those, however, let’s catch up with a few other … Continue reading

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Other people’s songs: Two Soldiers – and an amazing discovery

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood Aaron: I found some interesting details on the song from the SecondHandSongs website where we are told that aka “Blue Eyed Boston Boy” the “Two Soldiers” is “an American Civil War ballad written by … Continue reading

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Dylan cover a day: No 144 – The Groom’s Still Waiting at the Altar

By Tony Attwood This is one of my favourite songs, and I’ve always felt there is a lot one could do with it not least because of those opening lines… Prayed in the ghetto with my face in the cementHeard … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s hymns part 3: Every Grain, Released and Chimes of Freedom

  Previously in this series Part 1: Lay down your weary tune Part 2: What is really sacred? by Taigen Dan Leighton Every Grain of Sand In 1981 Dylan wrote “Every Grain of Sand” released on the “Shot of Love” … Continue reading

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Goodbye Jimmy Reed part 5: None of those songs with designated names are intentionally written

Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 1 Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 2: All songs lead back t’ the sea Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 3: An amazing ability Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 4: The truth was not known Goodbye … Continue reading

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The Never Ending Tour Extended: It ain’t me babe: 1994-98

  By Tony Attwood, with recordings presented by Mike Johnson in the Never Ending Tour Series. In this series we look at the way Bob has transformed his songs over time, in particular looking for the progression in his feelings … Continue reading

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NET 2017 Part 2 The Moveable Feast

By Mike Johnson (Kiwipoet) An index to the entire series can be found here. The Setlist which Dylan had developed in 2014, which saw him essentially playing the same concert night after night, was still in place in 2017, although … Continue reading

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Other People’s Songs: Come Rain or Come Shine

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood Aaron: “Come Rain or Come Shine” was written for the Broadway musical St. Louis Woman, which opened on March 30, 1946, and closed after 113 performances. Here is the St. Louis Woman – Original … Continue reading

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A Dylan Cover a Day: Temporary Like Achilles. Left in the cold, but there’s still something…

By Tony Attwood In running this series, which started as a diversion during Covid lockdown in England, when we were more or less refused permission to leave our houses, while (it later emerged) the government was throwing parties in Downing … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s hymns: What is really sacred. Part 2

  by Taigen Dan Leighton Part 1: Lay down your weary tune The word “weary” recalls a line from the great 19th century songwriter Stephen Foster (1826-1864), “All the world is sad and weary everywhere I go” from “The Old … Continue reading

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Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 4: The truth was not known

    Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 1 Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 2: All songs lead back t’ the sea Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 3: An amazing ability Goodbye Jimmy Reed (2020) part 4 by Jochen Markhorst IV         … Continue reading

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Other people’s songs: The Cuckoo

By Aaron Galbraith and Tony Attwood Details of this series which looks at songs by other composers that Bob has recorded, can be found at the foot of the article. Aaron: First published in the 1847 edition of “Popular Rhymes … Continue reading

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The Iconography of Bob Dylan’s Black Sunglasses

Dean+Barb on Wiki Commons, under CC BY 2.0 License. You can’t talk about unique visionaries in music without mentioning the eclectic artist Bob Dylan. His anthems still ring true, transcending generations, as evidenced by his 10-date tour in the UK … Continue reading

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The Never Ending Tour: 2017 part 1. Songs on the rebound

By Mike Johnson (Kiwipoet) An index to the full series appears here. By the time the 2017 NET kicked off on April 1st it was clear that the seventy-six year old Dylan was still on a roll, particularly when it … Continue reading

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Bob Dylan’s Hymns: What is Really Sacred? Lay down your weary tune

by Taigen Dan Leighton Introduction: What is Truly Sacred? One of Bob Dylan’s seminal songs is “It’s Alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” from “Bringing It All Back Home” in 1965. Dylan critiques the shallowness of contemporary consumerist culture that makes … Continue reading

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The Never Ending Tour Extended: Blind Willie McTell 1997 to 2006

By Tony Attwood In this series we look at the way Bob has transformed his songs over time, in particular looking for the progression in his feelings about and understanding of what the song offers and where it can be … Continue reading

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A Dylan Cover a Day 142: Tears of Rage

By Tony Attwood Tears of Rage has lyrics by Bob Dylan and music by Richard Manuel of The Band (who tragically passed away in 1986).   It was first recorded in 1967 and appeared the following year on the Band’s first … Continue reading

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NET 2016 Part 3: A New Art Form? Enter the Nobel Laureate

An index to the Never Ending Tour series can be found here. By Mike Johnson (Kiwipoet) “When I received the Nobel Prize for Literature, I got to wondering how exactly my songs related to literature,” Bob Dylan. “If people in … Continue reading

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