This series of articles aims to create a list of the subjects within Bob Dylan songs. The early articles reflect my attempts to come to terms with this subject – to understand the depth and breadth of what I was dealing with in terms of analysing Dylan into subjects.
It is my intention to go back over these early articles and review them later, having had the benefit of undertaking the reviews
1950s and 60s
- An early resume, including the 1950s songs. Dylan and the half truth
- Dylan in 1961: The Overview
- Bob Dylan’s early songs of love and lost love (1961/2)
- Bob Dylan: the protest singer. Well, not really (1961/2)
- Bob Dylan and the Blues: leaving town in all directions at once (1961/2)
- Bob Dylan: the songs of moving on 1961/62
- Dylan in 1963: Dylan the storyteller
- The subject matter of Dylan songs in 1963
- What was Dylan writing about? The 20 songs of 1964.
- Dylan in 1964: the year of multiple masterpieces
- Bob Dylan in 1965: Surrealism meets rock meets dada meets disdain
- Dylan in 1966: what was Dylan writing about and how did it compare with previous years
- 1966: The creation of the masterpiece and decline into desperation
- What Dylan was writing about in the New Basement Tapes notebooks
- The meanings of the original songs in the Basement tapes part 1
- Being trapped: the meanings of Bob Dylan’Basement songs part 2
- The subject matter of Dylan’s Basement Tapes songs. Part 3
- The subject matter of the Basement tapes compared to other Dylan songs
- The subject matter of the John Wesley Harding songs
- Lay lady lay to Nashville Skyline The meanings of Dylan’s songs in 1968/9
- Conclusion: Was Dylan ever really a protest singer – even in the 1960s?
1970s
- The meanings behind Bob Dylan’s 15 compositions of 1970
- The subject matter of Bob Dylan’s songs 1971-3
- The subject matter of Bob Dylan’s songs 1974
- Dylan songs of 1975: the meaning
- The subject matter of Bob Dylan’s songs 1976
- Dylan songs of 1976/7: the meanings
- Dylan songs of 1978: the meanings in Bob’s troubled year.
- Dylan songs in 1979: after the anxiety, the certainty
1980s
- 1980 Part 1: Bob says to Tony, “Make me an album” previous link corrected, sorry
- 1980 Part 2: Make me an album part 2
- 1980 Part 3: The hopes and fears and dreams of the discontented
- 1981: Back to the old ways; (But it doesn’t always work)
- 1982/3: Songs of Untold Genius – the year of no going back
- 1984: Back to the old ways (again)
- 1985: Bob Dylan slips back into negativity
- 1986: The year Dylan slowly turned himself all around
- 1987/8: Possibly the greatest trilogy of compositions in Dylan’s career
- 1989: The menace emerges
1990s
- 1990: The rebirth of protest before the end of all songs
- Bob Dylan’s songwriting1991- 1996: the end of everything
- 1997/8: That oh so very very clear theme
21st century