Cover #2

"Like A Rolling Stone," The Rolling Stones

Cover #1

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues," Bryan Ferry

Great Dylan Lines, #1

So now I’m goin’ back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue

"Tangled Up In Blue"

"Two Soldiers"

One of my favorite Dylan songs is the old folk song "Two Soldiers," which appeared on his 1993 solo acoustic album "World Gone Wrong."

It's a heartbreaking song, one that tells the story of two soldiers heading off to the Civil War. In the event that one of them does not make it back, they make a promise to each other. Unfortunately, neither one of them gets to keep the promise.

While 1997’s “Time Out of Mind” was a masterpiece and rightly hailed as a return to legendary form, it was on "World Gone Wrong" - and the album that preceded it, "Good As I Been To You" - where Dylan truly regained his voice, and set the stage for what certainly is the most remarkable comeback this side of Elvis’ 1968 TV special. Both of the albums consisted entirely of old folk songs and standards, just Dylan and his guitar, and it was if the simple act of recording those old songs was an artistic cleansing that allowed him to emerge as an even stronger, wiser artist.

The fruit of his efforts paid off on "Two Soldiers." Dylan's vocal is one of his best, and the guitar playing is simply masterful. You can find the album cheap on Amazon.com, and it's well worth buying the whole thing - even if you only listen to this song.

He was just a blue-eyed Boston boy,
His voice was low with pain.
"I'll do your bidding, comrade mine,
If I ride back again.

But if you ride back and I am left,
You'll do as much for me,
Mother, you know, must hear the news,
So write to her tenderly.

"She's waiting at home like a patient saint,
Her fond face pale with woe.
Her heart will be broken when I am gone,
I'll see her soon, I know."
Just then the order came to charge,
For an instance hand touched hand.
They said, "Aye," and away they rode,
That brave and devoted band.

Straight was the track to the top of the hill,
The rebels they shot and shelled,
Plowed furrows of death through the toiling ranks,
And guarded them as they fell.
There soon came a horrible dying yell
From heights that they could not gain,
And those whom doom and death had spared
Rode slowly back again.

But among the dead that were left on the hill
Was the boy with the curly hair.
The tall dark man who rode by his side
Lay dead beside him there.
There's no one to write to the blue-eyed girl
The words that her lover had said.
Momma, you know, awaits the news,
And she'll only know he's dead.

Rolling Stone Celebrates Bob

Head on over here, to read Rolling Stone's coverage of Bob's 70th.

In the most recent edition, RS unveils the top 70 Dylan songs, as selected by a panel including Greil Marcus, Jon Landau, and Mikal Gilmore.

In the days to come, I'll write a bit about some of my own Dylan favorites, songs that didn't make the Top 70 list.

Dylanfest!

Bob Dylan turns 70 on Tuesday, which means that it's time to celebrate.

There's no disputing (in my mind, at least) that Elvis Presley was the King of Rock 'n Roll. But having said that, I don't think it's a contradiction in terms to refer to Dylan as the greatest artist, bar none, of the rock era.

Everyone has their favorite Dylan song, everyone has their favorite Dylan album, and everyone has their favorite Dylan era (some people even enjoy "the Christian period"!). Dylan has made great music almost 50 years now, and like all great artists, he's also produced a fair amount of less-than-stellar work. But no one has produced seven masterpieces - and when I say "masterpiece," I mean works of absolute perfection.

For me, those seven are:

Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde on Blonde
The Basement Tapes (with The Band)
Blood on the Tracks
Time Out of Mind
Love and Theft
Modern Times

So for the next few days, it will be all Dylan, all the time. Hope you enjoy.