Hip Hop Fan's First Listen and Analysis of Visions of Johanna by Bob Dylan
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This is in my opinion one of the absolute best ever written songs from a lyrical standpoint, and one of my favorite songs of all time. This reaction made my day. Thank you!
Hard to pick a favourite, as these things change depending on current moods. But this one will always be in my top three for sure. What a lyrical masterpiece, as you say.
No better song. Lyrics and music.
My favourite Dylan song by a country mile!
Great song.
..'the fish truck that loads while my conscience explodes' is the definitive line that clarifies this song. You can only understand this if you have ever tried taking a psychedelic excursion in the warehouse section of NYC. That is why so many hippies got out of town and never went back. Johanna is the image of what every man looks for in a partner, but never attains, and this insight makes the fish truck ooze and stink even worse. See 'Positively Forth Street.' See 'Corrina, Corrina', and please look at 'Desolation Row' for a good view of the big picture. Dylan is an inspired genius of the highest order and he is the voice of America. The harmonica for Dylan is like the pipes for Pan, every squeak makes the flowers grow.
Great insight and eloquent expression on the fish trucks. I feel the same way. They are a seminal city image roaring out of docks and markets to the concrete jungle early in the morning. Whether Johanna is a person (ideal partner) or the "ideals" of" Johanna" (Baez) of a better world that she she never gave up but Dylan here seems to have done is the song's great central ambiguity.
Johanna means "Visions of God"
That have now taken my place :)
@@kenkaplan3654 interesting. never thought visions of Johanna could also be Baez's ideals.
@@waz3128 That's my take but the meaning of the Visions is not absolute. Some say "Johanna" is a word for God. Although it seems as if it's about a relationship, and I do think Baez is Johanna (she thought so too), it is the "Visions" of Johanna that are important. So it could be Visions OF Johanna (longing for the person) or VISIONS of Johanna, what were/are the visions that inspired Johanna a higher ideal. For me the depth of the song, it's profound existential nature, arenas outside relationship (the museum, the fish truck, the empty lot, it's very very "Beat like-Ginsberg, Kerouac) to be just about a lost lover. Also Dylan got married a few months before. Also Blonde on Blonde reeks of existential despair and betrayal-Stuck Inside of Mobile, Just Like a Woman, , Absolutely Sweet Marie, 4th time around. etc so the song is compatible with those and a direct similar expression to the existential bleakness of Stuck Inside of Mobile. VOJ however is at a higher octave of surrealistic and poetic expression. Absolutely One of his greatest works.
One last thing. there are strong similarities in VOJ to Tambourine Man but in TM, the desire for transcendence is youthful and hopeful where here the singer feels that transcendence is impossible to reach, those hopes have been dashed.
"An’ here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get out of
Going through all these things twice (Just twice????)
But who really knows?
This line always reminds me of when we were trying to sleep in on a Sunday morning at our all male dorm in college, and the garbage trucks and delivery trucks would clang outside while we were hung over and trying to sleep!
Same with the words "the heat pipes just cough".. it was much like living in a flophouse or Lower Manhattan dive lolol
You definitely gotta do “It’s alright ma I’m only bleeding” by Dylan next. I personally think it contains his most amazing lyrics and is also an amazing proto rap song. An absolute must listen! Great reaction
And "Desolation Row"
The ignorance of music history.
There is a long tradition in blues of TALKING BLUES. Dylan got it largely from his folk idol Woodie Guthrie who often used it.
Screw the prancing ego-tripping ME-ism of "Rap" and "Hip-Hop".
@@jnagarya519 "The young hip-hop pioneers of the early 80s weren't, by in large, listening to Dylan, however, and certainly not his deeper cuts like "Subterranean Homesick Blues." Instead, they were taking inspiration from the Jamaican tradition of "toasting" over a beat, novelty records like Black comedian Pigmeat Markham's "Here Comes The Judge," and Black spoken word artists like the Last Poets and Gil Scott-Heron. (While Scott-Heron was often compared to Dylan, and was certainly aware of his work, he explicitly denied any direct influence.)
To put it another way, there's a long line of Black spoken-word with musical accompaniment that predates the talking blues lineage, and doesn't have any traceable debts to it. For that reason, there's no reason to look to the talking blues as anything more than an incidental predecessor to rap. If they have a familial resemblance, it's most likely due to their most recent common ancestor --early twentieth-century Black folk music. But then again, that source was the wellspring for nearly all twentieth-century American popular music styles.
@@kenkaplan3654 Well said.
The problem is the lack of knowledge of music history, and therefore seeing Dylan as an "originator" as "proto-RAP" (or whatever the nomenclature).
Dylan was influenced primarily by Woodie Guthrie's talking blues. But that of course, was from Black folk/folk blues tradition.
@@jnagarya519 Well It wasn't me but as a folklorist who studied for a week with the Georgia Sea Island Singers, whose mother was Bessie Jones, I did a search because I suspected the roots went deeper and were in the black experience. So someone else expressed this but it seems to be the consensus. Rock itself grew out of black rhythm and blues. Nearly all white artists in the 60's were influenced by (one could say stole from) black R and B and blues artists. The whites became millionaires. A lot of this traces back to Africa and in the US the slave tradition.
Syed…you have a feel for Dylan, and are probably the best reactor now doing any of his works. I know you have many different artists to explore..but perhaps you might consider doing Dylan once a week? Start with Freewheelin’ and move through five or so albums….I think Dylan would be in good hands with you….and most young reactors just frankly don’t get him.
“Wow I really hear a lot of Coldplay in this!”
Oh my god, I thought no one would ever react to this song. Blonde on Blonde is one of my top 3 albums, and this song has come to me in my head randomly since my dad played it on the stereo when I was a child.
Dude I think you were made for analyzing Dylan's lyrics. Great stuff
"Louise she's alright, she's just near,
and makes it all too concise and too clear,
that Johanna's not here."
Stuff like this is the definition of heartbreak.
this is one of his songs/poems specified by the Nobel Committee Dylan and words can't beat it and the harmonica is a killer.
The harmonica gives me goose bumps. No one can play that instrument like Bob.
It takes a lot to laugh, It takes a train to cry.
This is my all time favourite song, not just by Dylan, but by anyone,
It’s held my interest for 55 years and each time I hear it I get new insights or “visions”.
"The jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule"
That's so Dylan.
One of his greatest songs. The Live ‘66 recording is the definitive version. You’re gonna have fun discovering more Dylan. Quite simply he’s the best songwriter of all time. My favourite artist.
Try ‘Just Like A Woman’, ‘Tangled Up In Blue’, ‘Series of Dreams’, ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’, ‘Gates of Eden’, ‘Most of the Time’ and many others
With all due respect, the Blonde on Blonde version is the definitive version. It’s one of the greatest studio recordings of all time.
´God on our side´, ´Changing of the guards´, ´Boots of Spanish leather´, ´Chimes of freedom´, `My back Pages´
To add some more great examples!
@@thebacons5943 we’ll have to agree to differ
Agreed.
@@carlburnett5986 love me some live 66 visions of Johanna
This song begs to be listened to alone in a darkened room, one of my all time favorites. Loved your reaction to "the ghost of lectricity howls in the bones of her face." So many lines create almost hallucinatory visuals that can be experienced over n over again finding new meanings with each listen. Thanks for doing this song.
They are trip-visions, not exactly hallucinations. Your thoughts made into pictures.
I know it does not take as much views as other artists, but personally I would love to see more reactions on Bob Dylan's songs
His songs will still be sung a million years from now.
@@kenbellchambers4577 only by those who've kept a close watch on their towels.
Syed, you are absolutely the best at breaking down these tracks...especially on a first listen. Incredible. I agree, I think it's your hip hop background that has prepared you to really 'listen' to the lyrics, the beat and flow of someone like Bob Dylan. There was a thing called the 'talking blues' that influenced a lot of Dylan's style (see Woody Guthrie, Ramblin' Jack Elliot and older blues singers), often just a three chord progression with vocals in a rhythmic, flat tone sung in almost a speaking voice. Lastly, you called the 'Madonna' before you knew it was coming! The Madonna shows up again in Joan Baez' song to Bob Dylan, 'Diamonds and Rust'..."Temporarily lost at sea, the Madonna was yours for free" 🙂 try out 'It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)'
Right! And Joan Baez was commonly referred to by her own fans AS "the Madonna" in the early years of the 1960's, because of her general appearance and because she radiated a kind of purity, dignity, spirituality, and idealism that fit that title. (Completely, utterly different from the style set by Madonna Ciccone in the 80's and since... 😄) The Madonna in music back then was Joan Baez, and it's got to be her that Bob is referring to.
That line "The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face" is such a tremendous piece of observation. This and Tangled Up in Blue are my two favorites from Dylan for how great the lyrics are.
Since I discovered dylan's music five years ago, few songs have seemed as beautiful as this one, the lyrics can take on different meanings with each listen and I think that's the magic of this song and the album (Blonde on Blonde) in general.
Totally agree about the resonance of Bob Dylan's words and imagery. Half of it sinks into the listener's subconscious mind as the song plays itself out. Brilliant
Of course you are correct about Dylan not being for everyone. I want to tell you how much I appreciate how intelligently you react to every reaction I've seen you do. I put you amongst the top of all other reactors for that. Thank you for actually listening and breaking down these reactions with your analysis.
This is the reason you are my fave Music Reaction Channel
I love the song picks
Aswell as the way you paint a living picture of the lyrics with your mind
Keep it up Syed
You'll see Bob is a chameleon from song to song, album to album as you get deeper into his catalog. I absolutely love the guitars in this song, love the whole song. I love the way Dylan delivers words and lines. Try songs Lay Lady Lay and Positively 4th Street among many.
He always liked to rhyme, and he did state that he like Rap. He made some verses for a music for Kurtis Blow, "Street Rock" and Public Enemy made a homage to him in the track""The Long and Winding Road". It's alright Ma and Subterranean Homesick Blues has much Rap vibe.
The Rolling Stones paid a tribute to the verse"Jewells and binoculars hanging on the head of the mule in the cover of the Get Yer Ya Ya's Out
"Stream of consciousness".... You hit on the right term to describe a lot of Dylan's lyrical output. I think when listening to several of Dylan's songs it helps to consider them as the musical/poetic versions of Salvadore Dali's paintings. In many ways, a lot of Dylan's stuff is surrealism at its best, often starkly vivid in it's imagery and yet elusive at the same time, much the same way that dreams make sense as they're happening but not so much when you're awake and think back on them.
Thank you! This is what I want to say to all the people who say his lyrics make “no sense”.
Yes please but also his contemporaries included Lenny Bruce and mort sahl and the beats.
All very stream of consciousness
I’d also say that early American musics lyrical content was highly poetic and evocative
Both from the African tradition as well as Ireland/Scotland/wales
A voice gives your opinions a platform, and gifts you with the opportunity to have perspective and knowledge on things that matter. No two voices are the same, each voice has something different to say. And in a world that needs to represent freedom and democracy, a voice is a powerful symbol of this.
You gotta do Dylan's Tangled Up In Blue
Seconded! Great track.🖖🏼
I’ve seen Bob Dylan six times. And each time I saw him he played tangled up in blue. And each time he changed some of the words. I know of at least 4 maybe 5 recorded versions of Tangled Up In Blue with different lyrics. Even a Christian version. I love Dylan.
👍 Syed, you might give a listen to ‘Senor’, off the album, ‘Street Legal’. A real gem!😊✌️
Fun fact: The picture on the cover of the Stone's second live album (1970) "Get Your Ya Ya's Out" has a mule in it along with Charlie Watts. Guess what's hanging on the neck of the mule? Jewels and binoculars of course!
Dylan's captivating lyrics and unique voice get most of the attention. But Dylan is also creating a sound that drives this song along. The Nashville musicians who play on this track are brilliant -- the throbbing bass, the groove, the guitar licks. So underrated!
A good first listen and analysis of on of my favorite Dylan tracks. Thank you. Try "I Dreamed i saw St Augustine" - a stunning, haunting song.
There is a town on a river in NSW called Bellingen. The River is called the Bellinger.
That last comment here is exactly what I was thinking. It’s Alright Ma is going to blow your mind.
I was 14 years old first time I heard it.
Dylan. There will never be another
The first line always kills me--"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're trying to be so quiet..."
Sorry to make another comment, but one line you talked about was "jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule." Check the Rolling Stones album cover out for "Get Your Yayas Out." It should bring a smile.
“The ghost of ‘lectricity howls in the bones of her face…” one of the best lines ever- think about the lights flickering in the opposite loft- I always see that when I hear the ghost line- 2 lovers lying together, the country music playing, the radiator in the west village flat making noises and the lights flickering and reflected in the woman’s face. Visually Lucious, emotionally poignant. You can feel the intimacy AND the distance at the same time. It’s something Dylan does that is unparalleled.
This song is often what I say is my favorite- though in reality, I can’t choose just one.
So glad your channel popped into my algorithm.
Thanks for the great songs!
An edit: I have enjoyed your reaction to this track so much- watching someone discover a gem and just be so unabashedly, exuberantly affected is lovely.
And after listening to this song for 50 plus years I “heard”something I hadn’t thought of before- what if the Visions of Johanna are not his visions of her but Johanna’s visions of him or a situation that he is being affected by. I don’t know why that never occurred to me before- I mean- I have played that song on repeat many times. I have an old CD with about a dozen live versions. And THAT is what Bob Dylan doe with language- layers and layers, hundreds of listens and something new pops up. Mind blown 🤯
@ Oh-Mercy:
[I “heard”something I hadn’t thought of before- what if the Visions of Johanna are not his visions of her but Johanna’s visions of him]
That's an interesting idea, but the line "These visions of Johanna, they kept me up past the dawn" point to him having the visions. You never really know with Blonde on Blonde tracks, though.
Excellent review. More Dylan essentials:
_Blood On The Tracks_ (1975) - the crown jewel album
"Subterranean Homesick Alien" _Bringing It All Back Home_
"4th Time Around" _Blonde On Blonde_
"Lay Lady Lay" _Nashville Skyline_
"I Shall Be Released" (1971)
"Ballad Of A Thin Man" _Highway 61 Revisited_
For the fan of the 'lyrically dense':
- Joni Mitchell "Edith & The Kingpin" (1975) / "Marcie" (1968)
- Leonard Cohen "Stranger Song" / "Master Song" (1968)
- Scott Walker "Boy Child" (1969) / "Big Louise" (1967)
- David Bowie "Life On Mars?" / "Quicksand" (1972)
- Gil Scott-Heron "We Almost Lost Detroit" (1977) / "B Movie" (1982)
If Dylan had written nothing more than this, "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" and "Desolation Row" then his Nobel prize would still have been years too late. This period with albums "Bringing it all back Home", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde" was the pinnacle of his career. For me, only "Blood on the Tracks" gets near to them.
Fabulous lines:
"Name me someone who's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him" is a savage truth for us all.
I've heard that Masters degrees have been given for studies of the songs of the Beatles - there must be a Phd in philosophy for someone in analysing the significance of:
"Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial
"Voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while
"and the Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues, you can tell by the way she smiles"
There's much there about the nature of immortality though I've never figured out how that fits in to his lament that Johanna isn't around :)
In a later interview Dylan has admitted that even he doesn't know where this stuff came from during this period. There is something magical here.
"This period with albums "Bringing it all back Home", "Highway 61 Revisited" and "Blonde on Blonde" was the pinnacle of his career. For me, only "Blood on the Tracks" gets near to them" Boy do I agree with you 1000 %. I think Dylan was quite aware of what he wanted to say. Songs like "It's All Right Ma", "Tombstone Blues, "Highway 61", "Stuck Inside of Mobile" and "Desolation Row" are too thematically coherent (within themselves and with other songs). However HOW his process worked to create them is not that definable and mysterious as images probably came to him like waves on the ocean or the string flow of a river.
Planted into his mind through MKULTRA dreams. It’s the case for nearly all those musicians at the time. And then you find out the music is the exact same as obscure Neapolitan operatic music… 🤔 you’re being lied too and I for one do not like that. Read Dave McGowans book Weird Scenes Inside Laurel Canyon. This will get the ball rolling for you.
Ithink you'll have a long and fruitful journey listening to Dylan.
Wow, great choice, excited to see your reaction and analysis
Nice! I’m a weird Dylan fan in that I hear his voice as an instrument and tend to do so with music in general, but when you break it down, I re-appreciate music I already love… that was an organ by the way, was a few years before synthesizers were made… love this whole album…
Brillianrt breakdown. This is my all-time favourite song for more than 40 years. Every time I hear it I hear smething new. To hear your immediate reaction (with the background research you've done) have opened my eyes to a brutally honest interpretation - great job, THANK YOU!!!!
I've loved this song for decades- and I so enjoyed watching you getting into it!
Wishing you all the love of your life
Hey I just wanted to say I really enjoy your reactions, out of all of the ones I follow you dig the deepest and most clearly into the lyrics. Peace!!!! Thanks for the entertainment and insight!
MUST mention Bob’s amazing and captivating vocalisations that change MID VERSES… quite incredible… you don’t hear that very often with artists 🎼🎸 that’s Dylan 😉
That’s an organ! Synths were not invented yet. Oh and also my name comes from this song
The song you really need go hear is A Hard Rain’s a-gonna Fall - preferably the version from the album the Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, since none of his live versions have the same intensity. He wrote it as a response to the Cuban Missile Crisis, a two week period in which the threat of nuclear apocalypse looked very real, and as he put it every line could be the start of an entire song he didn’t have time to write. It might very well be his greatest song or greatest statement- I’m mystified that it’s been ignored by the other people commenting here.
I love how a hip hop artist can resonate with Dylans music and lyrics...... once you got down the dylan lyrical rabbit hole you can't escape!
Great videos bro.
Huge Dylan fan here. You do a great job of reacting to him! Keep up the great work.
You're right about the relationship with the muse. There's a neurological phenomenon sometimes associated with that relationship which is the genesis of this song. When you constantly look at a picture of someone a persistent afterimage remains when you close your eyes. This can also happen with a mental image of someone you have formed from constantly thinking about them. It can be hard to sleep with this persistent afterimage in your head. This is what was driving Dylan's insomnia. He was already well aware of the impact of the muse on the work of an artist or poet. He goes on here to develop the idea that art is not just something found in museums but takes place in the psyche of the artist.
This is my favorite Dylan song, if not my favorite song, period. Loved your reaction, which shows both an emotional and intellectual connection. You are doing a great job on this channel!
Love your analysis of Dylan songs. I have been listening to Dylan since ‘65 and your posts always give me much to think of. Thank uou
Spot on analysis. The song is a masterpiece. And just like tangled up in blue, he drifts from "i" to "he" -- kind of stepping back and writing the song like an observer -- detached, just like he is with the girl. amazing.
Loving the dylan reactions cheers
Great. Now I have to watch all your Dylan videos!
Blown away. I thought I had a pretty good grasp of Bob Dylan’s songs but somehow never heard this song until now. WTFf!
Having your comments on my first listen of Visions of Johanna for the for the first time was awesome.
The music of Bob Dylan is a great lane for your channel.
Check out 'Subterranean homesick blues' - a masterpiece of lyricism and then, the Weird Al parody of that called 'Bob'. The whole song is loaded with palindromic phrases. Also a masterpiece of lyric writing. Both songs should if possible be watching the videos. Absolute classics. Not forgetting that most artists thought it a great honour to be parodied by Al. Thanks for the analysis Syed.
I played this song to a friend of mine in about 1971. When the line "The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face" came up, he fell backwards off the chair. Yeah!
You get Dylan! Love how you analyze it, just Great. Please continue:)
By far my favourite song... love how you reacted to my favourite line, The ghost of 'lectricity. Thanks for sharing!
Stunning first reaction to a flat out cold classic by Dylan. I was never much of a hip hop fan (unlike Dylan himself) but, if the lyrical connection that you bring to Dylan’s work goes the other way, I am all in. Thanks for sharing your personal exploration of great music in general and Dylan in particular.
I love Dylan. Sometimes I think he just writes for the rhyme. Then we invent a meaning that resonates with us. It’s like a dream.
As always, along with the amazing lyrics and fantastic music, the WAY Dylan sings makes this a great song.
BTW, the way Dylan sings 'Jewels and binoculars' in the live version released in his first boxed set has been burned deep in my soul since I first heard it.
it's a pleasure to watch you fall in love with dylan's songs.
Bro, I love the fact you're listening and dissecting these Dylan tracks.. My face looked just like yours the first time..
Well young man, you have made some astute observations about this magnificent piece of music. Thanks. I'm 72 and I saw Dylan in 1966 on his famous world tour when I was 15. Backed by the Hawks who became the " Band."
He played this song, but solo. Just his guitar and harp. ( check out the version on Martin Scorsese doco "No Direction Home" from a 1966 UK concert.) Dylan's music is surrealism in words. Check out "What Was It You Wanted" from his " Oh Mercy" album.
Sometimes I feel this is my favorite Dylan song--excessively hard to pick one--so I won't. But this song is fantastic. I also admire and appreciate your attempt at the near impossible--translating Dylan's metaphors.
“Dylan first performed "Visions of Johanna" in public on December 4, 1965, at the Berkeley Community Theatre. Present at this concert was Joan Baez, who believed the lyrics referred to her. She said, "He'd just written 'Visions of Johanna', which sounded very suspicious to me...he'd never performed it before and Neuwirth told him I was there that night and he performed it."” Hmm…I always heard it was about Joanie…😍😍😍
I agree but all these people will think different.
great song and a good attempt at analysis . handful of rain i've always taken to refer to the temptation of smack. curious that you seem not to notice the effect of the hammond organ. i do enjoy your appreciation of a song that i've listened to since it was released.
Really enjoy these takes on Dylan!
It’s interesting, hearing your analysis of this song makes me realize that I listen to Dylan in a very different way from you (or maybe from most people?) in that, despite having listened to this song hundreds of times over the last 30 years or so, I’ve never tried to make any literal or even metaphorical sense of the lyrics - I just let them wash over me and take them as individual images, vignettes.
Take a line like “Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule” - to me that’s just a gorgeous image that fits the tone of the song like a glove, and it’s never occurred to me even once to look deeper into it as being some sort of comment on materialism.
Once you really hear this song, you can never unhear it! The extraordinary musician’s performances, those drums, guitar, accents! That organ. And, of course Dylan’s poetry and delivery. Great reaction video.
Another excellent reaction, appreciate that you had the lyrics up for this one, and props for the Taxi Driver allusion. Also, can't resist pedantically letting you know it's pronounces "buy-ez" (and as some others have commented, would be interesting for you to react to her Diamonds and Rust at some point). Would love a reaction from you on Dylan's Dirge from his 1974 Planet Waves album.
Enjoyed that reaction immensely. Do more Dylan please
Sorry for your trouble with TH-cam. I hope you can stay "on the air". Your remarks and insights are among the most intelligent and I have encountered. thanks for your efforts thus far and hope you'll be around in the future. GBWY.
Dear Hip Hop fan, it was a delight to see and hear your reaction to this song. I have known it for years and not properly understood the words but I have such a strong feeling about it. It always makes me cry. Johanna means Grace of God or Gracious God in Hebrew so that's where he was going with it. The small city stuff is right there for all to see but it's all in God's perfection. I'm not religious, by the way and i don't think Dylan is but he's an intuitive, a seer, with beautiful messages for us all.
Highway 61 is a good one.
I really enjoyed your cleaver , insightful analysis , because on my own I would draw a complete blank.
I'm glad you really liked the line, "The ghosts of electricity howl in the bones of her face." I loved it . . . so much so, it was the main reason I named my daughter "Louise." She's well into adulthood now and knows where her name came from, but I still can't explain to her what the hell it means.
thanks for sharing, I think more hip hop fans would also appreciate Dylan BARZ
Trying to "interpret" this is a fool's errand. Every pleasure this has is right on the surface of the text. Every verse follows a strict 3-4-2 structure and, over the course of the rather long song, even if you're not consciously counting, the rhythm sinks in and you expect it. When he drags out a line, suggesting he's going to abandon the structure, it's downright riveting.
I'm impressed by how much you understood on first listen with this difficult song, especially about Dylan splitting himself off in the verse "Little Boy Lost." I personally think the "Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule" is just about ugly, nowhere women in a museum, who have no understanding of beauty. I think the main thing you are missing is an understanding of Dylan's relationship with Joan Baez, who is a very pure, idealistic person, and also very beautiful (even now, amazingly enough).
“Jewels and binoculars hang from the head of the mule.” This is a famous line from T. S. Eliot’s modernist epic “The Waste Land” .
This is one of Dylan’s most brilliant songs . It’s great to see someone tacking it, going beyond Like a Rolling Stone and Blowin in the Wind, as great as they are.
My take on this song is how Dylan typically uses an existential experience to create a song. In this instance, he is caught in a power-cut in the back streets of NY surrounded by the night and all that goes on. He then uses the metaphor 'lights out' in relation to the characters he uses to narrate the unfolding scene.
A Dylanologist, whose name I forget, tried to locate the apartment figuring it overlooked the 'D' train tracks, Museum, Red-light area and fish market - he reckoned it wasn't too far away from Washington Sq where he lived for a short while.
For me, if you go on a quest to unravel Dylan's lyrics then you need to get into Jack Kerouac's novels, you see plenty of instances of influence in Dylan's songs.
Great analysis, if possible check out Dylan's "Desolation Row".
I saw him play this live in Liverpool in 1966.
On a first listen, your acuity is pretty amazing. It took me years to dope this out.
The Royal Albert Hall live version of this may be Dylan’s best live performance along with Mr Tambourine Man from 1965’s Newport Folk Festival.
Grear reaction. Keep doing Dylan 😊
There were times when he would record these songs and surprise the band by changing things in the middle of a take. If you listen closely, you can hear, at about 14:29, after the line "Where her cape of the stage once had flowed", the band starts to go into the changes in the last two lines of every verse and and quickly returns when they realize he's added extra lines to this verse. I always found that pretty amusing. Of course the band has just played 4 verses with 28 measures of lyrics to a verse and Dylan suddenly surprises them with a last verse containing 34 measures of lyrics!
Good to see someone else gets the Dylan hip hop link. I arrived at both seperately, but around the same time and realised that what I liked about both was the same thing. If that makes sense.
I highly recommend Desolation Row from this period, and Where Are You Tonight? From the late ‘70s.
He's a deep well bro' Try " Desolation Row " another tune with great lyrical imagery .
People have possibly already noted, but Johanna shares some familiarity to the sound of "Gehenna", a place in the Valley of Hinnom (believed to be the place where Armageddon, the battle that ends the world will occur).
Take this song from the perspective that the visions of Johanna that are haunting him could be this haunting vision of the end of all things and it gives it a very interesting feel. He is a man who is confronted by all kinds of imagery of modernity, but all he can see is the end that will come for all things.
It's interesting to hear a real literal reading of these lyrics. To me it's far more impressionistic.
One of my favourite songs, and I love your response to it. One thing to consider: verse three, about Little Boy Lost, may be sung by Louise.
One thing to add about the jewels and binoculars hanging from the head of the mule, there’s a sense of mule-headedness being equal to stubbornness. I think that he is referring somewhat to the rigidity that people bring to viewing art. Also, a mule is the offspring of a donkey, and a horse, and in itself is impotent and sexless. So the mule here is both stubborn and rigid, with regard to art and lacks vitality to create something new in or from itself.
Syed - The hallway verse, that’s Louise talking. Listening to him, muttering, not focused on her. Little Boy Lost, that’s from her perspective. Well, that’s the way I hear it. 😀. Great take on this one Syed.
His singing in this, as in "Mr. Tambourine Man," is beautiful.
That was a fire moment when Madonna turned up in the song.
haha yh that was dope
Always loved the "ghosts of 'lectricty" line.