"Blonde On Blonde " is a Masterpiece and my desert Island album cause it is nothing short of brilliant. I have been listening to it for over 50 years and never,never tire of it. So glad you recognize how great he is...LOVE IT !!!
Same here. I was in college when it came out. Blonde On Blonde is also my desert island album, and if it came to it Visions Of Johanna is my desert island song!
Damn another Dylan song, Us Dylan fans are eating good out here hell yeah In 1966 when this album came out he was deep in the pop culture of the time there was alot of expectations on him from fans, media and other muscians alike and you get this kind of weary feeling in the delivery of the song and this album. The 1966 world tour would be his last tour for 8 years that's how weary and strung out on amphetamines he was trying to cope with the booing from audiences and the pressure of being "the voice of a generation" Obviously Dylans vocals and lyrics is the main focus with most of his songs but the actual music here is beautifully done this bluesy country sound while everyone and their mother at the time was moving to the LA's Laurel canyon with the byrds and the beach boys and going for that sound Dylan took this album down to Nashville and had some Nashville session muscians play on it once again marching to the beat of his own drum.
This is one of the greatest, most poetic songs ever written. Reaches into the depths of a broken soul and exposes all that it finds to the rest of the world through art/artistic expression - but most either don't see it or understand, while the suffering artist is simply consumed by the act.
@@donfette5301 Not in the context of the song and its milieu - hence, Louise has another agenda and just offers him what she thinks he wants (while not actually listening or understanding him); the night watchman wonders who's insane and the all night girls out for distraction; little boy lost, to whom he doesn't know how to explain in a way that the boy could understand; and the absurdity of the paintings' messages: all breakdowns in communications - but I appreciate your assist in proving a broader, supplemental point, I suppose ...
You're right. Bob Johnson his producer said of Dylan in the studio You could tell he couldn't help doing what he was doing There was a holiness about him like the Holy Spirit had just come and kicked him up the Ass ! You were right you can't replicate this
"The ghosts of electricity howls in the bones of her face," what a visual this creates within a song that creates scenes and events that i can listen to and picture indefinitely, beautiful song.
I love your reaction videos. And I've been a fan of Dylan since I discovered him in 1986. ( I was born in 1969, so I didn't catch him in his prime). I think it's not so much that he sounds careless in his songs, as you say, but that he learned from Jazz and especially Miles Davis the art of the cool--how to sound objective, even while suffering. The speaker in this song is in a lot of pain, but also somehow seems detached, speaking from outside the situation. So maybe that's what you mean by careless. He's a whole universe to discover and enjoy. Thanks, again.
Mr. Wilburn, you not only have great and valuable insights into Bob Dylan, but also in all the music you share. I am always impressed by your interpretations of what you listen to,
"Visions of Johanna" is one of Bob's absolute greatest songs, and it might be my favorite one of them all. I've covered it countless times by now, not to say that I can match how Bob did it or does it, because no one can. The Johanna referred to in the song is probably Joan Baez, the great folksinger of the 1960's, she who did a lot of music with Bob in 1962 to 1965, and did much to help his early career. They did whole concert tours together, introducing Bob to Joan's audience and would sing amazing duets, combining their very different voices in a most effective way. They were also romantically involved during a significant part of that time, and that came to an end sometime in 1965, and I think the melancholy and weary tone of the song is Bob's sense of regret (and acceptance) over their estrangement...as well as his weariness with the entire crazy whirlwind of pressure he was under in 1966 with his outrageous fame, the press and fans hounding him, and the frenetic touring schedule....it was coming close to destroying him. Joan and Bob re-connected their friendship and their musical collaboration in 1975 when he did the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and they will clearly always matter greatly to one another. Joan Baez was often referred to by her fans in the 60's as "the Madonna" (long before the singer Madonna was around), because she radiated a kind of purity, grace, and dignity. Note that Bob says in the final verse: "And Madonna, she still has not showed. We see this empty cage now corrode. Where her cape of the stage, once it flowed. The fiddler (Dylan) he now steps to the road. He writes, 'everything is returned which was owed'. On the back of the fish truck that loads, while my conscious explodes!" He was clearly feeling a sense of regret and loss over their breaking up, but his mind was turning to his future wife, Sara, and that's just how it had to be. He married the right woman. It would never have worked with him and Joan, and they both really knew that. It did work with Sara...for 8 years.
It must be hard for younger people to fully appreciate how groundbreaking Dylan was/is, but try to imagine what it must have been like when this came out in 1966. There was absolutely nothing like it ever before (or since, for that matter). The Beatles hadn’t even yet written songs with really deep lyrical content like this, but they soon would because this album and his others from the same period opened everyone’s eyes as to what could actually be done with a song. Seriously, before that it was all bubble gum chicks and cars and surfing. After Dylan came along popular culture grew up.
I remember how horrified my parents were when I began listening to Bob Dylan in the mid-sixties. Of course, this was only the beginning of my bohemian life style, which lasted only about three years. The world view I embrace to this day is not expressed as an aged hipster, but my opinions, beliefs, and choices still reflect the openness, tolerance, and altruism of my youth. I still love Bob Dylan, even his current type of cynicism--I get it.
Awesome to see a young man like you digging the Greatest. I'm 62 year old man whose been listening to Dylan.since I was a young lad all of the age of 8. All I know is that listening to Bob is like reading the Bible..Might read and over and over again but always get something new at of it every time. You'll never grow tired of hearing his songs There's a lot more than well ever know. His discarded more greatness.thanl most.ever written. Bob will.always be the Best
Initial recording of Johanna was performed in NYC. Dylan was unhappy with the sound and moved production to Music Row in Nashville where Nashville studio musicians joined in to give us this final product. The song comes from the album, Blond on Blond. Many consider it to be his best.
Bob Dylan put out an album in 2020 called Rough and Rowdy Ways. That whole album is great, and the closing song is amazing: Murder Most Foul. He is still at the top of his game.
Named my daughter Johanna after my sister in law suggested it back in 83. Loved this song for years, a tortured artist, beautiful poetry. Her Birthday is tomorrow….her gift was poetry to me.
Hey Mythic sin, i don't know which is better, this song, or your reaction, that's a beautiful few lines you wrote there, she's a lucky girl to have you as a Dad 👍
Hi There mythic sin, Happy Birthday to your Daughter 🎂! I have a Granddaughter coming up to 18, and when i was diagnosed with cancer, and covid lock downs on top of that, its been a rough couple of years, so whenever i see her happy smiling face it lifts me up, keeps me going! So, best of luck to you and your Daughter, and happy listening! Take care, Brian.
@@brianmctague5723 Thanks bro. I have two grandkids around that age. I’ll send a prayer and some healing thoughts your way, wish you and yours all the best. ❤️🙏
I’ve been watching your videos cuz I’m a Dylan nut. And after lay lady lay I thought “I’d love to see him do Visions of Johanna”.. of all the songs in the Dylan rabbit hole I don’t know why I thought of that one. But here you are doin it! Commenting before I watch the review hah, but I love what you do, the most genuine person doing this… looking forward to more!
This is from the period where he was writing songs that read like crossword puzzles. Great album but I think the "Blood On The Tracks" album is equally great. Glad you picked this song.
Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial...voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while...you could write a whole essay on this line alone!
Bringing It All Back Home Highway 61 Revisited Blonde On Blonde IMO these three albums were the Pinnacle of his songwriting. Every song on all three of those albums are worth listening to.
Always look for your reactions to Dylan, you get it. Thank you again for letting the song play in it's entirety before commenting. Sign of true respect for the artist. Great channel, wishing you that 100k subscribers soon. Btw, don't feel bad about not getting the lyrics on the first run through, no one does. There are hundreds of books and college courses about his work.
I love watching your unfolding discovery and appreciation of Bob Dylan. Take a rapid fire lyrical trip into genius by reacting to "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding).
Oh…Blond on Blond…double album. That album was everywhere in the dorms in college. You know, you were considered very cool if you knew the lyrics to his songs snd could sing along. You were a member of “The Tribe”
Great video! This is my all-time favorite song! Not my all-time favorite Bob Dylan song... But my all-time favorite song PERIOD! Great reaction... and you did an awesome job with your commentary!
Love, I love this tune and Dylan. Idiot Wind, Slow Train Coming, and Tangled Up in Blue are just a few of my favorites. If that is possible , just to have a few. Bowie was envious that Dylan had 200 good songs to choose for a concert. He said he had 50! Love David, too! David wrote a song that kind of is goading him. It's on Hunky Dory; it's called "A Song for Bob Dylan." It's a great tune, too. Thanks, Chod. I love your commitment to excellence.
"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks while you're trying to be so quiet" best opening line of a song in my opinion .....Wilburn "gets" Dylan and his lyrics, his vocals and his delivery ... he's blessed like we are ....
It’s gratifying to see you get so much out of Dylan. I’d STRONGLY suggest you give a listen to his song Blind Willie McTell - is one of his most amazing lyrics, and very complex in terms of associate historical context. And it’s from something considered relatively fellow ground for him as a songwriter and performer - right smack in the 80s. He didn’t even release this song until almost 10 years later, go figure. Dignity from the late 80s also is lyrically amazing. And Most of the Time is one of the most heartbreaking and understated heartbreak songs ever.
When you get a chance watch the documentary by Martin Scorsese "NO DIRECTION HOME" In my opinion one Bob Dylan's greatest Song. "Lights flicker from the opposite loft, In this room the heat pipes just cough" Brilliant!!!!! Gonna age myself here. My grandmother had those kind of Heat pipes, looked like a radiator and would actually cough when water started circulating. There was a light flickering in room I use to stayed in creating shadows on the ceiling. When i was real young the Heat pipes use to scare the shit out of me.
I adore the Blonde on Blonde album that this song comes from. It is definitely one of Dylan‘s masterpieces. Being a double album it is chock full of great songs. I particularly love all the songs on side two of this album. They are four of my favorite Dylan songs hands down. I would suggest checking out any of the them - “I Want You”, “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”, “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat”, and “Just Like a Woman”.
From album, Desire, of which all the cuts are evocative and varied like Johanna. Enthralled by the arrangement of Dylan's vocal inflections with unplugged-ish instruments.
I think this is the best album ever made not just the best Bob Dylan album made when Dylan released blondes on blonde everybody was playing catch up. He got the sound spot on, album after album his writing just gets stronger and stronger. He's a visionary genius. The characters and stories in this album are insane The first ever double album. Sadeyed lady of the lowlands is a haunting mystical and beautiful song. Bob Dylan said it's the closest he's ever got to the sound he is in his mind that wild Mercury sound. Plus recording it in Nashville Was genius move as well.
Your comments are astute and perceptive. Only those who listen deeply to music can appreciate its riches. Some people just aren't equipped to make that journey, and they dismiss greatness while embracing mediocrity. It's their loss.
Cult British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is quoted as saying that without this song he would probably have never decided to be a musician. I'm sure he isn't the only one. An astonishingly beautiful and deep song that takes you in and takes you on the journey. "Desolation Row" next? (and maybe some Robyn Hitchcock, too! Try "Airscape")
Every time I listen to this song I hear a a line in a different way. "Louise she's alright, she's just near" is a pretty painful thought. There's an incredible live version of this from a couple years ago, wish I still had the link to it.
Here's some of - what I consider - Bob's 'lyrical landmarks' you will probably appreciate: 'Masters of War', 'My Back Pages', 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (there's a wonderful live version from Newport 1964 available on YT. It's a verse short compared to the album version, though.), 'Desolation Row', 'Shelter From the Storm', 'Every Grain of Sand' and 'Jokerman'. And that's just up to the early 80s...
The Summer of 1987, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead did a tour together, The Dead would do a set then they would come back out and do a set backing Mr. Zimmerman, while doing song he had penned. After that tour, until the end in 1995, The Dead would often drop in a Dylan cover during shows, and Visions Of Johanna was a frequent choice.
man, im a dylan FREAK of nature, i slur my words when i talk, like bob does, because i emulated him so long, and theres no escaping it for me, and this is my fave bob song kinda---but seeing u drum so smoothly, in ur intro made me think about the future when u get into listening to sting (of the police, my other fave band), and his solo career, and when he played with branford marsaleis a lot, lot...and a lot of other jazz greats on his albums---kenny kirkland, a bunch, chris botti....anyway, great song choice:)
This is my fav all time dylan song
Jerry Garcia band did an excellent version 🍄🌜⚡🌛🍄
"Blonde On Blonde " is a Masterpiece and my desert Island album cause it is nothing short of brilliant. I have been listening to it for over 50 years and never,never tire of it. So glad you recognize how great he is...LOVE IT !!!
Amen and amen
Same here. I was in college when it came out. Blonde On Blonde is also my desert island album, and if it came to it Visions Of Johanna is my desert island song!
Same here ❤️
Came out when I was in my freshman year of college. So brilliant.
💯
The song that starts off plain and understandable, but continues to devolve into madness…a genuine surreal masterpiece
Dylan is the greatest American poet ever
"Inside the museums infinity goes up on trials"......this guy is something else!
How did he come up with all those brilliant lines ?
Damn another Dylan song, Us Dylan fans are eating good out here hell yeah
In 1966 when this album came out he was deep in the pop culture of the time there was alot of expectations on him from fans, media and other muscians alike and you get this kind of weary feeling in the delivery of the song and this album. The 1966 world tour would be his last tour for 8 years that's how weary and strung out on amphetamines he was trying to cope with the booing from audiences and the pressure of being "the voice of a generation"
Obviously Dylans vocals and lyrics is the main focus with most of his songs but the actual music here is beautifully done this bluesy country sound while everyone and their mother at the time was moving to the LA's Laurel canyon with the byrds and the beach boys and going for that sound Dylan took this album down to Nashville and had some Nashville session muscians play on it once again marching to the beat of his own drum.
This is one of the greatest, most poetic songs ever written. Reaches into the depths of a broken soul and exposes all that it finds to the rest of the world through art/artistic expression - but most either don't see it or understand, while the suffering artist is simply consumed by the act.
Yeah, no. “Most” do get it. 🤣
@@donfette5301 Not in the context of the song and its milieu - hence, Louise has another agenda and just offers him what she thinks he wants (while not actually listening or understanding him); the night watchman wonders who's insane and the all night girls out for distraction; little boy lost, to whom he doesn't know how to explain in a way that the boy could understand; and the absurdity of the paintings' messages: all breakdowns in communications - but I appreciate your assist in proving a broader, supplemental point, I suppose ...
It's also a very beautiful song.
I feel like I could say that about a few other Bob Dylan songs, or maybe about 50 of them
Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues you can tell by the way she smiles pure genius pure brilliance
You're right. Bob Johnson his producer said of Dylan in the studio You could tell he couldn't help doing what he was doing There was a holiness about him like the Holy Spirit had just come and kicked him up the Ass ! You were right you can't replicate this
'Bob Dylan saved humanity..." man, you nailed it!
Blonde on Blonde is one of the greatest rock albums of all time, you definitely need to listen to the whole thing.
"The ghosts of electricity howls in the bones of her face," what a visual this creates within a song that creates scenes and events that i can listen to and picture indefinitely, beautiful song.
One of Dylan's greatest lines and vocals--and there's a lot of competition.
Possibly the most psychedelic line ever written.
Ditto
One of Dylan's best tunes. That's saying a LOT.
my thoughts exactly
this and love minus zero for me...
Buttrey's drumming, Robbie's electric guitar blues and Al's organ fills create a haunting atmosphere.
I love your reaction videos. And I've been a fan of Dylan since I discovered him in 1986. ( I was born in 1969, so I didn't catch him in his prime). I think it's not so much that he sounds careless in his songs, as you say, but that he learned from Jazz and especially Miles Davis the art of the cool--how to sound objective, even while suffering. The speaker in this song is in a lot of pain, but also somehow seems detached, speaking from outside the situation. So maybe that's what you mean by careless. He's a whole universe to discover and enjoy. Thanks, again.
Bob Dylan is the greatest American songwriter...there are many greats but his way with the English language is masterful.
Bob Dylan. Tangled Up in Blue.
Visions of Johana …….. The greatest Bob Dylan …… Although they are all living legends and beautiful stories. Long live Bob Dylan
Mr. Wilburn, you not only have great and valuable insights into Bob Dylan, but also in all the music you share. I am always impressed by your interpretations of what you listen to,
"Visions of Johanna" is one of Bob's absolute greatest songs, and it might be my favorite one of them all. I've covered it countless times by now, not to say that I can match how Bob did it or does it, because no one can. The Johanna referred to in the song is probably Joan Baez, the great folksinger of the 1960's, she who did a lot of music with Bob in 1962 to 1965, and did much to help his early career. They did whole concert tours together, introducing Bob to Joan's audience and would sing amazing duets, combining their very different voices in a most effective way. They were also romantically involved during a significant part of that time, and that came to an end sometime in 1965, and I think the melancholy and weary tone of the song is Bob's sense of regret (and acceptance) over their estrangement...as well as his weariness with the entire crazy whirlwind of pressure he was under in 1966 with his outrageous fame, the press and fans hounding him, and the frenetic touring schedule....it was coming close to destroying him.
Joan and Bob re-connected their friendship and their musical collaboration in 1975 when he did the Rolling Thunder Revue tour, and they will clearly always matter greatly to one another. Joan Baez was often referred to by her fans in the 60's as "the Madonna" (long before the singer Madonna was around), because she radiated a kind of purity, grace, and dignity.
Note that Bob says in the final verse: "And Madonna, she still has not showed. We see this empty cage now corrode. Where her cape of the stage, once it flowed. The fiddler (Dylan) he now steps to the road. He writes, 'everything is returned which was owed'. On the back of the fish truck that loads, while my conscious explodes!" He was clearly feeling a sense of regret and loss over their breaking up, but his mind was turning to his future wife, Sara, and that's just how it had to be. He married the right woman. It would never have worked with him and Joan, and they both really knew that. It did work with Sara...for 8 years.
Wilburn. Your immediate response to this song and to Dylan generally is right on - and insightful. Well done.
Long Live Bob Dylan.
This song is how I got my name
It must be hard for younger people to fully appreciate how groundbreaking Dylan was/is, but try to imagine what it must have been like when this came out in 1966. There was absolutely nothing like it ever before (or since, for that matter). The Beatles hadn’t even yet written songs with really deep lyrical content like this, but they soon would because this album and his others from the same period opened everyone’s eyes as to what could actually be done with a song. Seriously, before that it was all bubble gum chicks and cars and surfing. After Dylan came along popular culture grew up.
I remember how horrified my parents were when I began listening to Bob Dylan in the mid-sixties. Of course, this was only the beginning of my bohemian life style, which lasted only about three years. The world view I embrace to this day is not expressed as an aged hipster, but my opinions, beliefs, and choices still reflect the openness, tolerance, and altruism of my youth. I still love Bob Dylan, even his current type of cynicism--I get it.
Awesome to see a young man like you digging the Greatest. I'm 62 year old man whose been listening to Dylan.since I was a young lad all of the age of 8. All I know is that listening to Bob is like reading the Bible..Might read and over and over again but always get something new at of it every time. You'll never grow tired of hearing his songs
There's a lot more than well ever know. His discarded more greatness.thanl most.ever written. Bob will.always be the Best
Forty years! Forty years I've been listening to this song, and it still gets better.
I first heard him sing this live in Liverpool in 1966.
Initial recording of Johanna was performed in NYC. Dylan was unhappy with the sound and moved production to Music Row in Nashville where Nashville studio musicians joined in to give us this final product.
The song comes from the album, Blond on Blond. Many consider it to be his best.
It's my favorite Dylan album. Highway 61 Revisited is a close second.
Favorite Dylan song = Tangled Up In Blue. Masterpiece.
Tangled Up in Blue is one of my favorites. It's a popular one but one I never get tired of listening to. I think you would love it as well.
I'm tired of it.
Bob Dylan put out an album in 2020 called Rough and Rowdy Ways. That whole album is great, and the closing song is amazing: Murder Most Foul. He is still at the top of his game.
Talk about saving lives. Rough and Rowdy Ways saved the world during corona.
@@GD-rd6ig Sure helped get me through that year
This is my favorite song and blonde on blonde is my all time favorite album.
Named my daughter Johanna after my sister in law suggested it back in 83. Loved this song for years, a tortured artist, beautiful poetry. Her Birthday is tomorrow….her gift was poetry to me.
Hey Mythic sin, i don't know which is better, this song, or your reaction, that's a beautiful few lines you wrote there, she's a lucky girl to have you as a Dad 👍
Hi There mythic sin, Happy Birthday to your Daughter 🎂! I have a Granddaughter coming up to 18, and when i was diagnosed with cancer, and covid lock downs on top of that, its been a rough couple of years, so whenever i see her happy smiling face it lifts me up, keeps me going! So, best of luck to you and your Daughter, and happy listening! Take care, Brian.
@@brianmctague5723 Thanks bro. I have two grandkids around that age. I’ll send a prayer and some healing thoughts your way, wish you and yours all the best. ❤️🙏
Great lyrics. He's captured loneliness, isolation of self so poetically.
One of the best things I've seen describing Dylan when he broke upon the scene in the early 60s... "A choir boy with a grenade in his pocket".
It’s nice to be in a hive of Dylan song lovers!
One of my favourite songs of all time! So cool to see you hearing this for the first time. Rock on
I’ve been watching your videos cuz I’m a Dylan nut. And after lay lady lay I thought “I’d love to see him do Visions of Johanna”.. of all the songs in the Dylan rabbit hole I don’t know why I thought of that one. But here you are doin it! Commenting before I watch the review hah, but I love what you do, the most genuine person doing this… looking forward to more!
This is from the period where he was writing songs that read like crossword puzzles. Great album but I think the "Blood On The Tracks" album is equally great. Glad you picked this song.
Inside the museums infinity goes up on trial...voices echo this is what salvation must be like after a while...you could write a whole essay on this line alone!
Bringing It All Back Home
Highway 61 Revisited
Blonde On Blonde
IMO these three albums were the Pinnacle of his songwriting. Every song on all three of those albums are worth listening to.
Mercurial early Dylan , everybody used to rave about Dylan Thomas when I was young but I never got it till I heard Bob .
Always look for your reactions to Dylan, you get it. Thank you again for letting the song play in it's entirety before commenting. Sign of true respect for the artist. Great channel, wishing you that 100k subscribers soon. Btw, don't feel bad about not getting the lyrics on the first run through, no one does. There are hundreds of books and college courses about his work.
I love 'Absolutely Sweet Marie' from Blonde on Blonde ... another great tract from that album ....
If you want a laugh watch some of his old press conferences, he would handle them like children, when he was only 20 or so.....hahaha
th-cam.com/video/guOaI6_cF10/w-d-xo.html Clips of Dylan's funniest interviews.
I love watching your unfolding discovery and appreciation of Bob Dylan. Take a rapid fire lyrical trip into genius by reacting to "It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding).
Yes, he was truly the voice and the words of generations
Always makes me think of my old friend Johanna.
I am so glad you are doing many more Dylan songs. Please keep exploring the catalogue. My favorite artist
It really doesn't matter who doesn't like Bob Dylan, the Nobel Committee liked him as well as the Kennedy Honors!
I've been totally impressed with every song Bob's ever done.. Vivian
Oh…Blond on Blond…double album. That album was everywhere in the dorms in college.
You know, you were considered very cool if you knew the lyrics to his songs snd could sing along. You were a member of “The Tribe”
absolute masterpiece! One of my fave 10 Dylan songs! ♥
Great video! This is my all-time favorite song! Not my all-time favorite Bob Dylan song... But my all-time favorite song PERIOD! Great reaction... and you did an awesome job with your commentary!
Love, I love this tune and Dylan. Idiot Wind, Slow Train Coming, and Tangled Up in Blue are just a few of my favorites. If that is possible , just to have a few. Bowie was envious that Dylan had 200 good songs to choose for a concert. He said he had 50! Love David, too! David wrote a song that kind of is goading him. It's on Hunky Dory; it's called "A Song for Bob Dylan." It's a great tune, too. Thanks, Chod. I love your commitment to excellence.
This is my favorite Dylan track.
One must listen to Bob Dylan If they wish to be properly educated about modern pop music during the last half of the 20th century and further.
"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks while you're trying to be so quiet" best opening line of a song in my opinion .....Wilburn "gets" Dylan and his lyrics, his vocals and his delivery ... he's blessed like we are ....
"Positively 4th Street"
LOL either Bobby has been putting us all on since the early 60s OR he's just a genius. Maybe it's both.
Arguably the best song on the best album of the greatest songwriter of all time.
Great choice. "Sad eyed lady of the Lowlands".
Love this whole album!! Bob's best! It's amazing!
My favorite. Hard choice.
I have many Dylan favourites but this has to be my absolute best. A totally stomp-down classic
Spit lyrics? Absolutely.
Legend.
It’s gratifying to see you get so much out of Dylan. I’d STRONGLY suggest you give a listen to his song Blind Willie McTell - is one of his most amazing lyrics, and very complex in terms of associate historical context. And it’s from something considered relatively fellow ground for him as a songwriter and performer - right smack in the 80s. He didn’t even release this song until almost 10 years later, go figure.
Dignity from the late 80s also is lyrically amazing. And Most of the Time is one of the most heartbreaking and understated heartbreak songs ever.
Ye boi, I'm glad you're loving Dylan so much
When you get a chance watch the documentary by Martin Scorsese "NO DIRECTION HOME"
In my opinion one Bob Dylan's greatest Song. "Lights flicker from the opposite loft, In this room the heat pipes just cough" Brilliant!!!!! Gonna age myself here. My grandmother had those kind of Heat pipes, looked like a radiator and would actually cough when water started circulating. There was a light flickering in room I use to stayed in creating shadows on the ceiling. When i was real young the Heat pipes use to scare the shit out of me.
great analysis of Dylan.
That Dylan guy sure had a lot of gall, muttering small talk at the wall!
Bob is still active...writing songs, performing.
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands is worth reacting to on the same album. Long song but fabulous !
He's a dream twister.
I heard Bob Dylan describe his music as "Vision music" or "mathematical music". Leaves no doubt.
not only a lyricist, but a genuine poet
GENIOUS X 100000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000.....
"Desolation Row"
I adore the Blonde on Blonde album that this song comes from. It is definitely one of Dylan‘s masterpieces. Being a double album it is chock full of great songs. I particularly love all the songs on side two of this album. They are four of my favorite Dylan songs hands down. I would suggest checking out any of the them - “I Want You”, “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again”, “Leopard Skin Pill Box Hat”, and “Just Like a Woman”.
And these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind...we all have someone who conquers our mind at some time.
My favorite Bob song. Thank you for doing this.
Did I forget to say the Blond On Blond album?, was also so damned big in my head. Now I've done so.
Just like a woman from the same album also awesome ,
Great track off of a truly special album. The simple understated album cover doesn’t hint at the world contained within.
From album, Desire, of which all the cuts are evocative and varied like Johanna. Enthralled by the arrangement of Dylan's vocal inflections with unplugged-ish instruments.
I think this is the best album ever made not just the best Bob Dylan album made when Dylan released blondes on blonde everybody was playing catch up. He got the sound spot on, album after album his writing just gets stronger and stronger. He's a visionary genius. The characters and stories in this album are insane The first ever double album. Sadeyed lady of the lowlands is a haunting mystical and beautiful song. Bob Dylan said it's the closest he's ever got to the sound he is in his mind that wild Mercury sound. Plus recording it in Nashville Was genius move as well.
Love you Mr Zimmerman 🕶️👍🎼🎸
So glad to see this one come up❤️
You’ve got a great smile 😊
This might be the best song. Period.
Like wandering inside someone else's dream.
Love to see you becoming a fan. Give me more! Mooore!
Wow so happy to hear this! ☮️💙🔥
Keep Dylan going!
Excellent choice
Your comments are astute and perceptive. Only those who listen deeply to music can appreciate its riches. Some people just aren't equipped to make that journey, and they dismiss greatness while embracing mediocrity. It's their loss.
Cult British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock is quoted as saying that without this song he would probably have never decided to be a musician. I'm sure he isn't the only one. An astonishingly beautiful and deep song that takes you in and takes you on the journey. "Desolation Row" next? (and maybe some Robyn Hitchcock, too! Try "Airscape")
Yo! my first time on your site and you came up with this! came out when i was in the army and i was hooked and has been a favourite ever since.
Every time I listen to this song I hear a a line in a different way. "Louise she's alright, she's just near" is a pretty painful thought.
There's an incredible live version of this from a couple years ago, wish I still had the link to it.
Here's some of - what I consider - Bob's 'lyrical landmarks' you will probably appreciate: 'Masters of War', 'My Back Pages', 'Mr. Tambourine Man' (there's a wonderful live version from Newport 1964 available on YT. It's a verse short compared to the album version, though.), 'Desolation Row', 'Shelter From the Storm', 'Every Grain of Sand' and 'Jokerman'.
And that's just up to the early 80s...
The Summer of 1987, Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead did a tour together, The Dead would do a set then they would come back out and do a set backing Mr. Zimmerman, while doing song he had penned. After that tour, until the end in 1995, The Dead would often drop in a Dylan cover during shows, and Visions Of Johanna was a frequent choice.
man, im a dylan FREAK of nature, i slur my words when i talk, like bob does, because i emulated him so long, and theres no escaping it for me, and this is my fave bob song kinda---but seeing u drum so smoothly, in ur intro made me think about the future when u get into listening to sting (of the police, my other fave band), and his solo career, and when he played with branford marsaleis a lot, lot...and a lot of other jazz greats on his albums---kenny kirkland, a bunch, chris botti....anyway, great song choice:)