Friday, January 19, 2007

The Big Dylan Question Answered

Anyway, I just thought I'd say that, following a long, detailed and very, very sober evening with Nige, we decided to issue the following bulletin: Sign on the Window from the New Morning album (1970) is Bob Dylan's greatest song. I'm sure you'll agree that it's good to clear that one up.

11 comments:

  1. Visions of Johanna.

    Or possibly, Love Minus Zero. Or You're a Big Girl Now.

    Ok, at a push, Don't Think Twice, It's Alright.

    Are you one of those Dylan fans who pretends he made a decent album after Desire?

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  2. Never went for Bob. More of a Leonard man myself. Hard to say why. Maybe it has something to do with one's temperament.

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  3. "Tangled Up in Blue," my favorite, though my 18-year-old daughter argues for "Hurricane." I love all his lyrics, but I really dislike his voice in most songs (except "Lay, Lady, Lay" where that's the voice I would expect of a guy whose clothes are dirty, though his hands are clean). I also don't like the overuse of harmonica in the early tunes. I bought the big retrospective, remix of his stuff (two discs) a few months ago, and it's interesting to listen to his work as it progresses from the early folky stuff to the later iconoclastic Dylan.

    Should we know Nige? Oblige.

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  4. Put Nige in the search box at the top left of the blog, Susan, and you will get the picture.

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  5. Susan:

    He claimed his voice sounds like that on 'Lay Lady Lay' and the rest of the Nashville Skyline album because he briefly gave up smoking.

    Personally, I'd say that was an argument in favour of smoking, but it's a matter of taste I suppose.

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  6. Ah. Nige is one of your alter egos, methinks. What is your middle name, Bryan Appleyard?

    And, Brit: Did you used to be a sea captain here?

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  7. My middle name is Edward and Nige is definitely not an alter ego. He is very real and very tall. He looks like Peter Cook to my Dudley Moore. And the Captain is not Brit.

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  8. Yes, I'm really a fan of Cohen and Waits (new triple album is stunningly good). Choosing just one song of Dylan’s: Hard Rain’s A Gonna Fall. Not exactly a subtle song, but Dylan has never struck me as subtle writer and I guess that’s why I prefer his earliest albums.

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  9. Nice comment! Dylan's best song is "Watching the River Flow," though. No, wait a minute. Maybe it's "You Ain't Going Nowhere."

    Peter
    ========================
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

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  10. Not claiming it to be his greatest song or anything, but possibly my favourite would be Girl From the North Country, from Freewheelin Bob Dylan.

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  11. Chris

    Come on - your missing everything on John Wesley Harding: at least four masterpieces.

    I have a fondness for Changing of the Guard and Senor.

    In Italy - so no apostrophes obvious on this keyboard. Duh

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