Blowin in the Wind - Bob Dylan

This is an awesome Bob Dylan classic. :-) Love this song.


1963
In the early days. The sound isn't as good on this one, but it's interesting to see him near the beginning of his career.


1971
I really like his singing style in the 70s.

There's a live recording online from a performance of Blowin in the Wind from 2010, but the sound is awful. I don't think it's a legal video. Anyways, if you want to hear the progression of his style, you can check out that one too. :-)

Blowin' In The Wind

How many roads most a man walk down
Before you call him a man ?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand ?
Yes, how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they're forever banned ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many years can a mountain exist
Before it's washed to the sea ?
Yes, how many years can some people exist
Before they're allowed to be free ?
Yes, how many times can a man turn his head
Pretending he just doesn't see ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

Yes, how many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky ?
Yes, how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry ?
Yes, how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died ?
The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind
The answer is blowin' in the wind.

~ Bob Dylan


Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Things Have Changed - Bob Dylan

This is for all you Bob Dylan fans. ;-)
Okay, so I like this song...and I've had the chorus stuck in my head for several days.
Some of the lines are amazing. It always makes me think of Ecclesiastes, but this song is really more human confusion mixed with human experience and without our Eternal Hope.

I think of an old man who's beginning to wonder what he is about anyways?
I wonder what Bob Dylan was thinking about when he wrote it....

As a piece of trivia too, this video got Tobey Maguire on the director radar. Bob Dylan met him and really wanted him for this video even though he was a nobody at the time.



A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There's a woman on my lap and she's drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin's eyes
I'm looking up into the sapphire tinted skies
I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train

[Bridge #1:]
Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I'm expecting all hell to break loose

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

This place ain't doing me any good
I'm in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood
Just for a second there I thought I saw something move
Gonna take dancing lessons do the jitterbug rag
Ain't no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag
Only a fool in here would think he's got anything to prove

[Bridge #2]
Lot of water under the bridge, Lot of other stuff too
Don't get up gentlemen, I'm only passing through

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I've been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I've been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can't win with a losing hand

[Bridge #3]
Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheel barrow and wheeling her down the street

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I hurt easy, I just don't show it
You can hurt someone and not even know it
The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity
Gonna get low down, gonna fly high
All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie
I'm love with a woman who don't even appeal to me

[Bridge #4]
Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake
I'm not that eager to make a mistake

People are crazy and times are strange
I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

~Bob Dylan

Thanks for listening,
Miss Pickwickian

Busy Dying

"He not busy being born is busy dying."
~Bob Dylan

Ambiguity

Recently, especially with lyrics, I've been mulling over ambiguity in writing.

When can it be used well and when is it unsatisfying etc.?
I love written things, especially song lyrics, that give you a chance to do a lot of thinking. Ones that can sometimes have a deeper meaning beneath even though they are already telling an interesting story or point. This is one of the reasons I continue to listen to Bob Dylan (even though I can't even develop an acquired taste to his voice). Something that gives you a deeper something to meditate on.

I think this is one of the reasons Country will never be my favorite genre. It's plan and simple and enjoyable. It isn't confusing. It's obvious. It doesn't take itself very seriously. I love all those things!!! But....it hardly ever gives you another layer to chew on. (That doesn't mean it doesn't have a lot of good things to say or that it doesn't have some amazing songs!)

I've been having trouble with my own writing because I have trouble with it being clear enough even when I want it a bit ambiguous. I don't want my lyrics to only have one layer, but I want them to be understandable. I've been doing tests on different (very patient) people to see if I'm still getting my point across. As American Dream brought to light, I'm not exactly getting it all across.

What is the balance?

Does everyone even enjoy ambiguity? I sort of get the impression that a lot of people don't like it.
(The end of Great Expectations being a prime example. In my opinion a more obviously sad ending, like his original one, would have been best. What was published, however, doesn't bother me. Maybe we need to exercise our imaginations more anyways...)

Is ambiguity more of a problem because it doesn't transfer as well to movies? So many good books have been made into movies, but everyone has there own idea of what happens in the ambiguous parts.

One of my all time favorite songs is Across the Green Mountain. This song gives a lot to think about, but is this more randomness then ambiguity? I don't know. But I love it. :-)

And please don't get me wrong. Ambiguity is sometimes very annoying or extremely out of place. Some things should be stated very clearly. :-)

What are your thoughts on ambiguity?

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Forever Young - Bob Dylan

This has got to be one of my favorite songs ever! This is also recorded on Tim O'Brien's CD Red on Blonde. I love the way he sings it.
I could only find a very bad live video of O'Brien's version, so I'm going to include that along with the Bob Dylan video. Enjoy!







May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

-Bob Dylan


Sorry Dylan, you are lyric genius, but I like Tim O'Brien's voice better.

Thanks for reading,
Miss Pickwickian

Across the Green Mountain - Bob Dylan

What ever else Bob Dylan might be, he is clearly a lyrics genius.

This song from Gods and Generals is probably one of my very favorite songs ever. If you are like me and can't stand Bob Dylan's voice I highly recommend the album Red on Blonde by Tim O'brian. It is all Bob Dylan songs with Tim O'brian's voice! Very amazing. But I can handle Dylan's voice in this song. It somehow seems fitting.

I listen to this before about half of my writing sessions. For some reason it inspires me...

This song is so cool, partly because it is part about the Civil War, and partly because it has so much other cool symbolism in it! Sorry its long. Be sure to read all the lyrics and listening to all the song! The last couple lines are my favorite.



I cross the Green Mountain
I sit by the stream
Heaven blazing in my head I
I dreamt a monsterous dream
Something came up
Out of the sea
Swept through the land of
The rich and the free

I look into the eyes
of my merciful friend
And then I ask myself
Is this the end?
Memories linger
Sad yet sweet
And I think of the souls in heaven who will be

Alters are burning
The flames far and wide
the fool has crossed over
from the other side
They tip their caps
from the top of the hill
You can feel them come
All brave blood do spill

Along the dim
Atlantic line
The rapper's land
lasts for miles behind
the lights coming foreward
and the streets are broad
all must yield
To the avenging God

The world is old
The world is great
Lessons of life
Can't be learned in a day
I watch and I wait
And I listen while I stand
To the music that comes
from a far better land

Close the eyes
of our Captain
Peace may he know
His long night is done
The great leader is laid low
He was ready to fall
He was quick to defend
Killed outright he was
by his own men

It's the last day's last hour
of the last happy year
I feel that the unknown
The world is so dear
Pride will vanish
And glory will rot
But virtue lives
and cannot be forgot

The bells
of evening have rung
there's blasphemy
on the end of the tongue
Let them say that I walked
in fair nature's light
And that I was loyal
to truth and to right

Serve God and meet your full
Look upward beyond
Beyond the darkness that masks
the surprises of dawn
In the deep green grasses
and the blood stained woods
They never dreamed of surrendering
They fell where they stood

Stars fell over Alabama
And I saw each star
You're walking in dreams
Whoever you are
Chilled as the skies
Keen as the frost
And the ground's froze hard
And the morning is lost

A letter to mother
came today
Gunshot wound to the breast
is what it did say
But he'll be better soon
He's in a hospital bed
But he'll never be better
He's already dead

I'm ten miles outside the city
And I'm lifted away
In an ancient light
That is not of day
They were calm they were gloomed
We knew them all too well
We loved eachother more than
we ever dared to tell


Thanks for reading!
Miss Pickwickian