This has always been one of my favorite Bob Dylan songs, though I didn't know until recently that it never actually appeared on an album.Growing up, my parents had it on Greatest Hits Vol. I, so that was really my only exposure to it. I guess I'd just always assumed that it was from Highway 61 or Blonde on Blonde or some other classic album that I don't own. The only Dylan records I've ever had are Another Side of Bob Dylan and Bringing it all back Home. Well, those and Greatest Hits volumes I and II.
Undeniably one of the greatest (if not the greatest) lyricists ever, this one always stood out to me as one of the harshest things I'd ever heard.
Upon further review, it appears that it's about some unfortunate soul who didn't support Dylan's move to electric from the ranks of the acoustic folkies. But man does this guy get the proverbial dressing down. If you've ever seen Don't Look Back, the D.A. Pennebaker documentary covering Dylan's 1965 UK Tour, the sardonic wit of Positively 4th Street no longer would have surprised you. Some of the answers that Dylan has in the film for the British press are absolutely priceless. I haven't seen it in a while, maybe I should revisit it.
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Beautifully done. I love this song. It was on the other day in the car and I made Amy just listen. It's a deep, meaningful, dress down. This aint no "your momma" insult. This goes to the soul.
ReplyDeleteMan you hit it. He could write. I like the way he can be a song writer, like this choice, and also a story teller like in "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts."
~rob
Great choice and a great version!
ReplyDelete"The Bootleg Series - Royal Albert Hall Concert" (or whatever the official name of it is) is a great document of that electric UK tour with what would become the Band backing him. I picked it up a couple of years back and it is responsible for my Dylan/Band obsession of late.
I saw Dylan once in high school (I'm guessing '89 or '90) at the Garden State Arts Center (now PNC) - outdoor venue. It was a solo acoustic show and I was in no shape to appreciate it due to a) excessive underage overdrinking b) very little familiarity with his songs at that point c) spending too much time striking out with girls not as drunk as I was and d) extreme excessive underage drinking.
I bet it was a good show though.
Matt Ryan
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