Unlike “Billy 4” which was written before the movie Pat Garret & Billy the Kid went into production, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was inspired by the movie itself. The song plays during the death scene of the sheriff who dies in a shootout alongside his wife. The sheriff is played by cowboy movie character actorContinue reading “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door”
Tag Archives: Bob Dylan
Billy 4
Released in 1973, Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid was a Western directed by Sam Peckinpaugh. Bob Dylan’s involvement in the film apparently started when he ran into novelist and screenwriter Rudy Wurlitzer, who told Dylan that he was writing a screenplay about the relationship between Billy the Kid and Pat Garrett. Hearing about theContinue reading “Billy 4”
Blind Willie McTell
There’s a running joke for those of us who regularly listen to WTF with Marc Maron Podcast. Maron talks for an hour twice a week with comedians, actors, and musicians. The joke is the understanding that when he talks with a musician, eventually, Maron will talk about how music always comes back to the blues,Continue reading “Blind Willie McTell”
Ballad of a Thin Man
“Who is Mr. Jones?” Nora Ephron and Susan Edmiston asked Bob Dylan in an August 1965 interview. Dylan responds: “He’s a real person. You know him, but not by that name….He’s actually a person. Like I saw him come into the room one night and he looked like a camel. He proceeded to put hisContinue reading “Ballad of a Thin Man”
Angelina
ConcertinaHyenaSubpoenaArgentinaArena When I was first getting into Bob Dylan, I laughed about this song with my old friend and Dylan running mate Mike Vago (author of the Wiki Wormhole column and host of the podcast Why Is This Not a Movie?). Namely how this song seemed like a dare: “Hey Bob, write a song withContinue reading “Angelina”
Ain’t Talkin’
“Ain’t Talkin’” is a supreme work, the last song in the sequence of Modern Times. Released in 2006, it is one of a few songs on our list released in the 21st century and the most recent one in Bob Dylan’s catalog that we will be considering. Modern Times is a mixed bag of aContinue reading “Ain’t Talkin’”
Abandoned Love
Officially released nearly 10 years after the studio recording, this song of doomed love marks a transition between Blood on the Tracks, released in January 1975, and Desire, which came out exactly a year later in January 1976. “Abandoned Love” demonstrates traits from both projects. The only known performance of the song was July 3,Continue reading “Abandoned Love”
