Full lyrics here.
Quotation of Bob Dylan inspired just now by texts from Meade (beginning with a screen shot from my 6:23 a.m. post):
ADDED: Here's a little essay about Bob's song, calling it "A wicked take down of 'Ode to Billie Joe'" ("As with Bobby Gentry’s equal parts mundane and maudlin charttopper, Dylan fills the narrative with teeth-splinteringly boring detail, singing about daily shores [chores?!] with a bored-shitless monotone to match").
PLUS: "There was a virus going 'round; Papa caught it, and he died last spring."
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Stand in the clowns.
Send
In the end you'll still be you
One that's done all the things you set out to do
Send
There's a cross for you to bear
Things to go through if you're going anywhere
Send
For the things you know are right
It's the truth that the truth makes them so uptight
Send
All the things you want are real
You have you to complete and there is no deal
Send, send, send...
Send
You've been sitting much too long
There's a permanent crease in your right and wrong...
... but I was looking at his pant leg and his perfectly creased pant!
The way the lyrics screw up the meter makes it hard to listen to.
That's why Rap matters.
I assumed it was a term of art--like standing for election, he was going to stand the bill for passage.
I hadn't realized until now that Ode to Billie Joe and Son of a Preacher Man were both sung by white women. Shouldn't they be cancelled for appropriation?
back when i was a Kid, i was at a Sleep Over at my friend Kenny's house; and we stayed up and watched Saturday Night Live.... AND, The Roaches were on
We assumed that it was some Bizarre Joke; that we didn't understand
So, Serious Question
Do people Actually Think; that the Roaches were musicians ?
An old favorite, a top ten Dylan track for me (and the Roches do it up swell).
It was also one of the seven Dylan lyrics set to music by the classical composer John Corigliano in 2003, who a couple of years before at the age of 60 or so decided to acquaint himself with Dylan’s lyrics (about which he’d heard good things) and bought a book of them. Didn't listen to the records. He got permission from Dylan (or his publishers) to write his own music to his faves. The Corigliano settings are on a CD with some of his music from the movie “Altered States.” Actual quote from the liner notes: “Dylan’s music was everywhere in the 1960s, except in my record collection…” “Clothesline Saga” is definitely the pick-to-click. His version of “Mr. Tambourine Man” has some unfortunate (albeit inadvertent) overtones of the William Shatner cover…
Stand that man back to his basement.
“Stand that man back to his basement.”
He can record his very own “Basement Tapes”
Ann, you wrote about this 11 years ago. http://everybobdylansong.blogspot.com/2009/04/bob-dylan-song-89-clothes-line-saga.html
It is one of my favorite Dylan songs also.
Do people Actually Think; that the Roaches were musicians ?
You knew you would be getting pushback, yes?
The Roches version of Good King Wenceslas is possibly the best ever recorded, and I finally understand the story of the song.
Their version of Deck The Halls is also a classic.
@DABbio
That link isn't to me.
I don't remember writing about it. Do you have the link to the archive? I couldn't find it looking for the song title.
I'm sorry. When I ran a search, that site came up and I didn't notice the header. The typeface was similar to yours.
Interesting take on the song, but there's so much more going on in
Dylan's version. At times he channels an innocent, rural Midwestern boy caught up in his chores and mundane interactions. But he's also being ironic, creating mock heroic suspense. The some/all variants in the last verse are done with great dead pan humor - reminds me of the way he mangled Lincoln's famous quote in "Talkin' World War III Blues".
The Roches' 'Hallelujah Chorus' is magnificent. It stunned me when I first heard it -- and first saw them -- on SNL. Have always thought they were great since then. (Of course, I was a biased a bit since I was in love with Maggie...)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EiwMoW003Fo
The question I'm looking for in any situation with Biden: "Hey, Joe, what is 8 times 7?"
As a test of dementia, it will likely elicit anger, an offer to fight, a challenge to a pushup competition, a story about his school days, reminisces of his nearly 100% incorrect positions held on foreign policy over the years, and anything else other than "56"; although I'd accept "The same as 7 times 8!" from a mere presidential candidate.
A rare exception to the rule that anyone covering a Bob Dylan song sounds better than Dylan singing the original.
The longer Joe stays in the basement, the harder it is for the party to replace him.
Biden may well be his own October Surprise.
You knew you would be getting pushback, yes?
i was (AM!) pretty sure that Patty Smith was a skit as well
Always dug that tune. Bob was at his best when he wasn't trying so hard to be profound. Still not sold that it was a sendup of anything, but I guess it could've been.
The guitarist on the "Hammond Song" was Bob Fripp.
That's how they talk in Hollywood.
>>gilbar said...
i was (AM!) pretty sure that Patty Smith was a skit as well<<
Always loved that skit. And, no, Patti Smith was not a skit. (Nor was she a user of drugs or booze.) She was just a pretty typical punk rocker who was adored by millions for her music (which, you might or might not know does not require a good singing voice.) As an aside, Patti is a lovely, gentle woman and fwiw, a true intellectual.
Blogger The Crack Emcee said...
The way the lyrics screw up the meter makes it hard to listen to.
That's why Rap matters.
So that's why it sounds like shit. I only like Fresh Prince of Scientology style rap, so I kinda see your point.
Moses supposes his toses are roses but Moses supposes erroneously.
"and we stayed up and watched Saturday Night Live.... AND, The Roaches were on
We assumed that it was some Bizarre Joke; that we didn't understand"
The greatest SNL band ever was Candy Slice and the Slashers. I completely understood what was going on.
Never heard the Roches before, they sound alot like the Rankine Family of Canada, nice. The Roches are Irish American so it should be the same genre.
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