Writes Bob Dylan in "The Philosophy of Modern Song" (published today).
Here's the song — with a very cool video (I want to stand on my feet like that):
I was listening to the audiobook as I went on my sunrise run, and as soon as I heard the title of the song Bob was about to discuss, I called on Siri to play it for me. Listening, I thought, this is so much like "Subterranean Homesick Blues" — if Bob praises it, is he praising himself?
I went back to the audiobook and enjoyed Bob saluting himself — and reinforcing me — when he said Elvis "also had a heavy dose of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues.'" Yes, he also had the good stuff, though he "obviously had been listening to Springsteen too much."
By the way — "tender hooks" — do you think Bob was mixing up "tenterhooks" and "tender hooks" like an ordinary ill-informed person? Or was he somewhere else entirely, where songs have hooks and of course the hooks can be tender?
AMPLIFICATION: It's a pun. The first line of "Pump It Up" is "I've been on tenterhooks, ending in dirty looks." I shouldn't have missed that when I had just listened to the song, but Elvis's articulation falls far short of Bob's. With Bob, you always hear the words. On the records.
ADDED: If Bob praised himself there, didn't he also criticize himself? All of his songs from a certain period were relentless....
... he exhausted people. Too much in his songs for anybody to actually land on. Too many thoughts, way too wordy. Too many ideas that just bang up against themselves.
Isn't he telling us that he knows that was the case with him, beginning with that "Subterranean Homesick Blues" album and extending for the next 15 months?
AND: How disrespectful was Bob's sideswipe of Springsteen? There's only one other mention of Springsteen in the book. He's talking about Dion and says he was "a template for his fellow Italo-rocker Bruce Springsteen." "Italo-rocker" — is that how you think about Springsteen?
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46 comments:
Tender hooks? Or tenter hooks...too fast to really tell.
Both work.
EC was exhausting in a good way.
Kind of a dick in real life but a great entertainer live, especially in small venues.
One of the greatest backing bands ever, and having fucking legend Nick Lowe as your producer isn't terrible either..
Elvis' voice is much kinder to the ear but the comparison to Springsteen is apt. EC has a wider pallette of stylings to choose from than the Boss. His Motown flavors are tasty. But his Subterranean Homesick Blues with a barely there ska influence is a pretty good one. Barely past 10 ten years between the two songs - both a half century ago now. And they still stand up in both their quirky stances and presentation. Great tunes those...
Shoulda just called him the hack he is. They don’t come much more overrated than Springsteen.
I always thought they were tether hooks. Which the dictionary doesn't recognize. Learn something new every day.
When I was a kid, if you stood or walked the way Costello does in that video, you'd have been called "pigeon-toed" and you'd have been in the doctor's office pretty damn quick. And sleeping with a foot-brace for the next several years.
P.S. I think of Springsteen as Italian in just about the same way I think of Ted Williams as Latino or Christopher Guest as Jewish. Obviously, they are--but one does have to work at remembering it.
The keyboard riff (riff - is that right?) is so cool.
The 1990s generation picked Springsteen as their idol. He was a good hit maker, but his bold style was just bragging about being a powerful teenager. No other ideas. Whereas Bob had a lot to say.
I'm in the middle of reading Springsteen's memoirs, and he kinda thinks of himself as an Italo-rocker. His mom's Italian, his dad's Irish-Dutch. Growing up, he mostly hung out with the Italian kids in Jersey. His big hero as a kid was that other Jersey wop singer, Frank Sinatra. Many of his early bandmates were Italian.
He describes south Jersey as a mob of working-class Italian Catholics separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a wall of expensive vacation homes and resorts owned by rich Protestants. Joining a band was one way of 'crossing over' that wall -- as an entertainer. If you have a regular summer gig performing at some Wasp-y oceanside club, you can swim on their groomed private beach, and hit on their daughters.
(BTW, it bent my mind that ocean beaches can be privately owned and controlled. I don't think that's allowed in Canada; all beaches are accessible to the public, outside of military bases.)
“With tender hooks and dirty looks, heaven-sent propaganda and slander that you wouldn’t understand.”
Give that man a Nobel Prise!
Bob Dylan's writing sounds like 1970s era album liner notes.
Dylan is raking Elvis Costello for being too wordy?
I'd post the lyrics to Jack of Hearts but if Blogger has a character limit I might break the site.
Early Springsteen also has that stunning explosive waterall of words, and not just words for wordiness sake. He need bow to no one during the Greetings form Asbury Park days and with another epic band. If you heard them live, you know. That he later was shown to be a poseur is disappointing but doesn't weaken the strength of the poetry.
I don't listen to much later Springsteen but remember noticing how much simpler the lyrics are later on. That can be powerful too. They're not all clunkers. Own Worst Enemy. Girls in Their Summer Clothes I'd rate as average pop song wordiness, and quite a song. But Going Down is right out.
It's not the first time Dylan has cast a raised eyebrow at Springsteen. "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" is a fairly hilarious parody of Springsteen. And then there's Theme Time Radio Hour where he said "Some people call Bob Seger the poor man's Bruce Springsteen, but, maybe, Bruce Springsteen is the rich man's Bob Seger". He goes on to say "we like 'em both" but it's a fairly cutting thing to say when you think about it.
Springsteen at his best is merely “meh.” And he’s rarely at his best.
The disrespect is warranted.
E.C. = Beligerant and badass with a band that simply kicks ass/
Longfellow
I loved those early Elvis Costello albums... his later ones just seemed like a shorthand for being "sophisticated," without actually having to understand jazz or blues. (In real life, of course, he turned out to be just another rich British jerk who thinks he's a man of the people.)
'Springsteen at his best is merely “meh.” And he’s rarely at his best.'
Not a Springsteen fan boy, but you do get your money's worth at his concerts...
Dylan: Trouble is, he exhausted people. Too much in his songs for anybody to actually land on. ".
Maybe EC had moved on to a new period by the time Imperial Bedroom came out but I landed on "Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef, I come to you beyond belief".
Overall, the first 4 Costello albums do display a lot of "high level belligerence", Dylan is right about that. I kind of lost interest after Imperial Bedroom, but a friend of mine gave me a copy of "Look Now" from 2018 and it is excellent.
Does Dylan skewer Bono and U2 as well? Henry Rollins said their rhythm section sounded like a cheap electric organ synthesizer. Maybe Henry's jealous he never got a heat on in the Lincoln bathroom.
A lot of your readers seem to base their aesthetics on their politics--or, in the case of Dylan, what they perceive his politics to be.
"Springsteen at his best is merely “meh.” And he’s rarely at his best." Certainly a subjective take, as such things are. I think Bruce's albums through Nebraska are among the best of the mid-70 to mid-80s. Born in the USA has some good rock n roll, but is weighed down by bombastic production. Of course, that's what made it sell and it filled stadiums. He was a bit spotty after that, but the Rising is 2/3 of a good album and his last two are near returns to form.
I think the first three albums had real musical ambition, but Jon Landau, his producer, moved him away from that towards more basic rock n roll. Bruce has always had more rock critics around him than are healthy for a musician. Costello has often been praised by critis--David Lee Roth carped that they liked him because they looked like him--but he's rarely courted them. He goes where inspiration takes him. My guess is that history will look at Bruce as very good, veering at times into great, but a bit overpraised. Costello's stock will continue to rise.
+1 on that first comment, Joe Smith.
This is my favorite Costello song… by far.
Springsteen… was he Tweeter? Or was he the monkeyman?
+1 on that first comment, Joe Smith.
This is my favorite Costello song… by far.
Springsteen… was he Tweeter? Or was he the monkeyman?
My understanding is that, at least in Florida, all oceanfront beaches up to a certain footage from the ocean are open to the public.
The trick is getting to them. You can't just walk through private property to get to the beach.
"Pump It Up" was released June 10, 1978, two months after Elvis Costello and the Attractions played at the Orpheum theatre in Madison. The set list (yes, it's on the internet) claims he started with "Waiting For the End of the World" and ended with "Watching the Detectives". It was like watching a grenade with a very loose pin.
Elvis Costello was amusing to me in ways Springsteen was not. Maybe it's generational since EC was seemed to always turn up in 80s themed movie soundtracks or associated radio playlists which were more to my liking.
Springsteen also tried another way of "crossing-over" when he married Julianne Phillips. Guess the grass wasn't all that much greener since it didn't last, and he returned to the fold when he divorced and married Patti Scialfa.
Lyle Lovett did a series of internet shows during 2021 (https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2021/03/lyle-lovett-keeps-the-music-alive-with-pandemic-duo-shows.html). They were awesome. EC was one guest, the between song chats were great. Don't know if they are still out there (you could watch live and the recording was available for a while). I saw Diana Krall a couple weeks ago. She was the last COVID-cancellation reschedule show of a bunch we had tickets (hers was right when Omicron emerged). Her encore was Almost Blue.
major differences
EC is PG Wodehouse
Dylan is Rimbaud
Trouble is, he exhausted people. Too much in his songs for anybody to actually land on. Too many thoughts, way too wordy. Too many ideas that just bang up against themselves.
I agree that he's referring to himself here. I've listened to the first 10 chapters and I think there there are some bits where Dylan is ostensibly talking about an artist but is really talking about himself.
I find his musings to be very amusing so far. I think this book is best read or listened to in small chunks.
"My understanding is that, at least in Florida, all oceanfront beaches up to a certain footage from the ocean are open to the public.
"The trick is getting to them. You can't just walk through private property to get to the beach."
I don't know if this comment pertains to this thread...I sort of doubt it. However, having spent most of my growing up years in Florida, I can speak at least for the Jacksonville Beaches (Atlantic Beach/Neptune Beach/Jacksonville Beach/Ponte Vedra Beach): Yes, all the oceanfront beaches are open to the public. Two of the beaches are zoned for both business and residential use. In these areas, there are parking lots and metered parking on the streets where beach goers from outside the areas can park and walk to the beach. Two of the beach areas named above are zoned only for residential use, so, while their beaches are open to the public, there are no places for non-residents to park, aside from a few beach access areas(two or three, at most), with very limited parking. Thus, for those living in these areas, the residents essentially have, in effect, private beaches.
(Full disclosure: I lived in one of these "residential only" areas. However, after about the age of 10 or so, I had no interest in going to the beach, and I rarely walked the two blocks from our house to even walk on the beach. It's only after I moved away and would return to visit my folks did I come to appreciate the beach. I would go down and stand looking at the waves, awed at the realization these waves had been rolling in and out for eons, well before humankind's appearance on the planet.)
I hadn't heard that song in 30 years or more, but it immediately reminded me of a song I hear fairly often on the radio, "Wild Wild West" by Escape Club. A similarity that apparently others have noticed, too, since it is mentioned in the Wiki entry for the song.
"Not a Springsteen fan boy, but you do get your money's worth at his concerts..."
I don't think much of his politics, but I have been a huge fan for more than 40 years, and seen him in concert three times at widely spaced intervals 15 and 12 years- unbelievably good concerts, all three.
who-knew said...
Dylan: Trouble is, he exhausted people. Too much in his songs for anybody to actually land on. ".
*************
That reminds me of Emperor Joseph II's purported complaint that Mozart's music had "too many notes."
Can't add anything about his music, but the fact that he's married to Diana Krall mystifies me as much as Lyle Lovett being married (at one time) to Julia Roberts.
(There was a great Norm MacDonald SNL Newsbrief about Roberts and Lovett divorcing. MacDonald said it was due to the fact that she realized that she was Julia Roberts and he was, well, Lyle Lovett. Photos in the background provided the punchline.)
I saw Springsteen twice, in his (and the E Street Band's) prime. First in Madison after Darkness at the Edge of Town came out and then in Milwaukee after The River came out. Two of the best shows I ever saw. And I will say Dylan on U2 might be interesting. Personally, I think U2 is the most overrated band in rock. Boring, muddy mixes for mostly boring songs sums it up for me.
At my request my wife gave me a birthday present of a box set of EC's first five albums. I already had the individual CDs but the ones in the set had bonus tracks. Those are still some of my favorite albums. Brutal Youth ain't bad either.
" his later ones just seemed like a shorthand for being "sophisticated," without actually having to understand jazz or blues. " Costello learned to read music when he was working with the Brodsky Quartet and has worked in a lot of situations where he had to present a score to the musicians he was working with. He knows theory, so he understands jazz. I can't judge if he can play it, because he never has, but his cover of "Eisenhower Blues," a J.B. Lenoir tunes, is pretty convincing blues.
The only good thing about Bruce Springsteen was the E Street Band. I could listen to Roy Bittan play forever. That man was the only one I ever heard that realized the piano is a percussion instrument.
I once read a review of an Elvis album that said he had everything a great singer could want except for a good voice.
I wonder if Bob ever saw that and thought of himself.
flag9bo
I still listen to "Trust"
Bruce Springsteen made a lot of music that I liked from the 1970s through the late 1980s, and I saw him twice in concert, in Tacoma for the Born In The USA tour in 1984 and in West Berlin for the Tunnel of Love tour in 1988. Both were great shows. By the latter, however, he had become, as he described in one song, "a rich man in a poor man's shirt." He also had become more of a political propagandist than a storyteller, and he lost me after that.
what's So Funny? About peace love and understanding?
donald said...
Shoulda just called him the hack he is. They don’t come much more overrated than Springsteen.
to be fair, Springsteen WAS one of the better guest counters to backup the Dictators.
I mean, they didn't have him Sing or anything; just scream 1,2,3,4 ! but he did Okay
The Dictators: Faster and Louder
Makes my old ankle sprains ache.
'I still listen to "Trust"'
It would be on my list of 'only 10 desert island albums.'
Pure genius...Nick Lowe struck once again.
After beating the hell out of most of EC's output through "Spike," and seeing him live twice, I checked out. Must've been when he married that coma-inducing Krall.
But RadioParadise has put his "45" in heavy rotation and it is EC of old. And it's fun to play on the ukulele!
I once told a colleague, while carpooling on the way home from a gig, that I thought Imperial Bedroom was a snoozefest, I thought he was gonna cry, then kill me.
Early EC engenders a lot of emotion. Dylan, not so much.
Thanks for talking about the Dylan book. I came across a stupid review from the LA Times about it (calling BD "misogynistic") and got the book. I'm picking through the songs I remember and having a great, thoughtful time with it. And it's beautifully laid out! Reminds me of "Rock Dreams."
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