Timebomb In My Heart – BOB DYLAN
Bob Dylan is in that league of gentlemen where in-depth columns and analysis are dedicated to his album releases. Even the big boys on Manhattan and Fleet Street sit in their glass cubicles de-coding his rock canon and finding cryptic undertows of hidden meaning; survivor guilt in “Roll On John” (Will Herme/Rolling Stone) or contempt for the bankers in “Early Roman Kings” (Alexis Petridi/Guardian) because he is Bob, man, and back in the 60s he changed the world. Those on the right side of 50 want him to hold his music like a reflecting mirror to our times, because in their youth he somehow made sense of the violent upheaval of their rapidly changing world. To those born into a universe whose bards spun yarns about crying doves and angels in Harlem, he holds less reverence. A friend of mine in her dewy glow of youth raised her eyes in awe, “Bob Dylan, is he still alive?” I fall somewhere in between the two, old enough to know his name holds a meaning, but too young to remember much about his glory days, except stuffing my face with sand and discovering crayons. So I feel I am primed to listen without prejudice and enjoy Dylan’s rootsy ragtime, effortlessly chugging along like only decades of skill allow. His rasp is grating, but soothingly so. And I guess nearly 50 years in the rock’n'roll trenches have earned him the right to cruise the streets dressed as a pimped up gaucho. Even the thought of it makes me smile.
Yes, I like it. I surprise myself, because there is very little of Bob Dylan’s that I do like, with the following exception: I am in awe of his young, young skill as an interpretive folk singer. I think they are sans pareil:
M
Did you read the interview in rolling stone with Bob? It was um, interesting. The man sounds a bit mental, not fitting with what everyone thinks about him. Still can’t fault the music though (well apart from the eighties & most of the nineties).
I could have sworn that I was listening to The City of New Orleans. Nice writing.
Much as I like a lot of Dylan’s work, I think he’s losing his voice (and I suspect his mind too from what I read of his recent interview) although the music’s interesting
I love the line “he is still alive”…..yes he is and he is a musical treasure that can almost do no wrong. Feel like a I need to be driving to the seaside with my hair blowing in the wind carefree and without burden as I listen to this song….