Link to Song: It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
What you should know about this song: Dylan debuted “It’s Alright Ma” at the New York’s Philharmonic Hall in October 1964 just before recording it for Bringing It All Back Home. It is an excellent example of his transition from the politically-driven music to a more all-encompasing theme of life. The lyrical composition coupled with the unique rhyme scheme and melody in this song is astounding, really. Dylan drew from Arthur Koestler (author of Darkness Sat Noon), the Book of Ecclesiastes, and even some Elvis Presley tunes to create this masterpiece. “He not busy being born is busy dying”…. by far my favorite line of this bluesy Dylan song. I feel like I would need to listen to the song hundreds of times before I could even begin to understand all that poured out of Dylan’s heart when he wrote this piece.
“I’ve written some songs stat I look at, and they just give me a sense of awe. Stuff like “It’s Alright Ma’, just the alliteration in that blows me away.” – Bob Dylan, 1997*
“He has, at certain moments in his writing career, crystallized stuff so well that it will last for a thousand years of human history. If we don’t destroy ourselves by then, in the year 3000 someone somewhere will be singing, ‘He not busy being born is busy dying.’ That’s significant. That’s really making a contribution to your art.” – David Crosby*
“I don’t know how I got to write theses songs. Try to sit down and write something like that. I did it once, and I can do other things now. But I can’t do that.” – Bob Dylan in 2004 about “It’s Alright, Ma” (Rolling Stone Magazine, Issue 1131).
“It’s always been a tricky song for Dylan to sing- a snapshot of a particular moment in his artistic development, a jewel that he’s lucky enough to own rather than a machine whose workings he understand from having built it.” – Rolling Stone Magazine, Issue 1131.
Photo Source: Daniel Kramer
