Mar 22, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song: Saving Grace
Melbourne Mass Choir version: Saving Grace
What you should know about this song: When Dylan released his Slow Train Coming and Saved albums, he received an array of criticism from the public regarding his conversion to Christianity and the influence of faith on his music: “The controversy masked the power of some of his finest material, not least this superb gospel ballad from 1980’s Saved, which was enriched by some of Dylan’s most emotional harmonica playing.”*
“People came to me when he put out his Christian records and said, “This guy’s finished – he can’t speak to us anymore.’ I thought those were some of the most beautiful gospel songs that have ever entered the whole landscape of gospel music.” – Leonard Cohen*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: Digital Journal
Mar 21, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song:
What you should know about this song: “I Believe in You” is one of Dylan’s most expressive songs when it comes to his faith in God.
They ask me how I feel
And if my love is real
And how I know I’ll make it through
And they, they look at me and frown
They’d like to drive me from this town
They don’t want me around
‘Cause I believe in you.
They show me to the door
They say don’t come back no more
‘Cause I don’t be like they’d like me to
And I, I walk out on my own
A thousand miles from home
But I don’t feel alone
‘Cause I believe in you.
I believe in you even through the tears and the laughter
I believe in you even though we be apart
I believe in you even on the morning after
Oh, when the dawn is nearing
Oh, when the night is disappearing
Oh, this feeling is still here in my heart.
Don’t let me drift too far
Keep me where you are
Where I will always be renewed
And that which you’ve given me today
Is worth more than I could pay
And no matter what they say
I believe in you.
I believe in you when winter turn to summer
I believe in you when white turn to black
I believe in you even though I be outnumbered
Oh, though the earth may shake me
Oh, though my friends forsake me
Oh, even that couldn’t make me go back.
Don’t let me change my heart
Keep me set apart
From all the plans they do pursue
And I, I don’t mind the pain
Don’t mind the driving rain
I know I will sustain
‘Cause I believe in you.
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: Pop Shifter
Mar 20, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song: Gotta Serve Somebody
Etta James Version: Gotta Serve Somebody
What you should know about this song: “Gotta Serve Somebody” was the opening track for the radically different Slow Train Coming album. The song won Dylan his first ever Grammy Award, winning Best Male Vocal Performance of 1979.
“Me like his song ‘serve Somebody’ quite a bit. I glad he do it, too, y’know, because there comes a time when an artist just cannot follow the crowd. If you are an artist like Bob Dylan, you got to make the crowd follow you.” – Bob Marley
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Bob Dylan, 1978 at the Dane County Coliseum, Madison, Wis.
Photo Source: Concert LiveWire
Mar 19, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song: Senior (Tales of Yankee Power)
What you should know about this song:
“‘Senior’ was one of them border type things… sort of lost Yankee on gloomy Sunday, carnival type of thing… I see this as the aftermath of when two people who were leaning on each other because neither one of them had the guts to stand up alone, all of a sudden they break apart.” – Bob Dylan, 1985
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: MetroActive Music
Mar 18, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song: Romance in Durango
What you should know about this song: This song was partly inspired by Dylan’s experiences in Mexico on the set of Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid. Dylan co-wrote it with playwright Jacque Levy.
“The first thing that came was an image I had from a postcard that was once sent to me… with a picture of a Mexican hacienda, or something – some Mexican shack – a shack with a bunch of chili peppers on the roof in the sun. So the first line was ‘Hot chili peppers int he sun’, and I remember saying, “No, blistering sun’, so we had the first line.” – Jacques Levy
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Bob Dylan at the Secret Sound Studio 1976
Photo Source: Lynn Goldsmith
Mar 17, 2012 | 100 Days with Bob Dylan
Link to Song: Oh, Sister
What you should know about this song: This spontaneous and remarkable piece was the result of minimal rehearsals between Bob Dylan and Emmylou Harris, the vocalist tasked with harmonizing to Dylan’s lead. For the next three years until July 1978, Dylan included the song in his live performances.
“I would have been very intimidated, except that we just got right down to work, and the work was reading the lyrics off the page. We were cutting the song, watching him and trying to phrase with him while not really knowing the song. It was all live. It was like a painter that works by just throwing paint up on the canvas and yet there’s this real method to his madness. He knew what he was doing. It was an extraordinary experience.” – Emmylou Harris
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Bob Dylan at the Secret Sound Studio 1976
Photo Source: Lynn Goldsmith
