Link to Song: If You See Her, Say Hello
What you should know about this song: This intensely personal song originally showed up as part of the Bootleg Series but was later included as part of the remarkable song cyle comprising Blood on the Tracks.
“I love that – it’s my favourite song.” – Nick Cave*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: Vanity Fair
Link to Song: Idiot Wind
What you should know about this song: This tense song was widely interpreted as a “raw slice of autobiography” when Dylan recorded it on Blood On the Tracks in 1975. However, Dylan still claims that the song is unrelated to his life.
“That was a song I wanted to make as a painting. A lot of people thought that song, that album, Blood On the Tracks, pertained to me, because it seemed to at the time. It didn’t pertain to me. It was just a concept of putting in images that defy time – yesterday, today, and tomorrow. I wanted to make them all connect in some strange way.” – Bob Dylan, 1985*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
1975 with Bruce Springsteen
Photo Source: The Strut
Link to Song: You’re a Big Girl Now
My Mourning Jacket Cover: You’re a Big Girl Now
What you should know about this song: Since it’s original recording for Blood On the Tracks in 1975, Dylan has since re-written the song, each time with an even more dramatic rendition. The most notable version was included on the Hard Rain concert album a year later.
“I read that this was supposed to be about my wife. I wish somebody would ask me first before they go ahead and print stuff like that. i mean, it couldn’t be about anybody else but my wife, right? Stupid and misleading jerks.” – Bob Dylan, 1985*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
1975 – Bob’s first meeting with Bruce Springsteen
Photo Source: The Strut
Link to Song: Simple Twist of Fate
What you should know about this song: After recording this song for the Blood On the Tracks album, Dylan later rewrote may of the lyrics or a TV performance in honor of veteran producer John Hammond. One of the more famous covers of this song came from Joan Baez, who took the liberty of devoting one verse to an impersonation of Dylan himself.
“If Dylan hadn’t said some of the things he did, nobody else was going to say them. Can you imagine what a world it would be if we didn’t have a Bob Dylan? It would be awful.” – George Harrison*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Photo Source: Lynn Goldsmith
Link to Song: Tangled Up in Blue
What you should know about this song: Originally, Dylan taped this song in two different cuts for the Blood on the Tracks album, but to his dissatisfaction he decided to rewrite the song for the stage. It was the live version for the 1984 album Real Live that Dylan claimed most represented the song’s definitive incarnation. To this day, he is still known for changing up the lyrics on the road.
“That’s one of the top ten songs of the 20th century.” – Richard Thompson*
“I was trying to do something that I didn’t think had ever been done before – in terms of trying to tell a story and be a present character in it without it being some kind of fake, sappy, attempted tearjerker. I was trying to be somebody in the present time while conjuring up a lot of past images.” – Bob Dylan, 1985
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
Link to Song: Forever Young
What you should know about this song: When Dylan originally recorded this song, he cut both an acoustic and electric version of it. Since he could not decide which version to include on the record, Dylan chose to include them both.
“Forever Young is a beautiful song. I’ve heard that sung round campfires, by people not recognizing it was Dylan, and when I told them, they’d say, ‘Oh my God, hat beautiful old favourite is Dylan?’.” – Allen Ginsberg*
*Source: “Dylan: 100 Songs and Pictures” by Fine Communications
