Dylanology is an ongoing series of blog posts in which I'm chronologically going through Bob Dylan's studio discography. There may be some diversions along the way.
In the sort-of-biopic I'm Not There,
Bob Dylan going electric is portrayed as a literal attack on the folk
audience. Dylan and band open fire with machine guns blazing like in
some comical action movie, and the whole thing is played off with
tongue firmly in cheek. While the whole “Dylan goes electric”
story has by now grown into a myth through the re-telling and
exaggeration, it's still clear that he was no longer going to be what
the folk movement wanted. They saw him as useful for political ends;
were it up to them, he'd have kept on, writing about Martin Luther
King Jr. and Vietnam and the like. But it never occurred to them that
Dylan would be more useful to the world as an artist instead of a
spokesman. If they hated him and turned on him for it, he'd be much
happier that way.
By now
deeply ensconced in abstract wordplay, post-modern stories, and
bluesy/folky rock music, it's actually a bit of a surprise how
grounded most of Bringing It All Back Home
sounds. 'She Belongs To Me' is a lovely ballad in the mold of
'Corrina, Corrina', while 'It's All Over Now, Baby Blue' is
(rightfully) considered one of Dylan's masterpieces, a deeply poetic
break-up song. Of course, then there's 'Bob Dylan's 115th
Dream', a surreal narrative that portrays a modern colonization
attempt of America with both historical and fictional characters
thrown in. (My two favorite moments: the laugh breakdown at the
beginning of the song, and the parting line about more ships arriving
in America as Dylan flees the country back to Europe—“he said his
name was Columbus/and I just said good luck.”) Even at their most
nonsensical, like the litany of advice on opener 'Subterranean
Homesick Blues', the lyrics are supported by Dylan's continued gifts
for basic but memorable arrangements. 'Outlaw Blues' points the way
to the more raucous moments of Highway 61 Revisited
and Blonde On Blonde.
The
most famous thing about Bringing It All Back Home
is the way the album is split in two, between the 'electric' first
side and the 'acoustic' second side. This makes it a true
transitional record, since the second side would be the last time we
heard him purely acoustic for a few years. With only four songs, it
shows Dylan in his deepest attempts yet toward creating a new folk
songwriting style without changing the musical approach. 'Mr.
Tambourine Man' is better known for its cover version even though the
original's lyrics are easier to focus on, reading like his version of
'Puff The Magic Dragon', right down the supposed pot references. It
also gave us the word 'jangle', so that's something. While one could
argue that 'Gates Of Eden' and 'It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)'
do have some political commentary, they feel like incidental results
of the imagery he's weaving together rather than the focus. In one
way of thinking, this was Dylan codifying and perfecting the style
he'd begun with songs like 'Bob Dylan's Dream' and 'Chimes Of
Freedom', songs that feel both very personal and about larger issues,
too.
The
album cover and title may be an ironic joke, but at the same time, it
seems like they help describe where Dylan was at when Bringing
It All Back Home was made.
Feeling under siege from the folk community and the increasing social
turmoil of the 60s, he retreated into an increasingly insular
world—the fallout shelter-looking den of the album cover—but
still commented on the external world. In that sense, 'It's All Over
Now, Baby Blue' can be interpreted as a break-up song that compares
the end of love to the world ending. The mistake of the folk movement
and the “Judas!” accusations was in assuming Dylan ended his
political persona for greater money or fame. In actuality, he had
done it for personal and artistic reasons. As 'Like A Rolling Stone'
would soon demonstrate, if he had to be one or the other, he'd rather
be a folk hero than a political one.
