Was it something I said?
I’m not sure, but suddenly Dylan’s all over Spotify, and in honor of his appearance I’m going to write about "New Morning", the very first Dylan album I bought.
But not the first I heard.
Sometimes the time is right. It was my first semester at college, and after releasing the disastrous "Self Portrait" only months before, Dylan put out "New Morning". I’d never experienced this, an artist reacting to the press.
Until this time, Dylan had only garnered positive reviews. Sure, he’d switched sound with "Nashville Skyline", but that generated one of his biggest hits, "Lay Lady Lay". And I didn’t think "Self Portrait" was that bad, to the degree I actually heard it, I loved "Days Of 49". But why exactly did he cover "The Boxer"? I wasn’t the only one flummoxed, the critics savaged the album.
And suddenly we had "New Morning".
Which truly was. Dropping the needle is like walking out of the house on an early spring day.
But I want to start on side two, with my second favorite Dylan song ever, "Sign On The Window".
It seems so simple, and it is. But the last verse has more honesty, more insight into the human condition than any song in today’s hit parade, it cuts to the bone.
Build me a cabin in Utah
Marry me a wife, catch rainbow trout
Have a bunch of kids who call me ‘Pa’
That must be what it’s all about
That must be what it’s all about
Get old enough and you’ll realize it is. You think it’s about achievement, putting points on the board, but really it’s about everyday life, and family. And to hear these words from the great seer when I was seventeen truly confused me. He seemed to be rejecting everything he’d accomplished, saying it had little value. What was the path now?
All you had to do was listen, it’s in the words.
Made a big impression upon me. And as the years have passed, I’ve come to realize Bob’s right. I’ve got no kids and that’s a mistake. We’re just animals, born to reproduce. And when we’re gone, we fade away, we’re soon forgotten. It’s about the stolen moment with your child, seeing the world through his eyes, which makes life worth living.
And there are so many other great things about "Sign On The Window". There’s the reference to going to California. And the way Dylan strains up to sing about the weather:
Looks like a-nothing but rain…
Sure gonna be wet tonight on Main Street…
Hope that it don’t sleet
That’s what it’s like living in a small town, thinking about the weather and how it’s going to impact your life.
And the piano playing is so right.
"Sign On The Window" is an understated masterpiece.
"Father Of Night"
It’s only a minute and a half long but it cuts to the bone. Races to the end of the album and leaves you so creeped out you’ve got to start again with the opening track so as not to be haunted.
And it’s the woman singing in the background that startles you, refuses to allow you to coast. She’s akin to the female at the end of "Let It Loose" from "Exile On Main Street".
"New Morning"
The title track. Which opens the second side, but this was always the side I played first.
I first heard it during the brisk Vermont winter. Where it’s hard to be motivated to get out from under the covers and face the day. But I’d drop the needle on "New Morning" and gain courage to go about my business.
It’s the organ, the guitar picking…the way the whole number breaks down around 2:40 and then builds back up again with the drumbeat and the guitar solo…
So happy just to be alive
Underneath the sky of blue
On this new morning, new morning
On this new morning with you
You felt Dylan was casting off the failure of "Self Portrait", truly pushing it aside and starting again, strong as ever.
"If Not For You"
The famous version was done by George Harrison, which was released on "All Things Must Pass" merely a month later.
This is the authentic hillbilly sound all those white boy shoegazers are trying to replicate today, as if they grew up in the holler with no shoes. And at this point, Dylan was already rich, but he captured the feeling so right, maybe it was his Minnesota roots.
"Day Of The Locusts"
The marketing hook for the album, this was the story of Dylan getting an honorary degree at Princeton. We were stunned he showed up, this was before the baby boomers gained power and declared rock and roll legitimate, which promptly killed it.
A completely forgotten track, it was a bit too earnest back then but resonates today, having aged gracefully, disconnected from the forgotten event.
If honors made a life, Whitney Houston would still be alive. It’s about the music. Have fun playing it, because that’s all you’ve got.
"One More Weekend"
Slippin’ and slidin’ like a weasel on the run
Funny how lines stick in your head. I repeat this one endlessly. Dylan sings it like he’s truly slippin’ and slidin’, you can hear the grease in the track.
Or the alcohol.
That’s what living in the boonies is all about, getting drunk.
And that’s what this sounds like, a rollicking good time.
You can hear the confidence, which is what all of us weak-kneed white boys gain with the sauce.
"The Man In Me"
It’s all about the bridge:
But, oh, what a wonderful feeling
Just to know that you are near
Sets my heart a-reeling
From my toes up to my ears
It truly is a wonderful feeling, to escape the loneliness of the wilderness to find a woman who appreciates you, who’ll care for you.
A career is a war. You need support. At this point, Bob had Sara. I’m not sure who he has now. Not just anybody will do, it’s got to be right. And if not, he’ll just get on the bus and resume his endless tour.
The man in me will hide sometimes to keep from bein’ seen
But that’s just because he doesn’t want to turn into some machine
Took a woman like you
To get through to the man in me
That’s the conundrum. An artist seemingly gives it all to the public, but the truth is he reserves a bit for himself, in his heart, which he’s dying to unlock but will only do for the right person, someone he trusts, who will listen to him and make him more than he already is.
"Time Passes Slowly"
It most certainly does.
Once I had a sweetheart, she was fine and good-lookin’
We sat in her kitchen while her mama was cookin
Life happens in the kitchen, that’s where all the heart to heart conversations take place.
Time passes slowly up here in the daylight
We stare straight ahead and try so hard to stay right
Country living. Without distractions, it’s all about simplicity. Trying to do right where there’s enough room to go wrong. But it becomes overbearing, eventually Dylan decamped to Malibu.
Like the red rose of summer that blooms in the day
Time passes slowly and fades away
It goes so slowly, but at the same time, it’s slipping through your fingers. Then it’s gone and if you’re lucky you’re left with a few memories.
"Three Angels"
The best thing about this track is the way it sets up "Father Of Night". It’s like a solo walk down the street, an amble, and then you’ve got the intensity of the final cut.
Still…
The angels play on their horns all day
The whole earth in progression seems to pass by
But does anyone hear the music they play
Does anyone even try?
In 1970, God was still dead. Today too many believe they’ve got an angel on their shoulder, protecting them.
Life is about having more questions than answers. You can either continue to seek, or cop out and accept the simple solution.
"Three Angels" gives you a sense of an ordinary day. Which is always extraordinary.
"Winterlude"
It sounds like ice skating. If you’ve done it, you know what I mean.
"Went To See The Gypsy"
It’s all about the piano figure.
Still…
So I watched that sun come rising
From that little Minnesota town
You never forget where you came from. He might have become the most revered lyricist of his generation, but he was still the little boy from Hibbing, Minnesota. Which, in truth, was no different from New York City. Hustlers, losers, sex and rum. Life’s the same everywhere, it’s just the clothes that change.
"If Dogs Run Free"
At first hard to accept, the more you played it, the more you understood it, but jazz had preceded rock and we were still not ready to tell the older generation they were right, so we were loath to embrace "If Dogs Run Free" at first, but in today’s world where there’s too much on every record and you can’t fight your way to the essence, here it’s right up front for you to chew upon.
The lyrics were minimalist, nothing like the truly big comeback success of "Blood On The Tracks" half a decade later. But even if nonsense was sung over the notes, the music would stand. "New Morning" sounded different from the rest of the canon in 1970, today it sounds like it was cut in a place so foreign that there’s no road back.
"New Morning" does not hit you over the head. But it’s not impossible to get into. The more you play it, the more you like it, the more you want to hear it.
It rewards repetition, give it a shot.
