With occasional reflection on the perpetual absurdity/intrigue of life and society in general.

Friday, September 30, 2022

The Optical Files #137: Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited (1965)

My mom was a lover of music & literature, but never had much patience for anything she perceived as pretentiously artsy. I remember once during the height of my teenage Bob Dylan phase putting this CD on in the car during a road trip with her & my dad. She moaned something about how she thought she was done having to listen to this pompous crap after the '60s were over, but now her son was forcing it upon her. If he really had anything that important to say, my mom argued, he'd say it in plain language so it couldn't be misinterpreted. I said something about the nature of the delivery being part of the message & turned up the volume on "Tombstone Blues."

Today I feel enlightened enough to say that my mom & I were both right. Some of these songs are intentionally opaque, acting as shibboleths to weed out the un-hip (which is pretty much the entire point of "Ballad of a Thin Man"). On the other hand, some of it is clearly pure gibberish. The aforementioned "Tombstone Blues," with its 2-step raveup & hoarse, jagged lead guitar stabs, is more than a passing nod to absurdism. The avalanche of words & images has a numbing effect, as Dylan wishes he could write something to "cease the pain of your useless & pointless knowledge." But this is just a wish, indicating that Dylan hasn't achieved that end. Sorry mom, the song does make some sense. Like multiple songs on Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan is interested in relationships, both familial & social. The chorus of "Tombstone Blues" tells the locations of both Mama & Daddy, & among the characters sketched in the song are city fathers, commanders in chief, kings, slaves, & brothers--people who are defined by their relationships to others. This tendency shows back up in both "Ballad of a Thin Man" & the title track: parades of characters whose names & titles tell you all you need to know about who they are.

Actually, perhaps more than any Bob Dylan album, this one is obsessed with social status. Both "Like a Rolling Stone" & "Queen Jane Approximately" are about fallen socialites, & seem to delight in seeing haughty women taken down a peg. This is a glimpse at the dark side of Dylan's writing about women--it's not the worst it got, but I can't help but notice that every time he writes about a character like this, it's always a woman. When I realize that it's the only Dylan album that I can think of (except Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid) to contain no love songs at all, I feel like I can extrapolate a conclusion.

Musically, organist Al Kooper might be the hero of this album. From his iconic melody on "Like a Rolling Stone" to his silent-horror-film vamping on "Ballad of a Thin Man," he livens up every track he's on. I've always enjoyed the dramatic "Thin Man": with its moody apocalyptic blues shuffle & vocal laced with barely-contained venom, I feel like Nick Cave lifted his entire shtick from this 1 song. (However I will admit that ever since hearing the uptempo version on Before the Flood I've found the album version to be quite a crawl) I also like the siren whistle on the title track & the doo-wop guitar licks on "Queen Jane Approximately." This isn't the most musically impressive Dylan album (less than half the songs are what I'd call "tuneful") but the little details make it a satisfying listen.

There's not much unique I can say about Highway 61 Revisited beyond my own history with it. I got a lot of play out of this one back in the day--I never liked it quite as much as Blonde On Blonde, but it's certainly the most iconic of Dylan's "electric trilogy." Sorry mama, I don't make the rules.


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