Listening – 2

(restating the premise: At the end of a long evening a long time ago a wise friend commented that neither one of us would ever write a great book, but we could be great readers. I’ve held onto that idea for 25+ years and then the pandemic added a new twist: more time walking and running has led to more time listening to podcasts (and a couple audio books) and, just like I like to do with books, I want to share….my reactions, impressions, thoughts, where the podcast takes me. So hopefully this is the start of a series on podcasts I’ve listened to, including what, why you should listen, and what might come next. )

‘Blood on the Tracks’ from the Bob Dylan: Album by Album podcast series

Yella: Deconstructing and appreciating one of Dylan’s best albums, figuring out the themes and the music, and just enjoying the brilliance.

Go on: the host says this is Dylan’s best album and maybe the best album of love songs, ever, then makes the case that ‘Blood on the Tracks’ describes the stages of a relationship, from breakup to reconciliation to another, final split, some bitterness, than acceptance. He gives songs their due as stand-alone songs and dives deep on the music itself, too. Yes, sometimes a bit too much hyperbole and sometimes more into the weeds than seems necessary, but, in all, a thorough understanding of and listening to a truly incredible album.

And by “dives deep on the music” I mean talks about which guitar chords and why, different bass lines, and even Dylan’s mid-song harmonica tuning. I started hearing the songs differently after listening to this podcast – not so much the lyrics, but the music.

To the end? Sure, if you love the album. If you don’t, the first episode is probably enough, although part 3 tackles ‘Idiot Wind’ and is well worth a listen.

So who? I’m almost finished reading ‘Once Upon a Time: the lives of Bob Dylan,’ by Ian Bell, which got me onto my recent Dylan kick and the whole history of his early years in New York City, with the folk scene and then going electric, pulls together so much US political, economic, and music history that I feel like everyone should know more and read more and appreciate more what a crazy influence Dylan has had — and intentionally not had at times — so I think everyone should listen to a podcast that dissects my favorite of his albums. But, honestly, if you’re not into Dylan, skip this.

And then: one of these days I am going to post my own version on “ablum by album,” although mine will be a take an artist or band, listening through their catalog in order. I’ve written Black Sabbath already and am almost all the way through R.E.M. I’m not going to even try Dylan, but no doubt what I think and hear and write about the bands I do “in order” will be influenced by Dylan.

and also this: I can’t recall any specific explanations for the album title, but strikes me as entirely possible that the “blood” is just pure toil, sweat, tears, effort from the artist and “tracks” is literally the album tracks, the songs, as in “track 3” – not railroads, not some metaphor for journeys or some extension of the album’s themes, just “man, we worked so hard on this there’s blood on these recorded tracks.” Just saying, that’s what I think.