My Essential Albums: 'Blonde on Blonde' by Bob Dylan

As one of the most influential albums of all time, Blonde on Blonde serves to be an essential album if you really want to get to know my music collection. (You'll run into this man a lot, so keep your eyes open). In 1966, Bob Dylan hit us with an amazing album with some of the greatest and most incredible songs ever written.

This article is going to be slightly longer as yes, I will be covering each and every song on it. The songs are brilliant and in typical-Dylan style, no two songs are ever really the same. I will not be discussing the meaning of the songs, but instead appreciating their sound and poetry. I personally believe that this man is one of the greatest male vocalists in all of human history, his voice fits so well with his music that people have tried to emulate it for decades. Especially the thin, wild, mercury sound of this album.

"Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"

Recorded and released also as the B-side to "Pledging My Time," this song has some incredible lyrics, a thudding drum beat, and some memorable acts of insanity brought to you by the God of Folk Rock.

If you don't get a bit crazed about the drumbeat introducing this song then you need to rethink your music tastes. This song is incredible as it is absolutely insane. It's one of those songs that will never fail to put a smile on your face because of its drums and confused lyrics over the top. And of course, there's the incredible line:

"Everybody must get stoned!"

The song itself isn't loved by every Dylanologist, but I definitely see it as one of the highlights of his career. It makes us see that Dylan can go crazy when he wants to and he's not always the pensive poet, or the brooding bard.

This song proves to us that Bob Dylan can really go and have some fun. The song is brilliant in terms of lyrics with the repetitive phrase "they'll stone you when..." and gives this underlying drum beat the insanity it needs to keep moving. The sound of Bob Dylan laughing his damn head off on this song is also quite refreshing seeing as this was a time when he wasn't in the best state of mind, it's nice to know he's having a good time recording this song.

Personally, I think the song's F key is a brilliant way to go as it presents the bluesy rhythm of the song and heightens the brass instrumentation as well. Some people even say that this song comes under the heading of "comedy rock" which in fact, it is. But because of the bluesy-nature of the tune, I'll put some of my money on the fact it may be a bit of Jazz as well as this.

Some of my personal favourite covers of this song (though they are not entirely limited to) have been: Lenny Kravitz, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers and Jessi Colter - though there have been many, many covers of the song over time seeing as it is so important for representing the "other side" of Bob Dylan.

The other version of the song by Bob Dylan himself that I would recommend is the version that is one the 1995 MTV Unplugged Sessions because his voice is so raw and he still sounds like he's having so much fun almost thirty years later.

"Pledging My Time"

The B-Side to the single of "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35"—this song is more poetic and shows us again, the pensive side of Bob Dylan. Though it may not be an entirely coherent song for everyone to understand perfectly, there are some wonderful images he creates from his use of words.

These are my personal favourite lines from the song:

"Well, the room is so stuffy

I can hardly breathe

Ev’rybody’s gone but me and you

And I can’t be the last to leave..."

I think this is an incredible and yet, ironic image of Bob Dylan speaking to someone else, saying that he can't leave after they do—he must be the one to leave them. The act of "pledging your time" means that you're waiting for something to happen. What he's waiting for or giving seems to be in the chorus, but isn't clear:

"I’m pledging my time to you

Hopin’ you’ll come through, too..."

An amazing set of lines since we don't actually know who he's talking to and what the context of this song seems to sway this way and that throughout the song. But the sound of Bob's guitar makes the whole song worthwhile regardless of whether you know the meaning behind the words or not.

I think you can possibly find some very good performances of "Pledging My Time"on the NET (Never Ending Tour) setlists since the 80s. And Bob Dylan's vocals just keep getting better and better.

"Visions of Johanna"

It's not really that difficult for Bob Dylan to keep writing great songs as it seems. But writing "Visions of Johanna"—a song considered to be one of the greatest written songs of all time—is really pushing the pen. This song has been revived by many, covered by some, performed by few, respected by all and most importantly, remembered as being one of the greatest songs ever recorded.

I could give this song its own article but I will really try to contain my excitement in this section.

The song is introduced by the beautiful and yet, very well-known, Bob Dylan-esque sound of the guitar and the harmonica. You can literally hear the Dylan-esque sound before he starts singing the lines:

"Ain't it just like the night to play tricks when you're tryin' to be so quiet?"

Just the way he says "quiet" sends most of us into a frenzy. He starts off with this beautiful image of nighttime and this really nice, soft guitar at the bottom.

And here is the beautiful 1st verse bridge before the ever-changing chorus of the song:

"Lights flicker from the opposite loft

In this room the heat pipes just cough

The country music station plays soft

But there's nothing, really nothing to turn off"

The skipping syllable of the last line of this bridge really adds character to it and helps us along into the build to the chorus. It is a true Dylan-esque song that deserves way more respect than it gets.

I think most Bob Dylan fans, like myself, love the ending to this song when Bob Dylan drags out that bridge as far as he can before he drops the very last chorus on us and ends with that beautiful harmonica sound.

"And Madonna, she still has not showed

We see this empty cage now corrode

Where her cape of the stage once had flowed

The fiddler, he now steps to the road

He writes ev'rything's been returned which was owed

On the back of the fish truck that loads

While my conscience explodes..."

That beautiful last two lines of the bridge which explains the explosion of the conscience is possibly one of the greatest lines in a song ever to be written to date.

Quite possibly the best version of this appears on the Cutting Edge Bootleg by Bob Dylan and serves as one of the great recordings of his incredible talents.

However you want to put it though, you cannot deny that this song is one of the most incredibly composed and written songs in human history and should be cherished.

"One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"

Released as the A-side to "Queen Jane Approximately,"this song is an incredible fusion of guitars and pianos. The song's chorus is almost pop-like in its form that it has this very upbeat rhythm when the subject matter is about someone hurting someone else. Just check out this incredible chorus:

"But, sooner or later, one of us must know

That you just did what you’re supposed to do

Sooner or later, one of us must know

That I really did try to get close to you"

It is an almost-half-apology that needs to be considered to sound like both sides were in the wrong somehow.

The song is a complicated love story, but yet again it isn't a love story because there's no mention of there being any love between the two of them. It seems like Bob Dylan is almost trying to take the cake from the love songs and make his own situation about what it is really like at the time he's in.

Not a very well known song, but Bob Dylan's vocals give it a gold. Especially when he rings out the last line to that chorus—or the final line between the bridge and the chorus, and holds that one note. He really is a very fine vocalist showing off his talents.

"I Want You"

Released as the A-side to "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"this song holds its own on the album and was used in one of Heath Ledger's scenes in the iconic semi-biopic of the bard's life (and my favourite film of all time): I'm Not There.

Again, as with "Visions of Johanna," I could write an entire article about this song, but I'll try to contain myself yet again. The reason I love this song is because it is so upbeat and is known really as Bob Dylan's only "pop" song. It comes under the genre of "pop rock" and has some pretty lyrics, but it is Dylan's vocals and the beat that make the song what it is. Truthfully, I don't think this song would sound good sung by any other singer purely because Bob Dylan's voice fits perfectly, but there have been some average covers.

The song opens with a happy upbeat sound and the lyrics come crooning softly out of Dylan as if he's singing you a lullaby:

"The guilty undertaker sighs

The lonesome organ grinder cries

The silver saxophones say I should refuse you..."

You'll note that at the end of each of these lines, his voice holds that note a tiny bit longer, but it makes all the difference to the song. And the rhyming scheme is brilliant in the second half of the same verse:

"The cracked bells and washed-out horns

Blow into my face with scorn, but it’s

Not that way, I wasn’t born to lose you..."

There are some incredible images in this song which most people would find odd given that the song is so light in its themes. The entire chorus is mostly made up of the same line but Bob Dylan manages to pull of yet another sub-genre of music with class and style

The covers that seem to be a little bit above average are done by (but not limited to): Cher, Gary Burton, and Bruce Springsteen. Each of them did it in their own style, which makes the song cover pretty good but not better than Bob Dylan's.

Another version of this song that is pretty good is by Bob Dylan himself and appears on the bootleg The Cutting Edge and it is even heavier on the "pop rock" sound and I believe, it's in a different key. But it sounds just as good.

"Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again"

This is one of the longer songs on the album and was released as a single with "Rita May"as the B-side. The song itself is a brilliant and whimsical tale which many have scratched their heads over for decades. Even Clinton Heylin can't decide on his answer.

The song starts with a lovely little harmony of a guitar and a harmonica to introduce the track in classic Dylan style. This song is through-and-through folk rock and nothing else, it might sound a little bluesy with the chords and melody, but I can assure you this is folk rock at its best.

The opening lines to the song really get you into the feeling of the tune as Bob Dylan sings along to the bouncing guitar in the background:

"Oh, the ragman draws circles

Up and down the block

I’d ask him what the matter was

But I know that he don’t talk..."

These opening lines are so memorable that they fashion the rest of the song—the various verses and their various characters come to life through this bouncing tune. It's almost happy, but has some sort of underlying trouble which is brought to the forefront by the bridge and chorus:

"Oh, Mama, can this really be the end

To be stuck inside of Mobile with the

Memphis blues again."

This makes the subject of the song unclear, but keeps the running drum beat building up to this tense moment where (I assume) he's stuck in Alabama.

However complicated, this song never fails to satisfy everyone who listens to it. It is a compelling story of one man's struggle to get away from something - though we know not what it is.

The Grateful Dead did a brilliant cover of this song. Bob Dylan himself has also produced other versions of this song. I would highly recommend the one on the soundtrack to No Direction Home since it's my personal favourite. Dylan becomes more human in this one, seemingly forgetting the lyrics and not even singing for about 10-20 seconds of the song. It is considerably shorter than the original, but still a great way to get to know more of his style and musical ways. There is also a release on the album Hard Rain which is enjoyable for Dylan fans everywhere.

"Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat"

Released as the A-side to "Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine,"this song is a funny and again, slightly light-hearted way of saying that something may be fashionable, but that doesn't mean it's classy. Some have taken the Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat to mean literally this as the pill-box is considered a classy hat (as worn by Jackie Kennedy), but leopard skin is cheap and classless (too many).

Many have thought this song to be an electric folk version of the blues, with its jazzy blues scale that opens the song before Dylan croons:

"Well, I see you got your brand new Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat..."

Going straight into the topic of the song as someone seems to be wearing said leopard-skin pill-box hat.

I love the vocals on this song, I have to say. Bob Dylan's vocals sound like they are some sort of character. He says the first line almost aggressively, sarcastically even. This is what makes the story of the song so good - because he uses his voice to portray that little bit extra meaning that he doesn't want to say in the words on the track.

But we are all well aware that the bluesy tune of this song comes through the lines:

"Well, you must tell me, baby how your

Head feels under somethin’ like that

Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat."

His voice trails with the blues notes as they descend and it sounds amazing because his vocal ability is just so powerful that it ends up working beautifully. He can create one hell of a harmony in this song and that is something in his work that has always been under-appreciated.

There are various recording versions released on the Cutting Edge and No Direction Home bootlegs that any Dylan fan absolutely has to hear, they are brilliant and this song is an electric blues classic.

"Just Like a Woman"

This single was released as the A-side to "Obviously Five Believers"and is a classic Dylan love song because we have no idea whether he actually likes the person or not, seeing as the lyrics are somewhat ironic and unclear to map out.

The song starts with the harmonica sound filling up that introduction and the song seems to sway before the lyrics come in with those drums rolling in the background very softly. Some people mistake this for a "pop rock" song when it is so clearly classic folk rock, something Dylan invented himself.

Everyone seems to remember the iconic chorus more than anything else where the words "just like a woman" are repeated:

"She takes just like a woman, yes, she does

She makes love just like a woman, yes, she does

And she aches just like a woman

But she breaks just like a little girl."

Some people are not sure about what Bob Dylan is doing with these lyrics, but the sound of them is awesome. The way in which we go from verse to chorus smoothly and then, the minor section which changes the person of who Bob Dylan is speaking to in the song—it makes the whole thing worthwhile.

The most important lines, everyone seems to think are these—which also sound incredible because his voice goes really low and raw:

"Please don’t let on that you knew me when

I was hungry and it was your world..."

At the end of the song, we get a change of chorus, which fits the Dylan-esque sound perfectly and then, that harmonica sound in which Dylan shows off his many talents. He truly is a master of change.

The song has been covered numerous times by many different people and some of the good ones are: Stevie Nicks, Jeff Buckley, Nina Simone, Rod Stewart, and Mick Jagger.

Dylan performed the song with George Harrison in the Concert for Bangladesh and that too is incredible Dylan—at its finest.

A good version of the song appears on the bootleg for the Rolling Thunder Revue in which almost every song on that album is amazing—so I would recommend giving this one a listen as well.

The complete recording sessions were released on the Cutting Edge Bootleg and need to be heard to be believed because they are wild and amazing. You will absolutely love them, I am sure of it.

"Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine"

"Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine"is a long title for a song, so from now on we'll call it "Most Likely"when referring to the song. This song is a crazy bluesy track, following the running theme of the blues chords in the album. A dissatisfied lover, Bob Dylan lets out his own emotions towards someone who clearly can't make up their mind. The indecisiveness is clear from the beginning of the song:

"You say you love me

And you're thinkin' of me

But you know you could be wrong..."

Bob Dylan's low crooning makes the song what it is. It is an incredible act of adding character and story to the song. On that last line "but you know you could be wrong"—he sounds almost like he's asking a question, or it is ever so slightly ironic like Dylan is mocking the indecisiveness of the other character.

I think the one thing everyone remembers is the chorus to this song, which I can understand—you cannot get out of your head as it is so catchy:

"I'm gonna let your pass

And I'll go last

Then time will tell just who has fell

And who's been left behind

When you go your way and I go mine."

His vocals on this song are incredible, he sounds almost like he's attempting to talk to someone whilst also almost shouting to them. The vocals are strong and powerful throughout like this and make for a great piece of the storyline and give an amazing emphasis on the blues themes of the melody.

Most Likely has been a song performed by Bob Dylan and the Band on the 1974 tour and appears on the Bob Dylan album Before the Flood as a live version. This version is very good and I highly recommend you check it out.

"Temporary Like Achilles"

"Temporary Like Achilles"was never released as a single to my knowledge, but is a brilliant song that holds its own on the Blonde on Blonde album. Again, it is very clearly blues. All those blues instruments with those chords and that wild harmonica over the top is a brilliant way to introduce the song. When it dies down, we finally get Bob Dylan's amazing bluesy vocals, that powerful voice, coming into the song to open it with:

"Standing on your window, honey

Yes, I’ve been here before..."

Dylan's voice is powerful but smooth, his vocals blending with the melodies of the music perfectly.

I think everyone remembers the chorus to this song the most and also, it is purely because of Bob Dylan's amazing vocal abilities:

"Honey, why you so hard?"

Dylan's slow crooning plus that descent of blues notes afterward on the piano make for one of the most amazing chorus's on the Blonde on Blonde album. Musically, the song is genius.

It is probably this verse that is my personal favourite if you would:

"Like a poor fool in his prime

Yes, I know you can hear me walk

But is your heart made out of stone, or is it lime

Or is it just solid rock?"

Bob Dylan mixes his powerful but smooth vocals with the minor chord of the blues and begins to get ever so slightly louder as he sings. He then holds that last note as the piano plays and it is a brilliant blend of music and vocals - sounding powerful as hell.

"Absolutely Sweet Marie"

"Absolutely Sweet Marie"is one hell of an upbeat song. It's again, the blues and it's also an awesome song where Bob Dylan shows off his vocal range yet again. Like on Highway 61 Revisited we have a question beckoning the enigmatic Queen Jane on Queen Jane Approximately—we have the same sort of question beckoning Sweet Marie:

"But where are you tonight, sweet Marie?"

Bob Dylan's vocals are airy but powerful to beat along to the music and that up-beat tempo.

There have been many speculations about what the line:

"to live outside the law you must be honest..."

means and there are hardly any answers to it. But again, instead of looking for meaning—if you let Dylan's vocals take you, you can hear him slightly drag out the last note of that line.

There have been a few good covers of Absolutely Sweet Marie and they include but aren't limited to: George Harrison, Jason, and the Scorchers and even the David Nelson Band.

A first take of the song was released on the Cutting Edge Bootleg and I highly suggest you check it out because this is where we get to see Dylan in composition mode—all those different tracks.

"4th Time Around"

The arpeggio at the beginning of this song is so classy I absolutely love this song just because of its amazing introduction. The song itself keeps the swinging rhythm like a metronome throughout. From the opening lines to the closing lines, this song deserves more appreciation on this album than it gets:

When she said, "Don't waste your words, they're just lies, "

I cried she was deaf.

And she worked on my face until breaking my eyes,

Then said, "What else you got left?"

From the first verse, Bob Dylan gives us very smooth vocals to match the melody of the song perfectly, and then characterises the song by singing the questions as questions. "What else you got left?" He takes smoother.

This song is a constant sway of the arpeggio and Bob Dylan fitting his amazing vocal talent into the song whilst telling us a complicated story. It is one of the best songs on the album and needs more attention than it gets and even though it may sound serious, I believe this song is supposed to be fun.

This song appears on the soundtrack for Vanilla Sky—which is an alright film that was only made better by Bob Dylan's song.

The song also appears in a version on the Royal Albert Hall Concert Bootleg and, you should probably listen to it because it sounds awesome.

"Obviously Five Believers"

The song "Obviously Five Believers"is a great song and possibly one of my favourite songs on the album. Unfortunately, not a lot of people like this song for its rackety vibe. It's loud and brash like the start of "Rainy Day Women" mixed with "Most Likely"—it's honest and crazy and unforgiving. Oh yes, and it's also an amazing song.

The song's complexity is normally the problem amongst Dylan fans, but I enjoy this song because its pounding and its fun. It sounds bluesy and Bob Dylan's vocals are awesome over those drums.

The first verse goes:

"Early in the mornin'

Early in the mornin'

I'm callin' you to

I'm callin' you to

Please come home

Yes, I guess I could make it without you

If I just didn't feel so all alone..."

The last two lines of that verse are incredible, they are Bob Dylan actually singing instead of trying to shout over the drums as he does at the beginning. The last line is Bob Dylan showing of his blues abilities (which is probably why he's always been so good at singing Jazz).

"Obviously Five Believers" is also a crazy song. It has pace and momentum faster than a heartbeat, but has lyrics that you don't want to scratch your head over. It's the song itself that is important. One of the verses:

"Fifteen jugglers

Fifteen jugglers

Five believers

Five believers

All dressed like men..."

Now, this makes little sense, but the blues style of Bob Dylan's vocals when he descends for "all dressed like men" makes up for that entirely.

The song is a beautiful mixture between the soft blues and the crazy rock sounds of Bob Dylan.

"Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands"

I am going to concentrate on the music and the vocals because if I concentrate on the lyrics as well, I might explode. Bob Dylan's sentimental song for Sara Dylan (his former wife) is the ultimate love song that Bob Dylan wrote in the Chelsea Hotel (because he says it in the song "Sara" from Desire). "Sad-Eyed Lady"is possibly one of the best-written love songs in human history and has endured over fifty years of greatness.

Bob Dylan's backing track on this song is incredible. The harmonica, the guitar, the soft drums that get louder towards the chorus—all create a perfect harmony for one of the greatest songs of the 1960s. I don't care if Clinton Heylin thinks this song is "pretentious"—it is a beautiful song and Bob Dylan made it beautiful because of that damn composition.

The vocals on "Sad-Eyed Lady" are absolutely beautiful as we get Dylan's smooth, raw but powerful vocals at the beginning of the song and then, later on, the blues in him comes out again as he sings:

"Sad-eyed lady of the lowlands,

Where the sad-eyed prophet says that no man comes..."

In the later choruses, this becomes evident as he holds the last note of the first line of the chorus, showing off his blues voice.

I especially love the latter choruses when he does this:

"My warehouse eyes, my Arabian drums..."

And he turns up the volume and the power on his voice and makes for one epic ending to the song with those cymbals crashing on the drums.

If I talk about this song too much we will have a problem, but my God - it is a brilliant song though.

Joan Baez has also covered this song on her album Any Day Now (which seems to be a line from Bob Dylan's song "I Shall Be Released"). But to my knowledge, Bob Dylan himself has never actually performed this song live.

Roger Waters has also shown his appreciation for the song on the Howard Stern show, which makes every classic rock fan smile.

Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed hearing my opinions and appreciation for the tracks on Blonde on Blonde by Bob Dylan and sorry I had to do all of them. I felt the need to cover every single song because I couldn't decide. When listening to the album make sure you listen out for Bob Dylan's crooning of bluesy vocals and brilliant notation in music. You will be pleasantly surprised.