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My Essential Albums: 'Highway 61 Revisited' by Bob Dylan

Released: August, 1965

By Annie KapurPublished 5 years ago 15 min read
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The Cover Art for Highway 61 Revisited

One of the most essential albums in music history, and also one of my personal favourites, Bob Dylan's electric folk-rock album has stood the test of time and become a myth in itself. With a track listing of only nine songs, it is a short album, but it also shows you exactly how much work goes into each and every song Dylan writes. The iconic cover art has been copied for decades afterwards, with a slightly annoyed Dylan staring directly into the camera almost asking you out for a fight (in which he will win, because believe it or not, Bob Dylan loves boxing). And, with ease, Dylan takes you on a tour of his new sound, debuting the kind of man he is in 65 and 66, before killing him off to start over.

Let's take a look at the seminal tracks (which are all of them in this case) and see what they offer us of Bob Dylan. We won't be analysing the songs, as many have done, but instead simply appreciating them for what they are. My aim is to show you why this album is part of my "essential albums" list and exactly how it stands against most other albums in music history.

"Like a Rolling Stone"

The very first track on this album is usually called Bob Dylan's greatest song by most people. "Like a Rolling Stone"is the height of storytelling rock music and the pinnacle of Bob Dylan's mid-60s writing career. It opens with that all-important introduction which gets straight into that electric sound. If any of you are Dylan fans here, like me, you will probably recall the "Judas!" concert of the Manchester Trade Hall in which Dylan was about to play this very song. Dylan's response to the call-out before the song began was "play it f- in loud!"

If any of you haven't watched it, well here's the footage:

"Like a Rolling Stone"is not only Rolling Stone Magazine's favourite song, but also seems to be a fun favourite amongst Dylan fans everywhere, as it reminds them of the time where Mr. Folk became Mr. Rock and Roll Star. Bob Dylan has performed numerous different versions of this song over the span of his long and incredible career, but my personal favourite live version must be the 1995 MTV Unplugged session. It's a slower, calmer, and more guitar-heavy version of the song than the album version and really has Dylan's amazing vocals shine.

All in all, this song has coined rock and roll for the masses of the latter half of the 20th Century. Bob Dylan took folk and made it "cool" and "groovy." But, can you really speak this line without singing it?

"How does it feel?"

"Tombstone Blues"

I have to say, Bob Dylan really outdid himself with this song. The lyrics and the strumming guitar go beautiful together. That folk sound on an electric instrument actually works quite well and I think Dylan gets more and more enigmatic as the album progresses, this being the time where we see that progression. The lyrics are difficult to "figure out" and again, many have tried and failed. From Clinton Heylin, to Greil Marcus and many others. There have been people that have tried to decipher "tombstone" as "Arizona" and many more theories about the placement of names in the song.

Here's a fact, at the end of the novel Carrie by Stephen Kingyou can see some lines from "Tombstone Blues"by Bob Dylan:

"Now I wish I could write you a melody so plainThat could hold you dear lady from going insaneThat could ease you and cool you and cease the painOf your useless and pointless knowledge."

So even the writers appreciate the song and its enigmatic lyricism. Perhaps, Bob Dylan was writing this song not to be understood quite literally as some people think it is supposed to be surrealist from the lines:

"The sun's not yellow, it's chicken."

These also happen to be some of the most famous lines from the song. The song itself is a grand second track to proceed from "Like a Rolling Stone," and holds its own as one of Dylan's greatest 60s songs.

This song has also been performed many times by many different people including, Richie Havens and Sheryl Crow. Bob Dylan has also performed this song live, again the live version of the 1995 MTV Unplugged session is probably the one to listen to after the original album version. I would also recommend the version found on "No Direction Home"as an "alternate take" in which you can hear Dylan laugh at the end of the song, and it is a little shorter than the original.

"It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry"

This song is for some reason, under-appreciated and I think it's because the song itself uses a fairly old guitar riff, even one that was outdated for Dylan's day. The song is slightly swingy and has a massive theme of trains—again we aren't here to discuss the meaning of the song. That's what Clinton Heylin's 800 page book is for. The bluesy tone of this song really shows off Dylan's great vocals and gives him a chance to really sing. Infatuation is also key to this song, making one of the themes love, to match the bluesy chords of the backing track.

There have been numerous covers of the song ever since it was released on the album. Artists include, but are not limited to: The Grateful Dead, Jerry Garcia, the Allman Brothers Band, and Toto.

The song itself is a wonderful change of tone in the album, making it a cool way to breeze into the other bluesy songs that are included here (which we are going to talk about).

Bob Dylan himself has covered this song many times on stage and even on his own album of unreleased music. Bootleg Volumes 1-3 has an unheard version of Dylan's classic blues rock song sounding slightly different and yet, just as satisfying.

My personal favourite live version has to be the one he performed at the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue. The song still keeps that bluesy rock vibe and that swingy feel—Bob Dylan's voice is still just as good, if not better. And we have to take into account that:

"This is an autobiographical song," as said by Bob Dylan right before he performs "It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" at the 1975 Rolling Thunder Revue.

"From a Buick 6"

"From a Buick 6"is an amazing song. Stephen King named his novel From a Buick 8 after it, the Buick 6 probably sold more cars because of it and Dylan fans all over the world respect and adore it (as it was even Steve Jobs' favourite song). As a single, it serves as the B-Side to the famed anti-friend song "Positively 4th Street"and stands its own against other songs on the album as well.

This crazy blues song starts off pretty loud so turn those speakers on to "average volume" if you will. Many have said that the song itself references Bob Dylan having many women at any one time, but again we're not here to talk swings and roundabouts. The song's lyrics are a thrill-ride through the blues key and the loudness of Bob Dylan's vocals are incredible as he makes his way as a great singer.

The famous lines of: "Well, if I go down dyin', you know she's bound to put a blanket on my bed!" Seem to have confused people for decades and yet, they are some of the most memorable lyrics on the album.

Many have appreciated the work of "From a Buick 6"as being "crazy Dylan" raging around and playing on his electric guitar as a big screw-you to the audience who liked him when he was a folkie (this is possibly why it is the B-Side to the famed "Positively 4th Street"). The appreciation for rock music and blues music needs to be inclusive of this song, because no matter how loud and obnoxious you think it is—it is still a stellar track.

"Ballad of a Thin Man"

Quite possibly just as famous as "Like a Rolling Stone," the song "Ballad of a Thin Man"is immortalised in its famed question:

"Do you, Mr. Jones?"

In which Dylan addresses an unknown figure as part of a dark, brooding chorus that sticks with its blunt-trauma piano, paining in the background of Dylan's incredible and crooning vocals. Everything about this song is an act of divinity—Bob Dylan's presence comes alive and he makes himself known to everyone in the room. Even if he's not there.

The song is a statement, a cultural icon in the making and an act of absolute defiance. It is electric, sullen, meaningful and completely meaningless at the same time.

Many people have covered this song, many people have tried to figure it out and even a book on Dylanology called Do You, Mr. Jones? was published as a set of essays on the bard and his ever-changing style.

This song seems to mark Dylan as becoming that cultural icon we love and adore, even though he was that way before this song, I feel that this particular song gives you all the meaning behind the cover art to Highway 61 Revisited. Dylan is asking Mr. Jones to fight him.

The lyricism of this song is unforgettable as Dylan structures every single verse to intimidate "Mr. Jones," trying to make him feel like he's not in the loop. It is a beautiful song of pure recklessness and beauty—Bob Dylan's tragedy of another person. We may not know who Mr. Jones is, but Dylan's making him out to be a person we probably wouldn't like to associate with since he seems to not know what's going on most of the time.

There have been many live performances of this song and it's difficult not to love every single one of them because they're brilliant. I have to say my personal favourite can be found in the "Royal Albert Hall" bootleg and the "Trouble No More: Deluxe Edition" bootleg as live versions.

"Queen Jane Approximately"

Released as a single as well, it was the B-Side to "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)"and contains some incredible lyricism yet again from Bob Dylan. The song is five verses long and has incredible themes of love and loss going through it. The opening of the song is electric, but sympathetic. Not as loud as "From a Buick 6,"but not as sullen and melancholy as "Ballad of a Thin Man."

The famous chorus of the song, like "Ballad of a Thin Man,"is formed in a question which makes it all the more difficult to understand what or who Dylan is talking about when he speaks to someone in the song:

"Won't you come see me, Queen Jane?"

An enigmatic line that is repeated twice as the chorus, it becomes a standard for Dylan to have this recurring momentum that is essential for the song's existence since the question of "when" is also presented.

"When the flower ladies..." for example, the word "when" starts off every verse in the song and therefore, gives the song a foreboding of a downfall.

The happier nature of this song on the album makes the "foreboding of a downfall" and the question of "when" all the more strange for Dylan fans to listen to as we know not who Queen Jane is, nor what she has been up to that may result in what Bob Dylan is talking about on the song.

The way the song is structured is through a series of questions which really does bring out the amazing vocal range of Dylan. The questions require to be sang as questions and are therefore, considerably more difficult to put across than statements. For this, I admire Dylan.

The live version on the album Dylan and the Dead is a great listen if you would, but the song is not performed live very much.

"Highway 61 Revisited"

Released as a single, it is the B-Side to "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?"and it begins with that all famous random noise that could wake the neighbourhood if played too loud on a Saturday morning. A brilliant song and an even more brilliant set of lyrics, this song has stood the test of time for decades atop decades as one of the greatest opening lines in music history:

"Oh, God said to Abraham, kill me a son!"

These lines have been scoffed at for referring to the "Binding of Isaac" (Genesis 22) in the Bible but also have been scoffed at because Bob Dylan's father's name was "Abram." Clinton Heylin had a field day with this song and we all know it.

The song itself is an amazing utilisation of Bob Dylan's youthful vocal range in an almost blues-rock sort of way. Just listen to the vocals on the line "I got forty red, white and blue shoe strings and a thousand telephones that don't ring..." it requires more appreciation than it gets.

Possibly one of the most famous lyrics of the song, again as with Bob Dylan's album, is its chorus in which everything should had out "on Highway 61!" Referencing the highway that Bob Dylan himself knew and was familiar with, it is also where the story of Robert Johnson selling his soul to the devil comes from.

There have been a lot of covers of this song and a lot of live performances, film performances and covers done on film—so we're just going to have a look at my personal favourites. PJ Harvey covered this song on her 1993 album Rid of Me—which is also a good cover to listen to if you want to hear something a bit different. In the film The Hunted by William Freidkin, the song can be heard as read by Johnny Cash (not sung).

My personal favourite live version of this song has been the one which appears on the soundtrack for No Direction Home, yet again it is an alternate take but you can be assured knowing that the random loud noises at the beginning of the song do not take place. I feel like I'm the only person who likes them—they give the song atmosphere and character.

"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"

As a single it is the B-Side to "I Want You"and on its own it's a song without a chorus; this song hasn't confused Dylan fans everywhere for 50 years and more for no reason. Describing a strange experience in Juarez in Mexico, the song opens with the famous:

"When you're lost in the rain in Juarez when it's Easter time too..."

If you didn't sing those lines, I'm disappointed. But the fact that we have a place makes it similar to some other songs (namely, "Highway 61 Revisited")—most Dylan songs don't really give us much to work with when it comes to location. The song opens with a lovely sound to get your mood right back on track after listening to the crazed "Highway 61 Revisited"a smooth piano-based opening makes for a great Dylan song, but not as melancholic as "Ballad of a Thin Man."

The song ends with the narrator "going back to New York City" because he's "had enough." So, there is more than one location which pinpoints the movement of the narrator, something unlike other Dylan songs.

The song itself has a smooth, repetitive beat which gives way again, for Dylan's vocals. No matter how nasal you think he sounds, those vocals on that song are a beautiful sound. Especially when he holds that note on "Rue Morgue Avenue"—you have to appreciate the sound of that vocal harmony.

Many singers have covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues"and I never really think any of them got it right; if you would like to listen to them then go ahead. But I will share what I think are the best other versions of the song by Bob Dylan himself. To me, the No Direction Home version is better than the album version, it puts the song in a different but more satisfying key and The Cutting Edge version is good, but slightly below the album version. I highly recommend listening to the version from No Direction Home—that introduction has one of the greatest openings for any song in history.

"Desolation Row"

"Desolation Row"isn't just a song, it is a musical composition. It is a masterpiece that will never die because we will not allow it to. It is recorded with Dylan's signature acoustic guitar sound and no drums—just the guitar and partially, the harmonica take the light of this song.

This song is an amazing song to close the album and an incredible song to listen to if you really want to hear Bob Dylan's vocal ability. It opens with the memorable:

"They're selling postcards of the hanging, they're painting the passports brown..."

It is a great way to hook audiences into listening to a story, but before that there is that excellent acoustic guitar sound that comes from Dylan himself. With numerous characters ranging from the Phantom of the Opera, to Cain and Abel, to Cinderella, Bette Davis, Romeo, and even Casanova, this song makes for one of Dylan's most celebrated songs and begs question when he sings the line:

"I had to rearrange their faces and give them all another name."

It makes us question who all of these characters are and if they're in fact, based on real people.

This song has been covered by everyone from the Grateful Dead (who are good friends with Dylan as I understand), to My Chemical Romance for the soundtrack to Watchmen (which is an awful cover, if you'd like to listen to it).

There have also been a few live versions of this song, given how long it is I know we're all surprised at that. Possibly the greatest one comes again from the 1995 MTV Unplugged Session, because I'm not going to lie, the strumming of the guitar at the beginning gives the song away and seriously—it is a beautiful sound.

From the incredible guitar sound, to the amazing croon of the harmonica, this song brings delight and musing, provokes thought and encourages art wherever it is played.

Conclusion

I'm going to keep this as short as possible and answer the question as to why this album is "essential":

This album is essential because it is basically the beginning of the merging of genres, the beginning of modern rock and roll after the day the music died. Bob Dylan picks up the pieces and carries on in their place. He is a genius of lyrics, a master of change, the king of folk and one hell of a singer. This album should be your go-to for rock music for any time period or sub-genre. It's so varied, you have to listen to it if you haven't already.

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About the Creator

Annie Kapur

190K+ Reads on Vocal.

English Lecturer

🎓Literature & Writing (B.A)

🎓Film & Writing (M.A)

🎓Secondary English Education (PgDipEd)

📍Birmingham, UK

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