(Personal reflections
inspired by Bob Dylan songs)
Song: “All Along the Watchtower"
Album: John Wesley Harding
Release Date: December 1967
Before I started this series, I contemplated any number of names for it including; “Dylanalogy” (I later found out that one was already taken as some who read this may notice), “Drillin Deep with Dylan” and Bobbing for Apples (ok that last one was a stretch). I finally settled on Master Blueprints, the reason being that one of the most fascinating and underrated aspects to Bob Dylan’s music is how he balances the quality of his own original-release version of any given composition with the flexibility for other talented musicians - who have the proper insight – to make the song their own. Most musicians try to perfect their sound in the studio. Often, as has been the case with The Who and Van Morrison, the original version of much of their music has proven to be virtually unconquerable (although in both The Who’s case and Van Morrison’s, the unconquerable nature was kinda unavoidable: With the Who this was primarily due to the mind blowing drumming of Keith Moon and stupefying bass playing of John Entwistle; and in Van Morrison’s case it was due to the perfection of his melodic vocal delivery). Not so Bob Dylan: He’s generously left plenty of elbowroom for others to customize his great works.
Bob Dylan’s approach to making music has turned out to be a bold stroke of genius because it’s become apparent (to me anyway) that the return on restraining from perfection and/or overproduction has been tremendously rewarding. I mean, to my knowledge, the guy gets covered more than anyone. And whenever I hear a Bob Dylan song performed at a show, be it a big stadium event of a major act or a quaint setting in a pub - singer alone with his/her guitar - invariably I love it. What’s going on here? I don’t get this consistency of joy with covers of other musicians. Again, it has much to do with that wiggle room, as well as those other musicians who are covering Bob Dylan knowing when one of his songs fits with their own talents, abilities, and passions. This all contributes to why Dylan will stand the test of time.
I’d like to flesh this blueprint-effect out more but first, let me back up bit. What are some of your favorite cover song in general? Ten of the great ones that come to mind for me (not necessarily in the order given) are 1) Gram Parsons cover of the Boudleaux Bryant song “Love Hurts” (with Emmylou Harris), 2) the Rolling Stones cover of The Temptations “Just My Imagination”, 3) the Who covering Mose Allison “Young Man Blues” (off of Live At Leeds), 4) Bruce Springsteen cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Trapped” (also live), 5) Green Day’s version of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero”, 6) The Grateful Dead nod to Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” (live), 7) Janis Joplin’s cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”, 8) Rage Against the Machine’s intense interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “Ghost of Tom Joad”, 9) Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans, covered by Arlo Guthrie and 10) Elvis Costello covering Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”. Each of these has a personal touch. Each was an expansion of musicality on the original version.
Now let’s do the same thing with 10 of my favorite Bob Dylan covers (again, not necessarily in the order given): 1) The Byrds cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, 2) Joan Baez interpretation of “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and “Love is Just a Four Letter Word” (heck, the entirety of her ode-to-Dylan double-LP, Any Day Now, for that matter), 3) Both Sinead O’Connor and Allison Krause performances of “I Believe In You” (both live), 4) Van Morrison covering “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”, 5) Ronnie Wood’s take on “Seven Days”, 6) Richie Haven’s “Just Like a Woman”, 7) Manfred Mann’s interpretation of “Quinn the Eskimo”, 8) Lou Reed’s live cover of “Foot of Pride”, 9) The Band covering “Blind Willie McTell” and of course 10) Jimi Hendrix masterful take on “All Along the Watchtower”. With every one of these songs, Bob Dylan left the interpreter with the power to add broad strokes. That’s what blueprints are supposed to do: Allow for broad strokes.
Jimi Hendrix version of “All Along the Watchtower” may be the best cover of all time. It exemplifies the notion of just how far you can take a Bob Dylan blueprint. The original and the cover act as a one-two punch, Dylan laying down the powerful lyrics and Hendrix the visionary insight into the meaning as well as his extraordinary guitar. Both musicians sing the song in ominous tones, which is fitting for at least one possible meaning (I’ll get to that) as well as for the chaotic late-60s period when the song came to be (Dylan’s version in December of ’67 and Hendrix six months later). The only song I can compare to “All Along the Watchtower” is the Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”, which was released just as that all-encompassing 60’s decade was coming to an end. “Gimme Shelter” is also dire and captures the essence of the times in equal fashion.
“All Along the Watchtower” is one of those Dylan songs that is oh, so enjoyable to decipher meaning from. In the lyrics, Bob Dylan lays before the listener a brilliant symbolic medieval setting ( https://vimeo.com/195698477 ) . There are 2 riders; the ‘joker’ (presumably Dylan himself) and the ‘thief’ (side note: It is a wee bit nebulous that the joker and the thief are indeed the riders if you read the lyrics, but there can be no other logical conclusion). There are watchtowers inhabited by princes. There is a sense of urgency. There is a sense of confusion and dread, with howling winds enveloping and a wildcat looming. There is a sense of determination; something that must be done.
There’s also a sense of betrayal, which is not as readily evident as those other subjects; the thief being the betrayer, the joker seemingly blind to this in the present context of the song’s lyrics (befitting his name ‘joker’, a theme on Dylan that Don McClean would run with 4 years later in his song “American Pie”). The very fact that Bob Dylan names the betrayer as ‘thief’ should be enough to paint the character in a negative light, but it became more apparent to me as I rewound and replayed this week that Dylan wanted the listener to feel as confused about pending betrayal as he did when he wrote the song, which he does cleverly through the thief’s smooth-talking ways in the entirety of the 2nd stanza.
In fact, Bob Dylan’s approach to the lyrics is almost too clever, floating this betrayal point a bit over the head of much of his audience. But this is where Jimi Hendrix helps clarify things. He does it by adding a hesitancy in the thief line “but, you and I we’ve been through that and this is not our fate" with “but, uh, but you and I….”. As be the case with Dylan, the Hendrix touch on this song – be it in his guitar work or in his vocals - is clever, subtle, …and brilliant. The hesitancy and stumbling in the thief’s (Hendrix) delivery is a sign of double talk. One of my best friends is a policeman. He once told me thieves are always the easiest criminals to track down. They almost always leave clues he said because many have become wayward and in turn error prone. My cop buddy appears to have a mutual understanding of this conclusion with Mr. Hendrix.
The highlight of the Jimi Hendrix cover ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY ) is the extended guitar interlude before the 3rd and final stanza (a must listen on headphones). That guitar is talking folks, in a way that mesmerizes every time I listen. I wonder how Bob Dylan must have reacted the first time he heard it? I’m sure he was both floored and honored. I equate the Dylan/Hendrix one-two combo to an architect laying out his blue print for a Taj Mahal-like structure, and then coming back a decade later to see the fruits of his vision. Hendrix fleshes out the eerie setting that is “All Along the Watchtower” to maximum effect. As the guitar wails, we soar above the scene, just below the dark clouds, to see the watchtower, the riders, and the deep forest. We swoop down to catch a glimpse of that wild cat and feel the effect of those howling winds.
When I would casually listen to this song years ago, I assumed the princes in the watchtower were contributing to the joker’s confusion and weariness. But these are after all princes, not soldiers, mercenaries, or henchmen. And they are keeping a view, not a lookout. Is the thief separating them from the joker intentionally? Did this start out as mental manipulation and is now playing out in physical distancing? Related: The lyrics leave up for debate whether the 2 riders are heading toward the castle, or in the opposite direction toward the wilderness and the wildcat. The closing stanza reads:
“All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the woman came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl”
Seeing as the lyrics to the song begin “there must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief”, you are left wondering in which direction they are heading. Are they gearing up for a confrontation or are they fleeing?
Finally, why the title “All Along the Watchtower”, instead of other lyric-lines from the song, say “The Joker and the Thief”? There’s clearly a special emphasis made on the watchtower because of that title. Ok, well…watchtowers are affiliated with fortresses. Many authors have written that Bob Dylan dropped out of the scene after retreating to Woodstock in ’67. I believe the title of this song proves otherwise. The princes may or may not be contributing to the joker’s anxieties, but the fortress, and others who inhabit it could indeed be. I’m thinking that the fortress is likely symbolic of the big, dark events of the day as well as the forces driving them: Vietnam, segregation, poverty, the military-industrial complex, and not long after the song’s release, two more assassinations (Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy). Yes, the riders in the song may very well be trying to escape it all; but note that the growling wildcat has the feel of being symbolic of the unknown beyond the castle walls. And so there really is no escaping. In this way, Bob Dylan may be telling us that he really has no choice but to confront what’s troubling him and us. I’m sure Dylan was tuned in to the world around him at the time despite his physical isolation. He may even have been declaring here that he was in it for the long haul (which other songs on John Wesley Harding seem to indicate). Jimi Hendrix may have realized this from the start and it appears he was in turn hugely inspired by it.
Cover songs can be the greatest of interpretations if done right. For my money, there’s no one who did it better than Hendrix with his version of “All Along the Watchtower”. And lest never forget it was Bob Dylan’s master-blueprint-approach to songwriting that allowed that to happen.
- Pete
Song: “All Along the Watchtower"
Album: John Wesley Harding
Release Date: December 1967
Before I started this series, I contemplated any number of names for it including; “Dylanalogy” (I later found out that one was already taken as some who read this may notice), “Drillin Deep with Dylan” and Bobbing for Apples (ok that last one was a stretch). I finally settled on Master Blueprints, the reason being that one of the most fascinating and underrated aspects to Bob Dylan’s music is how he balances the quality of his own original-release version of any given composition with the flexibility for other talented musicians - who have the proper insight – to make the song their own. Most musicians try to perfect their sound in the studio. Often, as has been the case with The Who and Van Morrison, the original version of much of their music has proven to be virtually unconquerable (although in both The Who’s case and Van Morrison’s, the unconquerable nature was kinda unavoidable: With the Who this was primarily due to the mind blowing drumming of Keith Moon and stupefying bass playing of John Entwistle; and in Van Morrison’s case it was due to the perfection of his melodic vocal delivery). Not so Bob Dylan: He’s generously left plenty of elbowroom for others to customize his great works.
Bob Dylan’s approach to making music has turned out to be a bold stroke of genius because it’s become apparent (to me anyway) that the return on restraining from perfection and/or overproduction has been tremendously rewarding. I mean, to my knowledge, the guy gets covered more than anyone. And whenever I hear a Bob Dylan song performed at a show, be it a big stadium event of a major act or a quaint setting in a pub - singer alone with his/her guitar - invariably I love it. What’s going on here? I don’t get this consistency of joy with covers of other musicians. Again, it has much to do with that wiggle room, as well as those other musicians who are covering Bob Dylan knowing when one of his songs fits with their own talents, abilities, and passions. This all contributes to why Dylan will stand the test of time.
I’d like to flesh this blueprint-effect out more but first, let me back up bit. What are some of your favorite cover song in general? Ten of the great ones that come to mind for me (not necessarily in the order given) are 1) Gram Parsons cover of the Boudleaux Bryant song “Love Hurts” (with Emmylou Harris), 2) the Rolling Stones cover of The Temptations “Just My Imagination”, 3) the Who covering Mose Allison “Young Man Blues” (off of Live At Leeds), 4) Bruce Springsteen cover of Jimmy Cliff’s “Trapped” (also live), 5) Green Day’s version of John Lennon’s “Working Class Hero”, 6) The Grateful Dead nod to Buddy Holly’s “Not Fade Away” (live), 7) Janis Joplin’s cover of Kris Kristofferson’s “Me and Bobby McGee”, 8) Rage Against the Machine’s intense interpretation of Bruce Springsteen’s “Ghost of Tom Joad”, 9) Steve Goodman’s “City of New Orleans, covered by Arlo Guthrie and 10) Elvis Costello covering Nick Lowe’s “(What’s So Funny ‘Bout) Peace, Love and Understanding”. Each of these has a personal touch. Each was an expansion of musicality on the original version.
Now let’s do the same thing with 10 of my favorite Bob Dylan covers (again, not necessarily in the order given): 1) The Byrds cover of “Mr. Tambourine Man”, 2) Joan Baez interpretation of “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” and “Love is Just a Four Letter Word” (heck, the entirety of her ode-to-Dylan double-LP, Any Day Now, for that matter), 3) Both Sinead O’Connor and Allison Krause performances of “I Believe In You” (both live), 4) Van Morrison covering “It’s All Over Now Baby Blue”, 5) Ronnie Wood’s take on “Seven Days”, 6) Richie Haven’s “Just Like a Woman”, 7) Manfred Mann’s interpretation of “Quinn the Eskimo”, 8) Lou Reed’s live cover of “Foot of Pride”, 9) The Band covering “Blind Willie McTell” and of course 10) Jimi Hendrix masterful take on “All Along the Watchtower”. With every one of these songs, Bob Dylan left the interpreter with the power to add broad strokes. That’s what blueprints are supposed to do: Allow for broad strokes.
Jimi Hendrix version of “All Along the Watchtower” may be the best cover of all time. It exemplifies the notion of just how far you can take a Bob Dylan blueprint. The original and the cover act as a one-two punch, Dylan laying down the powerful lyrics and Hendrix the visionary insight into the meaning as well as his extraordinary guitar. Both musicians sing the song in ominous tones, which is fitting for at least one possible meaning (I’ll get to that) as well as for the chaotic late-60s period when the song came to be (Dylan’s version in December of ’67 and Hendrix six months later). The only song I can compare to “All Along the Watchtower” is the Rolling Stones “Gimme Shelter”, which was released just as that all-encompassing 60’s decade was coming to an end. “Gimme Shelter” is also dire and captures the essence of the times in equal fashion.
“All Along the Watchtower” is one of those Dylan songs that is oh, so enjoyable to decipher meaning from. In the lyrics, Bob Dylan lays before the listener a brilliant symbolic medieval setting ( https://vimeo.com/195698477 ) . There are 2 riders; the ‘joker’ (presumably Dylan himself) and the ‘thief’ (side note: It is a wee bit nebulous that the joker and the thief are indeed the riders if you read the lyrics, but there can be no other logical conclusion). There are watchtowers inhabited by princes. There is a sense of urgency. There is a sense of confusion and dread, with howling winds enveloping and a wildcat looming. There is a sense of determination; something that must be done.
There’s also a sense of betrayal, which is not as readily evident as those other subjects; the thief being the betrayer, the joker seemingly blind to this in the present context of the song’s lyrics (befitting his name ‘joker’, a theme on Dylan that Don McClean would run with 4 years later in his song “American Pie”). The very fact that Bob Dylan names the betrayer as ‘thief’ should be enough to paint the character in a negative light, but it became more apparent to me as I rewound and replayed this week that Dylan wanted the listener to feel as confused about pending betrayal as he did when he wrote the song, which he does cleverly through the thief’s smooth-talking ways in the entirety of the 2nd stanza.
In fact, Bob Dylan’s approach to the lyrics is almost too clever, floating this betrayal point a bit over the head of much of his audience. But this is where Jimi Hendrix helps clarify things. He does it by adding a hesitancy in the thief line “but, you and I we’ve been through that and this is not our fate" with “but, uh, but you and I….”. As be the case with Dylan, the Hendrix touch on this song – be it in his guitar work or in his vocals - is clever, subtle, …and brilliant. The hesitancy and stumbling in the thief’s (Hendrix) delivery is a sign of double talk. One of my best friends is a policeman. He once told me thieves are always the easiest criminals to track down. They almost always leave clues he said because many have become wayward and in turn error prone. My cop buddy appears to have a mutual understanding of this conclusion with Mr. Hendrix.
The highlight of the Jimi Hendrix cover ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TLV4_xaYynY ) is the extended guitar interlude before the 3rd and final stanza (a must listen on headphones). That guitar is talking folks, in a way that mesmerizes every time I listen. I wonder how Bob Dylan must have reacted the first time he heard it? I’m sure he was both floored and honored. I equate the Dylan/Hendrix one-two combo to an architect laying out his blue print for a Taj Mahal-like structure, and then coming back a decade later to see the fruits of his vision. Hendrix fleshes out the eerie setting that is “All Along the Watchtower” to maximum effect. As the guitar wails, we soar above the scene, just below the dark clouds, to see the watchtower, the riders, and the deep forest. We swoop down to catch a glimpse of that wild cat and feel the effect of those howling winds.
When I would casually listen to this song years ago, I assumed the princes in the watchtower were contributing to the joker’s confusion and weariness. But these are after all princes, not soldiers, mercenaries, or henchmen. And they are keeping a view, not a lookout. Is the thief separating them from the joker intentionally? Did this start out as mental manipulation and is now playing out in physical distancing? Related: The lyrics leave up for debate whether the 2 riders are heading toward the castle, or in the opposite direction toward the wilderness and the wildcat. The closing stanza reads:
“All along the watchtower
Princes kept the view
While all the woman came and went
Barefoot servants too
Outside in the cold distance
A wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching
And the wind began to howl”
Seeing as the lyrics to the song begin “there must be some kind of way out of here, said the joker to the thief”, you are left wondering in which direction they are heading. Are they gearing up for a confrontation or are they fleeing?
Finally, why the title “All Along the Watchtower”, instead of other lyric-lines from the song, say “The Joker and the Thief”? There’s clearly a special emphasis made on the watchtower because of that title. Ok, well…watchtowers are affiliated with fortresses. Many authors have written that Bob Dylan dropped out of the scene after retreating to Woodstock in ’67. I believe the title of this song proves otherwise. The princes may or may not be contributing to the joker’s anxieties, but the fortress, and others who inhabit it could indeed be. I’m thinking that the fortress is likely symbolic of the big, dark events of the day as well as the forces driving them: Vietnam, segregation, poverty, the military-industrial complex, and not long after the song’s release, two more assassinations (Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy). Yes, the riders in the song may very well be trying to escape it all; but note that the growling wildcat has the feel of being symbolic of the unknown beyond the castle walls. And so there really is no escaping. In this way, Bob Dylan may be telling us that he really has no choice but to confront what’s troubling him and us. I’m sure Dylan was tuned in to the world around him at the time despite his physical isolation. He may even have been declaring here that he was in it for the long haul (which other songs on John Wesley Harding seem to indicate). Jimi Hendrix may have realized this from the start and it appears he was in turn hugely inspired by it.
Cover songs can be the greatest of interpretations if done right. For my money, there’s no one who did it better than Hendrix with his version of “All Along the Watchtower”. And lest never forget it was Bob Dylan’s master-blueprint-approach to songwriting that allowed that to happen.
- Pete
2 comments:
According to bobdylan.com it's: Princes kept the view...not Princess.
wow, yes. My biggest error to date (in all my entries, not just Bob Dylan related). I will think through and modify my thoughts. Thank you!
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