Hector C. asked me to name my top ten favorite Dylan songs. With pleasure.
Don't Think Twice. I first heard this in the Peter, Paul, and Mary version circa 1962 or '63. Deeply moved by it, I bought the 45 rpm single and noted that the song was written by one B. Dylan. I pronounced the name to myself as 'Dial in' and had a sense that this songwriter was about to speak to me and my life. And here he is still speaking to my 'lived experience' 60 years later.
Chimes of Freedom. With Joan Osborne, NOT Joan Baez! Byrds' version. No Dylan, no folk rock.
Farewell Angelina. Joanie's version. No Baez, no Dylan. She took the scruffy kid under her wing and introduced him to her well-established audience.
Just Like a Woman. Better than the Blonde on Blonde version.
Few songs capture the 'magic' of the '60s like this one. But you had to have been there, of a certain impressionable age, with the right disposition, with an open mind, and an open heart, idealistic, a seeker, and at least a little alienated from the larger society and the quiet desperation and dead usages of parents and relatives . . . .
YouTuber comment: "This Bob Dylan song brings me to tears and I don't know why. I'm 76 years old and remember when it was new. It still is." Comment on the comment: "This is a nostalgic feeling for the passing of the time. A saudade of a time whose dreams seem real. I know about it. I'm 71."
Not Dark Yet. YouTuber comment: "All my life, Dylan has been able to touch my soul. This is undoubtedly one of his best."
An alternative Dylan top ten next week.
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