Bob Dylan- “Blonde on Blonde”
After causing something of a stir by what is now infamously know as his “going electric”, Dylan released two albums (“Bringing it All Back Home” and “Highway 61 Revisited”) in 1965, but it is this album of 1966- with its increasingly surreal lyrics and often woozy mixture of blues, rock and melody- that is considered by many to be one of his finest pieces of work.
“Blonde on Blonde” starts with hilariously nonchalant “Rainy Day Women # 12 and 35”. The song is a lazy sounding little ditty which is filled with a giddy combination of harmonicas, trumpets, tinkling pianos, the sound of raucous laughter and, on top of it all, Dylan’s voice croaking out “Everyone must get stoned”.
However, for a lot of it, the rest of the album is much more downbeat and wistful. After suffering major backlash from both the press and his fans, “Blonde on Blonde” is a haunting, introspective glance in the mirror by a man trying to cope with massive burdens and expectations. In one of the albums highlights, “Visions of Johanna”, Dylan sings “Little boy lost/ He takes himself so seriously/ He brags of his misery”, revealing exactly the kind of fragile, yet creative, mind displayed laying itself out on the record.
Besides this, it’s the ragged and disjointed musical patchwork of storming rock ‘n’ roll, blues revival and near perfectly kitsch pop harmonies, all of which provide the backdrop for the lyrics, that stand out on the album. “I Want You”- with its wistful chord changes, jangly guitar lines and chirpy drums- could not be improved to make more of a brilliant pop song if it were reworked over a hundred years. “Leopard-skin Pill-box Hat”, meanwhile, is the heart, soul and the aching liver of decade upon decade of the blues. With the rhythm guitar strumming out a raw set of chords, the organ thrusting its shine over the top and the lead guitar screaming the unhinged, unrehearsed lines over the top- not to mention Dylan’s smoky, 190 year old voice spitting out literally the most bizarre lyrics in the world- this is the sound of Bob Dylan and his band venting their collective anger and misery through the time honoured method of raw blues.
“Blonde on Blonde” has a fragmented tone, full of bitterness, regret, joy, playfulness and sarcasm. This is most likely to do with the fact the Dylan was romantically involved with three different women at the time just as much as it has to do with his struggle to cope with the status forced upon him. Despite this, the album was a huge success- commercially and critically- and has gone down in history as one of the greatest albums ever. Maybe it was his bruised and exhausted mind that gave him creative licence to pour out his heart and spray it all over this album. Maybe it was an attempt at a cathartic activity for a man in the midst of a breakdown. Either way, “Blonde on Blonde” is an album which words like “classic”, “masterpiece” and “genius” don’t even get close to doing justice.
Stuck Indside of Mobile with The Memphis Blues Again
I don’t think pill-box hat is that nonsensical, its all about Edie Sedgewick but anyways this is my favorite Dylan album, much more personal than 61.