With Todd Haynes’ Dylan biopic I’m Not There finally finding it’s way to limited US release on November 21, i’m sure you’ll be seeing promotion for this everywhere soon enough. The film will detail different periods of his life, with each being portrayed by different actors that include Cate Blanchett, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger and Richard Gere.
That being said, i’ve been all over this film since the beginning of the summer, including the upcoming release of the soundtrack – which we caught a glimpse of with the tracklisting back in August. It’s an all-star listing of talented musicians which include the likes of Jeff Tweedy, Sufjan Stevens, Yo La Tengo and Cat Power that spans two discs and 34 tracks total.
“Simple Twist of Fate” | Jeff Tweedy
I’m sure most of you want this soundtrack, right? Well, courtesy of the fine folks from Filter, i’m able to bring you one copy (yes – only one) to give away. If you’d like to have a chance at this, i would like for everyone to leave a comment describing what you’re favorite Bob Dylan cover is and why. That’s not too much to ask I hope. The winner will be announced next week on October 29. Also, please leave some way for me to be able to get in contact with you. If you want to increase your chances at this, Chromewaves and I Am Fuel, You Are Friends are running contests for this as well. Best of luck to you all!
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Altough their cover of Mr. Tambourine Man is probably better known, I personally prefer The Byrds version of My Back Pages. It has the same fun, jangly pop feel of Mr. Tambourine Man, but they cut out less of the lyrics, so the music only serves to emphasize the longing in the lyrics.
PJ Harvey sang the first Bob Dylan song I ever heard: Highway 61 Revisited, on her album Rid Of Me. It was one of the first few CDs I ever owned too, a birthday gift from my older and much cooler brother. I was fourteen. I remember listening to it in my basement playroom while rollerskating back and forth across the carpet from one end of the room to the other — a lap of less than fifteen feet. I had a mullet AND a rat tail, a haircut that my mother still claims I had begged for.
It was only many years later that I learned that Bob Dylan actually sang the original version of the song. And I said to a friend, “Shouldn’t she have called it ‘Highway 61 Revisited Revisited’?” It was funnier at 3am.
by far neko case’s cover of buckets of rain…i’m biased though, since i
Difficult to pick just one, and my favorites change from day to day, and as I discover more and more new ones (at least new to me), but at the moment I’ll go with My Back Pages by Dick Gaughan and Andy Irvine or maybe Mama You Been on My Mind by Jeff Buckley.
My favorite cover is ‘I Want You’ by Bruce Springsteen. I saw him perform it live over 30 years ago. It’s still as beautiful to me today as it was that night.
Well, to begin with, it always was my belief, that Dylan himself is the true master of covering his own songs. Everybody who has been to a Dylan concert will agree – didnt’ you enjoy the which-song-are-they-playing-now?-game?
But I do adore Jerry Garcia’s version of “Senor (Tales of Yankee Power)” that you can find on the soundtrack of “Masked and Anonymous”.
And why…? Well, that’s one hell of a question, especially since I don’t usually write about Dylan’s tracks in English. But let’s give it a try.
The version hosts an extremely uncanny and tense atmosphere. It feels like a hot summer day when you know something’s coming your way, a thunderstorm maybe, or a bar fight.
I generally love the guitar, but especially adore it in the two soloes. They’re just so damn psychedelic, summer day gone high… I like the way the bassline sticks out from time to time.
Well, that’s it. Looking forward to the movie!
I would have to say Lay Lady Lay by Magnet. I believe Dylan lyrically captured the emotion that captivates us when we just want to make love to our ladies. Magnet adds a voice to it that doesnt seem as confident as Dylan, more like a begging and pleading. There is this dialouge between a woman and a man in the song that intensifies that emotion. I like the contrast between the two songs. The confidence vs. the begging have been interesting to me… especically since ive noticed i played one over the other for 2 different gf’s…
I really like the version of Mighty Quinn on Self Portrait and Greatest Hits Vol 2. It’s one of those Dylan songs that puts me in a good mood. I’ve heard that it’s a reference to God, a reference to a drug dealer, and maybe even just an Eskimo named Quinn; but whatever it is, the image of someone entering a room with everyone celebrating their arrival captures an interesting moment. I think lots of people want to have that feeling. It would be awesome to be loved that way. That’s why I love Mighty Quinn.
Tons of covers out there but, my favorite is Garcia/Saunders cover of “It Takes a lot to Laugh”…this is just a brilliant bluesy soulful cover. Not a huge Dead fan, but Garcia really does Dylan well.
Johnny Cash & June Carter – It Ain’t Me, Babe
I’m embarrassed it took “Walk the Line” for me to fully appreciate this song, but their cover added this note of innocence and fun that I had not heard in Dylan before. It became a testament of how hard it is to write a perfectly simple song, it’s incredibly honest and straightforward, and made me reevaluate many of his songs.
Whenever I hear a no-name musician at a restaurant or bar cover “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright” I get this acute goose-bump feeling, like the crowd has suddenly shrunk and I’m listening to a record in a warm place with only the people sitting next to me.
That’s the feeling I get when I hear Emily Haines’ cover. It takes her out of her fragile solo work and somehow ends up being even more intimate. It’s something that I can play with a group of people sitting on the floor in complete silence.
there’s a malkmus and sonic youth cover here.
http://theplaylist.blogspot.com/2007/10/sonic-youth-and-stephen-malkmus-im-not.html
I admire Dylan’s work immensely, but I’m no expert on it.. could someone help me out with where the alternate lyrics in that Simple Twist of Fate cover by Jeff Tweedy in this post come from? Were they an alternate version from Dylan or an improv by Tweedy?
I’d have to go with Uncle Tupelo’s version of Moonshiner. pared down, melodic and enjoyable. But my favorite dylan song is the seven curses. Wish someone would cover that.
There’s a singer/songwriter named Rocky Votolato. I’ve seen him play live and usually performs a Dylan cover. He did “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” once, and even played the harmonica part. I really appreciate covers that add to the splendor of Dylan’s songwriting, but to see someone play a Dylan song almost as if Dylan was playing it himself is a real testament to the genuine quality of Dylan’s songwriting.
Yesterday, I was driving home from a drab day at work. It was dark and pouring rain. I flipped the radio on and the first song they played was from the I’m Not There soundtrack. It was the Willie Nelson and Calexico cover of Senor. I have always been into Dylan’s darker songs and actually had never heard the original of this song but the cover version sent chills up my spine and had mybrain swimming in thoughts of rough mountain vistas at sunset in the southwest. The opening lyrics, “Senor, senor, can you tell me where we’re headin ? Lincoln County Road or Armageddon ?” are so perfectly apocalyptic. Not only is this song my favorite Dylan cover but it is now one of my favorite Dylan songs. Calexico and Willie are the best possible pairing to get the feel of this song right.
A bit obvious but The Jeff Buckley version of “Just like a woman” is a favorite.
And the worst………..
The Guns n Roses “knockin on heavens door” sprung to mind……
Well, this may not count, but my favorite use of a Dylan song is in the Roger Guenveur Smith one man play A Huey P. Newton Story. Apparently, Newton loved Dylan’s music, and would play and discuss the meanings of Ballad of A Thin Man from Highway 61 Revisited with fellow Black Panthers. In the scene from the play, Smith portrays Newton as a person extremely uncomfortable with the celebrity status recently bestowed upon him through a sort of dance/nervous freakout/chain smoking session, while Ballad of A Thin Man plays. Mr. Jones doesn’t fit in the world anymore, it’s changed almost overnight. The undercurrents are now the establishment and he is now the freak on display. Smith flips the meaning of the song the way Huey Newton might have interpreted it- that he was turned into a freak by the media, with everyone wanting a piece of him, and the Black Panthers started to collapse not long after they began, partly because of the spectacle built around Huey NEwton. Anyway, like I said, it’s still Dylan singing it, but it’s reworked through the performance into a really different song.
Tweedy’s alternate lyrics on “Simple Twist Of Fate” have me puzzled too. Not sure where they’re from and they don’t appear to be from the Blood On the Tracks NY Sessions, a live version or a bootleg perhaps?
“No, no, no, no, no, no.” Jeff Buckley pleads beginning his cover of Dylan’s ‘Just Like a Woman’. You hear not a declaration but a mournful wish that “No one feels any pain” in the immoral opening line. Imediately it become apparent you were in for something different than the original, something taken straight from the heart.
“If we meet again introduced as friends, please don’t you let on you knew me when I was hungry and it was your world.”
Jeff was feeling every emotion as he sang, it always brings the same emotions up in me. I am reminded of past relationships of my own. Being so close to someone only to become a handshake. The worst part isn’t even the end’s effect on us, it’s knowing the effect it had on them. In love and war everything was supposed to be fair but I didn’t want to break her.
“She aches just like a woman but she breaks like a little girl.”
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bye
The most moving Dylan cover I have heard is possibly Jason Mraz’s “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall.” Now, you may all be skeptical of this, as I was at first not really being a fan of what I’ve heard of Mraz, but trust me, it is out of this world good – stark and immediate and amazingly affecting. His voice inflections and the way he holds out the notes and breaths gives a new truth to the melancholy worldliness of those lyrics. For all those who remain suspicious of this pick, just listen to the track. It’s on a compilation called “Listen to Bob Dylan.”
There are lots of great covers, but for the sheer emotional power of this one, I would enter it as a worthy candidate – however surprising this may be for some.
This song, this version, presents the hum of thoughts evaded in the mind – a voice crying out, in hushed tones, from the wilderness.
Listen to this song.
jon,
check out Dylan’s Rolling Thunder concert bootleg from 1975 – it’s part of the official bootlegs. Most of the alt lyrics are from that version, though tweedy changes some on his own – probably just happened during the take, maybe without intention.
KT Tunstall’s cover of Tangled Up in Blue has to be mentioned as well. She completely transformed the song, but it is still really Dylan. Listen to it, it’s hard to explain.
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