Quando hai gia tutte le perle di Dylan alla fine ti diverti anche a comprare quegli album che trovi a 5.90 € sugli scaffali dei negozi di musica... 

E ti puoi trovare per l'appunto Hard Rain...

Beh 5.90€ li vale proprio tutti...ma non di più...

Album tratto dal famoso concerto allo Hughes Stadium di Fort Collins in Colorado, qualitativamente questo è proprio il colpo di coda della splendida Rolling Thunder Revue...

Un Dylan ormai esausto... incerto e ormai rassegnato dalla rottura con Sara in questa esibizione primaverile Mr.Zimmerman da evidenti segni che sta perdendo ormai la bussola..

Il concerto si apre con "Maggie's farm", rivisitata in tono quasi Country e portata avanti grazie alle capacità chitarristiche dello strepitoso T-Bone Burnett.Il pezzo non convince,e se poi dovessimo fare paragoni con la Maggie's farm di Newport di 10 anni prima...beh figuriamoci...

Si continua con "One too many mornings" anche qui gli applausi non si sprecano... l'incertezza continua con "Memphis blues again" e "Oh sister" che gia quest'ultima non convinceva in "Desire" figuriamoci dal vivo....

Qualcosa di interessante si puo intravedere nella versione pseudo corale di "Lay lady lay".

E poi forse si arriva a qualche perla... "Shelter from the storm" in versione elettrica... Ansia,disperazionee una voce che arranca, il brano si porta avanti dignitosamente...

Grazie a Dio si prosegue con "You are a big girl now" una versione struggente ma nello stesso tempo delicata.è un urlo d'amore a qualcosa che è andato perso, a una persona che è nel backstage che lo sta ascoltando ma che se ne vuole ormai andare... La ricaduta di stile si trova poi in "I threw it all away" dove piu che sentire Dylan sembra di di ascoltare Micheal Bolton...

Non disperiamo del tutto perche qualcosa di veramente ottimo si trova.... E' "Idiot wind" elettrica, astiosa, accusatoria... la versione che personalmente gradisco di più...

Successivamente Bobby tornera in studio dopo il divorzio e registrerà il suo primo aborto "Street legal"

Hard rain è un album che consiglio decisamente a tutti gli appassionati di Dylan, anche per vedere l'ennesima sfaccettatura del menestrello....ma non lo metterei mai tra i Live più importanti della storia...

Elenco tracce e testi

01   Maggie's Farm (05:23)

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
No, I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
Well, I wake up in the morning,
Fold my hands and pray for rain.
I got a head full of ideas
That are drivin' me insane.
It's a shame the way she makes me scrub the floor.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more.
Well, he hands you a nickel,
He hands you a dime,
He asks you with a grin
If you're havin' a good time,
Then he fines you every time you slam the door.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's brother no more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more.
Well, he puts his cigar
Out in your face just for kicks.
His bedroom window
It is made out of bricks.
The National Guard stands around his door.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's pa no more.

I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
No, I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.
Well, she talks to all the servants
About man and God and law.
Everybody says
She's the brains behind pa.
She's sixty-eight, but she says she's fifty -four.
I ain't gonna work for Maggie's ma no more.

I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.
Well, I try my best
To be just like I am,
But everybody wants you
To be just like them.
They sing while you slave and I just get bored.
I ain't gonna work on Maggie's farm no more.

02   One Too Many Mornings (03:47)

03   Stuck Inside of Mobile With the Memphis Blues Again (06:01)

04   Oh, Sister (05:08)

Oh, sister, when I come to lie in your arms
You should not treat me like a stranger.
Our Father would not like the way that you act
And you must realize the danger.

Oh, sister, am I not a brother to you
And one deserving of affection?
And is our purpose not the same on this earth,
To love and follow
His direction?

We grew up together
From the cradle to the grave
We died and were reborn
And then mysteriously saved.

Oh, sister, when I come to knock on your door,
Don't turn away, you'll create sorrow.
Time is an ocean but it ends at the shore
You may not see me tomorrow.

05   Lay Lady Lay (04:47)

Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine

Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
And you're the best thing that he's ever seen

Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he's standing in front of you

Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
I long to see you in the morning light
I long to reach for you in the night
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead

06   Shelter From the Storm (05:29)

'Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood
When blackness was a virtue the road was full of mud
I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

And if I pass this way again, you can rest assured
I'll always do my best for her, on that I give my word
In a world of steel-eyed death, and men who are fighting to be warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Not a word was spoke between us, there was little risk involved
Everything up to that point had been left unresolved.
Try imagining a place where it's always safe and warm.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

I was burned out from exhaustion, buried in the hail,
Poisoned in the bushes an' blown out on the trail,
Hunted like a crocodile, ravaged in the corn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Suddenly I turned around and she was standin' there
With silver bracelets on her wrists and flowers in her hair.
She walked up to me so gracefully and took my crown of thorns.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Now there's a wall between us, somethin' there's been lost
I took too much for granted, I got my signals crossed.
Just to think that it all began on a noneventful morn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Well, the deputy walks on hard nails and the preacher rides a mount
But nothing really matters much, it's doom alone that counts
And the one-eyed undertaker, he blows a futile horn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

I've heard newborn babies wailin' like a mournin' dove
And old men with broken teeth stranded without love.
Do I understand your question, man, is it hopeless and forlorn?
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' she gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

Well, I'm livin' in a foreign country but I'm bound to cross the line
Beauty walks a razor's edge, someday I'll make it mine.
If I could only turn back the clock to when God and her were born.
"Come in," she said,
"I'll give you shelter from the storm."

07   You're a Big Girl Now (07:01)

08   I Threw It All Away (03:18)

09   Idiot Wind (10:20)

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