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Il miglior album di Dylan da "John Wesley Harding", sette lunghi anni dopo.
Questo è un ottimo ritorno. Accompagnato dalla "Band" di Robbie Robertson e compagnia (sti cazzi!), Bob ritorna all'ispirazione dei tempi migliori, una voce convinta, delle melodie interessanti.
La Band che orchestra si fa sentire eccome, fin dal blues scanzonato di apertura, "On A Night Like This". Testo in linea con le ultime produzioni frivole, ma ben costruito.
Ma il ritorno in grande stile è il capolavoro "Going, Going, Gone", veramente una grande canzone. Diciamo che è la sintesi dell'evoluzione di Dylan, una "Don't Think Twice" invecchiata di dieci anni, amara e con la chitarra di Robertson che si dà da fare e trasmette il pathos giusto.
Stesso discorso per "Tough Mama", bella anche "Hazel", riproposte dal vivo di recente e parse molto convincenti.
Altro capolavoro la canzone dedicata al figlio Jakob (leader dei Wallflower, ma allora aveva pochi anni), la meravigliosa "Forever Young", e la durissima "Dirge", prologo inquietante dell'album che sta per arrivare e cronaca del trambusto interiore di Dylan in quegli anni: "I hate myself for loving you, and the weakness that it showed, you were just a painted face on a trip down to suicide road"
. Accompagnamento semplice, pianoforte di Dylan, accordi pieni, e Robertson che fa miracoli all'acustica, voce ispirata, grintosa. Un vero gioiello.
Le altre canzoni non sono all'altezza ma non rovinano l'atmosfera.
Una nota curiosa: ormai in sala di incisione, Dylan sostituisce la canzone "Nobody 'Cept You", pur bella, con "Wedding Song", scritta in quei giorni e incisa frettolosamente, con gli accordi che a volte vengono dimenticati o trasformati da maggiore a minore e un assolo di armonica da dimenticare. Il testo ha dei passaggi da incorniciare. Un'ottima canzone nata, come tante nel canzoniere di Zimmy, dal caso e dall'impulso. Per fortuna "Nobody ‘Cept You" venne ripescata nelle "Bootleg Series Vol 2". Avrebbe potuto prendere il posto di "Something There Is About You", mediocre. È l'inizio di una serie di scelte bizzarre nella tracklist dei dischi di Dylan, il cui culmine arriverà con "Infidels".
Un album ottimo: la resurrezione si è quasi compiuta, la fase di transizione ha trovato un indirizzo preciso e i risultati si sentono. Dylan è in tour con la Band e fa faville e ci si prepara per altri quattro anni sulla cresta dell'onda, fatti di grandi dischi e sempre sulla strada con l'ormai mitica tournée della "Rolling Thunder Revue".
Elenco tracce testi samples e video
04 Hazel (02:49)
Hazel, dirty-blonde hair
I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen with you anywhere
You got something I want plenty of
Ooh, a little touch of your love
Hazel, stardust in your eye
You're goin' somewhere and so am I
I'd give you the sky high above
Ooh, for a little touch of your love
Oh no, I don't need any reminder
To know how much I really care
But it's just making me blinder and blinder
Because I'm up on a hill and still you're not there
Hazel, you called and I came
Now don't make me play this waiting game
You've got something I want plenty of
Ooh, a little touch of your love
05 Something There Is About You (04:43)
Something there is about you that strikes a match in me
Is it the way your body moves or is it the way your hair blows free?
Or is it because you remind me of something that used to be
Somethin' that crossed over from another century?
Thought I'd shaken the wonder and the phantoms of my youth
Rainy days on the Great Lakes, walkin' the hills of old Duluth
There was me and Danny Lopez, cold eyes, black night and then there was Ruth
Something there is about you that brings back a long-forgotten truth
Suddenly I found you and the spirit in me sings
Don't have to look no further, you're the soul of many things
I could say that I'd be faithful, I could say it in one sweet, easy breath
But to you that would be cruelty and to me it surely would be death
Something there is about you that moves with style and grace
I was in a whirlwind, now I'm in some better place
My hand's on the sabre and you've picked up the baton
Somethin' there is about you that I can't quite put my finger on
06 Forever Young (04:57)
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
07 Forever Young (02:48)
May God bless and keep you always,
May your wishes all come true,
May you always do for others
And let others do for you.
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May you grow up to be righteous,
May you grow up to be true,
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you.
May you always be courageous,
Stand upright and be strong,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
May your hands always be busy,
May your feet always be swift,
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift.
May your heart always be joyful,
May your song always be sung,
May you stay forever young,
Forever young, forever young,
May you stay forever young.
08 Dirge (05:37)
I hate myself for lovin' you and the weakness that it showed
You were just a painted face on a trip down Suicide Road.
The stage was set, the lights went out all around the old hotel,
I hate myself for lovin' you and I'm glad the curtain fell.
I hate that foolish game we played and the need that was expressed
And the mercy that you showed to me, who ever would have guessed?
I went out on Lower Broadway and I felt that place within,
That hollow place where martyrs weep and angels play with sin.
Heard your songs of freedom and man forever stripped,
Acting out his folly while his back is being whipped.
Like a slave in orbit, he's beaten 'til he's tame,
All for a moment's glory and it's a dirty, rotten shame.
There are those who worship loneliness, I'm not one of them,
In this age of fiberglass I'm searching for a gem.
The crystal ball up on the wall hasn't shown me nothing yet,
I've paid the price of solitude, but at least I'm out of debt.
Can't recall a useful thing you ever did for me
'Cept pat me on the back one time when I was on my knees.
We stared into each other's eyes 'til one of us would break,
No use to apologize, what diff'rence would it make?
So sing your praise of progress and of the Doom Machine,
The naked truth is still taboo whenever it can be seen.
Lady Luck, who shines on me, will tell you where I'm at,
I hate myself for lovin' you, but I should get over that.
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