Don't Think Twice, It's All Right

I've finished round one of my journey through Bob Dylan's albums and I need to dump what's in my head so I can continue on. Perhaps I'll do this more frequently in future, because three Dylan albums' worth of thoughts is a lot to keep track of in old Duder's head.

Bob Dylan — This album surprised me for a number of reasons: 1) how rooted his sound is in the blues tradition. I expected the influence of Woody Guthrie but not so much Robert Johnson; 2) how few original compositions there are (two); and 3) how raw and urgent the sound is. Who knew that he could sing and play with such intensity? It's a far cry from the marbled-mouthed drawl that I know is to come. Although he recorded this album when he was 20 (or so), a good portion of the songs are about death and dying. I don't know if this just comes with the blues territory of if it is a sign of the times, what with the perpetual threat of nuclear holocaust and all. In my grand tradition of reading whatever book's at my fingertips into everything else I see and hear, I wondered if perhaps he was confronting and accepting his mortality, as William Barrett describes when speaking here of Heidegger:

The authentic meaning of death—"I am to die"—is not as an external and public fact within the world, but as an internal possibility of my own Being. Nor is it a possibility like a point at the end of a road, which I will in time reach. So long as I think in this way, I still hold death at a distance outside myself. The point is that I may die at any moment, and therefore death is my possibility now... Only by taking my death into myself, according to Heidegger, does an authentic existence become possible for me.

Authentic existence indeed. I ran into the same obstacle with his treatment of traditional Gospel music sentiment. Is he singing it because it's part of a tradition he's emulating or is he casting a skeptical eye on religion? I lean toward the former because I haven't seen him be so blatantly dismissive. This album is a lot of fun, if only to hear Dylan fresh out of the North woods, backcountry accent and all. Favorite tracks: "Song to Woody" and "Baby, Let Me Follow You Down." "Pretty Peggy-O" is the best to sing along with in the car. You should hear my harmony, it would give you goosebumps.

The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan — Wow. Compared to the previous album, this is an explosion of Dylan originality. He covers so many styles and moods, such a range of topics, yet it all comes together so gracefully. The powerful imagery and lyricism that he's known for are already present on this album if perhaps less veiled and cryptic than in later years, which is actually nice. I did not feel compelled to stop listening to this album, even after three weeks of rotation. I'm falling so hard for the early Dylan sound that I'm worried about making the transition to the later electric stuff (not really). The back-to-back combination of "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" and "Don't Think Twice, It's All Right" makes me pause every time. I think Dinka has heard enough of me singing "Corrina, Corrina" to last her a lifetime.

The Times They Are A-Changin' — After the showcase of versatility on Freewheelin', I was surprised by the narrow focus on this album. It has the ominous feel of approaching, imminent change, "like the stillness in the wind, 'fore the hurricane begins." This is also the most socially/politically-oriented album of his that I've heard. Not that any of this makes it a bad album. On the contrary, his focus is sharp and every song is effective. "With God On Our Side" should have been printed in every major newspaper over the course of the last four years of war. I'm still a sucker for the slow, introspective ones though ("One Too Many Mornings", the eulogy-at-23 of "Restless Farewell"). I think he's at his best when the terrifically ambigious and human aspect of his characters is most obvious.

Aside: It is obvious that I'm writing all of this out for myself, right? I don't pretend that I'm an authority on such things, I just want to be able to look back on my impressions of the albums.