New Bob Dylan song

[TheMaker]

Ha ha. Oh my god, yeah, it's amazing. Turn up the volume so you can hear him wheeze out the last few syllables of every line! The hyperbole some people will reach for in an attempt to gain ground in an argument never fails to amuse or amaze me. Before y'all jump on me again, I'm certainly not claiming to immune from this practice myself, but for Christ's sake, this is a discussion about the man who recorded songs like "Idiot Wind," "Abandoned Love" and "I'll Keep It With Mine."

 

What's not to like about Modern Times? In brief: Dylan shamelessly stole at least half the songs from other artists, adding nothing worthwhile to any of them; as I've said elsewhere in the thread, you can pretty much skip the odd-numbered tracks and miss absolutely nothing; the best songs play out like self-parody; two words: Henry Timrod; in short, there's nothing to the thing. It's just Dylan coasting through the tail end of the '00s on fumes.

[TheMaker]

Oh, and as for my greatly exaggerated negativity: you should read the other 75% of my posts on this forum someday.

 

Huuuuugs!

[Duck-Billed Catechist]

Hug the fuck out of 'em, Phillippe.

[mastershake]

Ha ha. Oh my god, yeah, it's amazing. Turn up the volume so you can hear him wheeze out the last few syllables of every line! The hyperbole some people will reach for in an attempt to gain ground in an argument never fails to amuse or amaze me. Before y'all jump on me again, I'm certainly not claiming to immune from this practice myself, but for Christ's sake, this is a discussion about the man who recorded songs like "Idiot Wind," "Abandoned Love" and "I'll Keep It With Mine."

 

What's not to like about Modern Times? In brief: Dylan shamelessly stole at least half the songs from other artists, adding nothing worthwhile to any of them; as I've said elsewhere in the thread, you can pretty much skip the odd-numbered tracks and miss absolutely nothing; the best songs play out like self-parody; two words: Henry Timrod; in short, there's nothing to the thing. It's just Dylan coasting through the tail end of the '00s on fumes.

yeah i wish he would have gave credit where credit is due, but i think he turned in a fine set of rockin tunskies for the most part.

[nettles]

My favorite record last year, but that again I may have more in common with the aging rocking critics,

longing for a time thats past, I just don't get that music the young kids are into these days, every song i hear sounds like the Arcade Fire, i can't tell em apart.

[boywiththorninside]

Idolator.com (Gawker's music site) has an mp3 of this song posted.

[Beltmann]

Lucky you! I wish my standards were that low. Of all the boring, mediocre blooze-rock I heard last year, MT ranked somewhere around the middle of the list (at the top, in case you're curious: The Black Keys, whose song "Modern Times" is what an inspired blues pastiche sounds like in my book).

 

Huck's Tune is shit, too, unsurprisingly. Another lazy lyrical pastiche that makes me think of wandering attention spans and counting sheep. Dylan's consumption is particularly bad here, as he swallows the end of virtually every line in the song (not before literally gasping out the last few words), but that might be due to the god-awful production more than anything else. His voice is mixed louder here than it has been in concert since around '03 or so (which is really saying something), and it doesn't do him any favours.

 

It's funny - if you'd told me when Tell Ol' Bill was released that Dylan would be giving us nearly a dozen more songs over the span of the next year and a half, and that none of them would be nearly as good, I probably would have laughed.

 

I'm sure he'll catch another creative wind again before the curtain comes down, but for now, well, it feels a lot like the late '80s all over again for Bob.

Man, you should write for Pitchfork.

[TheMaker]

I don't particularly like Pitchfork. I sometimes write for Playbackstl.com, though. The snark is kept to a dull roar on that site, believe it or not, mostly because the conversations are one-sided and concerned strictly with the art at hand. The readership is miniscule compared to Pitchfork's, so nobody particularly cares about trying to act the part of the hipper-than-thou "tastemaker." I think the problem with Pitchfork is that it's entirely too aware of its audience anymore; I sometimes wonder if a lot of their reviews and features aren't just bullshit thrown together to baffle whatever trend people think the 'Fork are going to endorse this week/month/whatever. At Playback, though, we're just a bunch of boys and girls who like music, movies, fiction and comics, and we do our best to steer people in the general direction of stuff that isn't overexposed and/or overpraised.

 

I can honestly take pride in the fact that I've never seen any of the site's regular contributors handing out free passes based on an artist's past achievements (that shit drives me right up the wall). If Dylan produces a record that consists mostly of tepid, "safe" music and a clutch of worryingly random (stolen) lines strung together to the tune of blues cliches and old grandfatherly waltzes, then I, for one, will certainly not think twice before calling him on his laziness.

 

I don't sugarcoat my opinions. If that makes me an asshole, whoopee, I'm an asshole. But at least I'm not trying to kid myself or anybody whose music listening circle overlaps mine.

[Sir Stewart]

TheMaker - the bottom line is, in your opinion, someone in this thread was wrong in liking something. That's just fucked up. It's not being an asshole, it's being stupid.

[TheMaker]

Hey, I never said "you're wrong to like this." I'm just baffled by some of the things people have said in this thread. Modern Times was the best record of 2006? Yeah, well, then by default it was also the best record of 1866, 1928 and 1955, because it sure as hell didn't add anything new to the words and music it had its way with. "Spirit on the Water" is Dylan's best vocal? Come on, tell me you didn't laugh out loud at that. I mean, whatever, the dude can think what he wants, but I'm just as free to find his opinions bewildering.

[Sir Stewart]

Okay, maybe I read your statement incorrectly.

I am intrigued by the comments you've made about the lyrics on Modern Times. I remember the stink about the multiple Love & Theft lifts from that Yasuka book - I haven't heard anything similar about Modern Times. What have you heard along these lines about Modern Times?

[Synthesizer Patel]

Okay, maybe I read your statement incorrectly.

I am intrigued by the comments you've made about the lyrics on Modern Times. I remember the stink about the multiple Love & Theft lifts from that Yasuka book - I haven't heard anything similar about Modern Times. What have you heard along these lines about Modern Times?

 

I assume he's talking about Rollin' And Tumblin', Nettie Moore and The Levee's Gonna Break - which contain phrases and lyrics which are firmly in the public domain, and thus from other songs. There's a case to be made that Dylan is just ripping these songs off, but the same case can be made that he ripped off Nottamun Town for Masters Of War, and ... well most of his early work contains melodies from folk/blues songs so the list could go on forever. But, that's cos he is a folk/blues musician and that is what they do - it's how the forms were developed and it's how they will stay alive and relevant.

 

Whether or not someone likes Modern Times, or thinks the lyrics and music is good or not, is fair enough, but I can't understand this ripping old stuff off argument - as that is what Dylan has always been about.

[solace]

by TheMaker's definition, unless something is groundbreaking or super original, it's not very good...

glad i don't abide by that philosophy...

 

and since Dylan's influences the last few records have been old blues and waltzy 40's & 50's type stuff, he's being "lazy"? what would make him not "lazy" in your opinion... a duet with Dre? having Dangermouse produce his record? the music he's created on the last 3 albums, like it or not, is timeless imo. no it's not his best work, but it's better than most any other 65 year old artist that is 40 years past his prime has created that i've heard anyhow...

 

anywho, i really like Huck's Tune, reminds me of "When The Deal Goes Down"

[owl]

This song is as good as Nettie Moore, which might be one of my favorite Dylan songs from his past three releases. Too bad the rest of Modern Times isn't as good as Nettie Moore or Huck's Tune.

[TheMaker]

Yeah, L&T borrowed something like a dozen lines (out of a few hundred) from a pulpy and obscure Japanese book. That's fair play in my book, especially when Dylan managed to wring really great songs like "Floater (Too Much to Ask)" and "Bye and Bye" out of them. He also rewrote a couple of Gene Austin and Johnny and Jack songs to get "Tweedle Dee," "Summer Days," and "Sugar Baby," but there was never any big stink in the media about that. I'd upload some of these source songs just so you could check out the undeniable (basically identical) similarities between them and the Dylan tunes, but I don't want to trample the board's policy about officially released recordings.

 

There's an awesome page that somebody set up a few months back concerning Dylan's sources for Modern Times, but I can't find it in my bookmarks or on Google at the mo'. Dangit. Off the top of my head, though, here's a couple:

 

-"Rollin' and Tumblin'" is a pretty straightforward rewrite of a song that's been around forever. Not sure if Muddy's version from the '50s is the first, but it's probably the best known. It's a lot better than Bobby's, obviously

 

-"Someday Baby" is actually just Muddy's "Trouble No More" with a few words changed around

 

-"Levee's Gonna Break" has been around since 1928 in some form or another. I think I've heard at least a dozen different songs based on this blues, each one progressively less interesting than the one that came before it

 

-There was a Confederate poet named Henry Timrod, and Modern Times is mostly a pastiche of his lines. I wish I could find that damned site I mentioned (you could try Googling it - you might have better luck than I did), but Dylan took dozens of lines from the guy and tossed them into a blender when writing MT. I'm okay with a line here and a line there, but to mine one source so randomly, extensively and unapologetically, and to such meagre ends, just smacks of total friggin' laziness to me. "Shit, the label wants a record. Well, I've got this book of poems sitting open in front of me, so I guess it's time to get busy..."

 

There are even more sources I could name just off the top of my head, but I gotta boogie right now. I'll check in later, though.

[viatroy]

I love Nettie Moore.

[Sir Stewart]

I remember hearing about the Timrod stuff now.

BTW - it isn't against board policy to post single songs.

[solace]

there's also tons of lyrical & melody similarities between Bob's early work and Woody too, so maybe he's always just been "lazy"...

[TheMaker]

So when has he actually lifted from Woody, out of curiosity? Woody's style and approach informed Dylan's early songs, but Zimmy has only fallen into the habit of truly swiping songs in recent years.

 

"Masters of War" takes its basic melody from a specific arrangement of the traditional "Nottamun Town," but can you call that outright theft? I think it becomes even more difficult to fault Dylan for that one when you consider the fiery, soul-stirring words he wrote to accompany the music, as opposed to the slight little ditties he slapped together for MT.

 

I don't have a problem with artists being influenced by other artists, or with samples and even lyrics that reference specific other works, so long as they add up to something engaging and unique on some level. There's a not-so-fine line between a great work of art having been influenced by another great work of art and shameless appropriation. I thought Love and Theft was overrated, but I also think it's a pretty solid Dylan album, in spite of, and in some cases maybe even because of, its borrowed passages. It's no secret that words and music become extremely malleable in Dylan's hands, and when he's truly inspired by something, I think he can still crank out a spectacular song.

 

MT, on the other hand, is chock full of plodding, generic music (chords, chords, chords, BORING SOLO) that recalls Dylan's late '80s nadir (if the record has a close cousin in Dylan's discography, I still say it's Under the Red Sky) and surprisingly few memorable songs/lyrics. I like "Nettie Moore," but the rest of it just slides off my brain like water off a duck's back. I've given the record numerous chances, but I remember thinking the first time I heard it that I had it all figured out after a single listen, and that's cause for concern when we're talking about an artist of Dylan's stature. There's just no depth to it, especially lyrically, and the songs aren't really about anything. They just sit there, stupidly simple and twice as shallow, waiting for a sucker to come along and project all over them.

[TheMaker]

Since it seems to be okay, here's a batch of songs that helped Dylan write some of the L&T songs. If posting these is actually a no-no, give me a yell and I'll remove them. I won't say which songs they inspired because if you have ears you'll figure it out around four seconds after playing each track.

 

Johnny and Jack, "Uncle John's Bongos http://download.yousendit.com/270BD4E415D809C6

 

Gene Austin, "Rebecca" http://download.yousendit.com/21CC4FC45FD748B4

 

Gene Austin, "Lonesome Road" http://download.yousendit.com/501F16586681D7BF

[Beltmann]

"Spirit on the Water" is Dylan's best vocal? Come on, tell me you didn't laugh out loud at that.

I don't think "Spirit on the Water" is Dylan's best vocal, but I didn't laugh out loud in this thread until I got to some of your comments.

 

Modern Times strikes me as clearly in the midrange. What's worse? Sugarcoating the fact that it's not among Dylan's best work, or overstating the case merely to project oneself as a "pure" set of ears? Is there any difference? To my mind, your overcooked dismissal of the album as complete shit says more about your need to project yourself as a tastemaker than about the album itself. That kind of calculated, hyperbolic contrarianism is about as "pure" as the feverish hipsterism over at Pitchfork; it's the reverse side of the exact same coin. In both cases, the extreme reaction ends up sacrificing accuracy, and by extension, credibility.

 

Huh. That sounded meaner than I intended. Listen, I always enjoy reading your posts--for some of the same reasons I always enjoy reading Pitchfork.

[TheMaker]

Is my dismissal really overcooked, though? You think Modern Times is "clearly in the midrange." I disagree strongly, hence my wild frustration when discussing its "merits."

 

Honestly, the only Dylan records I think less of are Empire Burlesque, Down in the Groove, Good as I Been to You and Knocked Out Loaded. At least Bobby wrote most of the songs (take that whichever way you'd like) on three of those himself...

[boywiththorninside]

Since it seems to be okay, here's a batch of songs that helped Dylan write some of the L&T songs. If posting these is actually a no-no, give me a yell and I'll remove them. I won't say which songs they inspired because if you have ears you'll figure it out around four seconds after playing each track.

 

Johnny and Jack, "Uncle John's Bongos http://download.yousendit.com/270BD4E415D809C6

 

Gene Austin, "Rebecca" http://download.yousendit.com/21CC4FC45FD748B4

 

Gene Austin, "Lonesome Road" http://download.yousendit.com/501F16586681D7BF

 

I imagine the album was entitled "Love and Theft" for a reason. I would be bothered by Dylan's appropriation if he wasn't so honest about it. The title of the record is his acknowledgment/admission.

[solace]

TheMaker, i actually prefer Modern Times out of the last 3... yeah that's not a popular opinion, but since when have I ever given a shit about that?

 

i like it because it's fun, funny, and light hearted almost throughout the record. i actually laugh at a number of the lyrics on here, in good way. maybe that's part of it, maybe you think fun/silly = throwaway/lazy, and you want something more serious, i dunno.

 

i also find his vocal performances on here some of his most enjoyable in the last decade too. that and I like the production more as well.

 

regardless, i think it's a fine record, and would certainly put a huge number of Dylan records below it, probably more than above it too.

 

that's fine that you don't like it or think it's crap, but any of us who actually love it or think it's quite good don't have any "worse taste" nor are our "ears lacking", it's called difference of opinion and that everyone listens to Dylan for different reasons and gets different things out of all of his works.

[Atticus]

"things have changed" from teh Wonder Boys was probably where I stopped with Dylan soundtracks. But I guess there's room for more.