Mondo Scripto
It was 44 years ago – or at least it will be in January next year – that Bob Dylan released the album ‘Blood On The
Tracks’. Not quite a landmark
anniversary, but now is the perfect time to take a fresh look at one of Dylan’s
most celebrated works.
Next month, Columbia and Legacy
Recordings release the 14th installment in the never-ending Bootleg Series featuring
demos and alternate recording of songs from the album.
Just as intriguing is a new exhibition
at the Halcyon Gallery, 144 New Bond Street, London showcasing Dylan’s
hand-written lyrics, artwork and sculptures.
The exhibition, which runs until 30 November, features hand written lyrics
to 60 songs selected from across his career and illustrated by Dylan himself.
Some of these illustrations, such
as the line by line breakdown of ‘Forever Young’ are quite literal, others are as
enigmatic as the lyrics themselves. Perhaps
the most interesting aspect of the exercise however is that Dylan has chosen to
significantly re-write a number of lyrics, including several from ‘Blood On The
Tracks’, for this exhibition. It is
never wise to pose the question ‘why?’ in considering any aspect of Dylan’s
career; he has arguably spent his entire adult life constructing a character of
his own devising. Unlike for example David
Bowie, who adopted and discarded persona across his career, Dylan seems simply to
have added layer upon layer, with the purpose of obscuring the real Dylan, if
such still exists. There are few easily
decipherable clues to be found in his recorded work to identify the man in the iron
mask.
One exception is ‘Blood On The
Tracks’. At the time it was regarded as
a return to form for Dylan, who had spent the previous 5 or 6 years embracing domesticity
both in his personal life and in his music.
It is widely regarded as his most openly autobiographical work, an
outworking of his thoughts on a failing marriage. Typically of course the man denies this. The
product of physical separation from his wife – she remained in California, he headed
back to the east coast – these are songs of hurt, regret and rage. There is also a degree of self-reflection
which is unusual in Dylan’s work.
Dylan plays with notions of time
and place, projecting what seem to be personal experiences and emotions on to third
party characters. Arguably – and Keith
Richards would agree - it outstrips the achievements of his mid-1960s work.
These are songs which mean a lot
to his fans. They clearly mean a lot to
Dylan. Several still feature regularly
in his live shows today. But he seems
never to have come to terms with his public poring over these lyrics in search
of the real Dylan.
The Halcyon Gallery exhibition
features five or six lyrics which have been re-written, often to the point of
bearing little resemblance to the originally recorded song. There have been
lyrical variations in performance before – Dylan regards his writing as a
process and constantly in motion - but this appears to be a conscious effort on
Dylan’s part to perhaps finally de-personalise some of his most personal work.
This seems not to have been
casually done. The exhibition catalogue,
which is beautiful artifact in its own right and contains a fascinating
interview with Dylan, contains yet further variations both on the lyrics and on
the accompanying artworks. The lyric to ‘You’re
Gonna Make me Lonesome When You Go’ for example, seems to have undergone at
least two distinct re-writes.
If you have even a passing
interest in Dylan this is a must-see exhibition. The Halcyon Gallery is a beautiful space
which encourages a leisurely visit. For
the casual fan seeing the flip cards reproduced from the iconic ‘Subterranean
Homesick Blues’ film will be a thrill; the more committed fan, or amateur code-breaker,
might easily spend a morning comparing and analysing every lyric and drawing.
You may be tempted to pick up a
limited edition signed print of your favourite lyric, but move quickly before Dylan
decides to change it again.
