Comments on: "Like a Rolling Stone," 40 Years On http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/ Christopher Lydon in conversation on arts, ideas and politics Sun, 12 Feb 2012 19:09:22 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Positively Bob Dylan » Blog Archive » Greil Marcus discusses “Like a Rolling Stone” on radio show http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64102 Positively Bob Dylan » Blog Archive » Greil Marcus discusses “Like a Rolling Stone” on radio show Fri, 14 Dec 2007 12:57:01 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64102 [...] Download the complete aired program from the page “Like a Rolling Stone,” 40 Years On: http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/ Posted i [...] [...] Download the complete aired program from the page “Like a Rolling Stone,” 40 Years On: http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/

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]]> By: Mark http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64101 Mark Thu, 11 Aug 2005 01:41:22 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64101 I first heard "Like a Rolling Stone" when I was 15. I was mesmerized by it. I lived in Saugerties NY at the time and Bob Dylan lived a few miles away in Woodstock. We wanted to believe he were a hometown guy although we knew he really wasn't. I saw him once or twice at the Cafe Espresso in town, I think, but that may have been wishful thinking. The resonance of "Like a Rolling Stone" stuck with me for many years but only in the past few years did I realize the true improtance of the song. I guess I lived the true meaning of the song by becoming very influnced by the resulting music that followed its release. A couple of years ago I had the good fortune to meet Al Kooper and read his book "Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards" and formed the conclusion that "Like a Rolling Stone" was a pivotal point in Rock'n'Roll. I have listened to the song hundreds of times and have put the CD player on repeat while driving to work so as to hear it over and over. I can, I believe, identify the very point in the song when the mood of the song changed and as a result music changed for ever. It is my belief that when Al Kooper got acclimated to the B3 and Dylan heard the carnival sound coming from the organ, he found his new avenue and left Woody Guthrie and entered the Rock'n'Roll sound he desired only a few years before. In high school it is said he admired Little Richard and played the piano before the guitar. About half way through the song Dyaln says "alright" and the rest is history. Check out Al Kooper's acount of the day in "Backstage Passes...." and then listen to the song 20 to 30 times and see if you agree. Everything in my musical past is either before or after "Like a Rolling Stone". Dyaln still amazes me and his album of a few years ago "Time Out of Mind" is a masterpiece. He is an artist of the stature of Picasso, Hemingway, Steinbeck or Walt Witman. I first heard “Like a Rolling Stone” when I was 15. I was mesmerized by it. I lived in Saugerties NY at the time and Bob Dylan lived a few miles away in Woodstock. We wanted to believe he were a hometown guy although we knew he really wasn’t. I saw him once or twice at the Cafe Espresso in town, I think, but that may have been wishful thinking. The resonance of “Like a Rolling Stone” stuck with me for many years but only in the past few years did I realize the true improtance of the song. I guess I lived the true meaning of the song by becoming very influnced by the resulting music that followed its release. A couple of years ago I had the good fortune to meet Al Kooper and read his book “Backstage Passes and Backstabbing Bastards” and formed the conclusion that “Like a Rolling Stone” was a pivotal point in Rock’n'Roll. I have listened to the song hundreds of times and have put the CD player on repeat while driving to work so as to hear it over and over. I can, I believe, identify the very point in the song when the mood of the song changed and as a result music changed for ever. It is my belief that when Al Kooper got acclimated to the B3 and Dylan heard the carnival sound coming from the organ, he found his new avenue and left Woody Guthrie and entered the Rock’n'Roll sound he desired only a few years before. In high school it is said he admired Little Richard and played the piano before the guitar.

About half way through the song Dyaln says “alright” and the rest is history. Check out Al Kooper’s acount of the day in “Backstage Passes….” and then listen to the song 20 to 30 times and see if you agree. Everything in my musical past is either before or after “Like a Rolling Stone”.

Dyaln still amazes me and his album of a few years ago “Time Out of Mind” is a masterpiece. He is an artist of the stature of Picasso, Hemingway, Steinbeck or Walt Witman.

]]> By: newfrog http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64100 newfrog Wed, 10 Aug 2005 15:11:37 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64100 How does it Feel to finally have an inkiling of what Dylan's been ringing on about these last 40+ years? That's what I thought listening to your podcast. I listened to your whole program and I thought one of the best parts was the opeing where Greil Marcus set the stage. The lead up to the song's recording. You see I was just born there in 1965. I was a squaling baby in Chicago while Dylan was squaling in a New York studio asking me, you and everyone how it felt to be on our own. There I was freshly incarnated and he asked how it felt to be here in the world without the warm wet protection of mother around me any more. There was america just recently having had it's beloved and charismatic leader ripped from it's embrace leaving the nation clutching at the bloody bit's left behind by the assasin's bullet. Suddenly every american was fatherless. There was Dylan asking himself how it felt to be dissillusioned with his folk music and still looking for some sound to support his spirit. What was he asking you about? So... while I thought the show was excellent and you really lucked out with your callers (I especially liked Eileen), I have to say you missed the spiritual component of the song. The pained wonderment full of surprise and possibility that we feel after a great loss. When all you relied on is suddenly gone and yet you find that against all odds you are still around. Existing despite everything. That to me is what the song is all about. Of living along a muddled life holding on to all kinds of things that ultimately have no substance and somehow you get thown out of that muddle and stood up on your own two feet for the first time. Alive in the world. Surprised it could happen this way. How does it Feel to finally have an inkiling of what Dylan’s been ringing on about these last 40+ years? That’s what I thought listening to your podcast. I listened to your whole program and I thought one of the best parts was the opeing where Greil Marcus set the stage. The lead up to the song’s recording. You see I was just born there in 1965. I was a squaling baby in Chicago while Dylan was squaling in a New York studio asking me, you and everyone how it felt to be on our own. There I was freshly incarnated and he asked how it felt to be here in the world without the warm wet protection of mother around me any more. There was america just recently having had it’s beloved and charismatic leader ripped from it’s embrace leaving the nation clutching at the bloody bit’s left behind by the assasin’s bullet. Suddenly every american was fatherless. There was Dylan asking himself how it felt to be dissillusioned with his folk music and still looking for some sound to support his spirit. What was he asking you about?

So… while I thought the show was excellent and you really lucked out with your callers (I especially liked Eileen), I have to say you missed the spiritual component of the song. The pained wonderment full of surprise and possibility that we feel after a great loss. When all you relied on is suddenly gone and yet you find that against all odds you are still around. Existing despite everything. That to me is what the song is all about. Of living along a muddled life holding on to all kinds of things that ultimately have no substance and somehow you get thown out of that muddle and stood up on your own two feet for the first time. Alive in the world. Surprised it could happen this way.

]]> By: Potter http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64099 Potter Wed, 03 Aug 2005 23:40:54 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64099 I used the Mona Lisa because it is universally known and easy to grab but I could have picked any painting, for instance, that was about something on the surface but had depth. From my own experience, leaving a comfortable home to wander was pretty common then. And giving up comfort and perhaps wealth to do it was also common. So in a way this was , for me anyway, floating on the ether, or the spirit of the time. Recently, in an interview, Dylan said that he did not know where these songs came from. Also he said that he did not think he could do that anymore. He seemed like a person who had struggled just to stay unspoiled and that took everything from him. Still I love some of his more recent recordings. I used the Mona Lisa because it is universally known and easy to grab but I could have picked any painting, for instance, that was about something on the surface but had depth. From my own experience, leaving a comfortable home to wander was pretty common then. And giving up comfort and perhaps wealth to do it was also common. So in a way this was , for me anyway, floating on the ether, or the spirit of the time.

Recently, in an interview, Dylan said that he did not know where these songs came from. Also he said that he did not think he could do that anymore. He seemed like a person who had struggled just to stay unspoiled and that took everything from him. Still I love some of his more recent recordings.

]]> By: carl http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64098 carl Wed, 03 Aug 2005 21:26:20 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64098 Well I have never really liked the Mona Lisa, but that is beside the point. I think that what I am trying to convey is that songs don't just float in on the ether. This one came from somewhere personal; it has a personal history, a social history, and a political history. I suppose I was being a bit disingenuous to start out by saying it was "just" about a girl, but I qualified that. Protaganists in good songs are always devices for creating metaphors, and the "girl" in this song is no exception. Forgive me for not drawing all the metaphorical ripples that emanate from these lyrics (which of course would be impossible), but just the ones that occurred to me in the moment. Yeah know though, why are we glorifying 6 minutes of studio time anyway? There are lots of brilliant performances that occur by happenstance and can never be reproduced. We are lucky to have this one on vinyl, but I doubt Bob gives this particular studio session a second thought among his lifetime of performances. Well I have never really liked the Mona Lisa, but that is beside the point. I think that what I am trying to convey is that songs don’t just float in on the ether. This one came from somewhere personal; it has a personal history, a social history, and a political history. I suppose I was being a bit disingenuous to start out by saying it was “just” about a girl, but I qualified that. Protaganists in good songs are always devices for creating metaphors, and the “girl” in this song is no exception. Forgive me for not drawing all the metaphorical ripples that emanate from these lyrics (which of course would be impossible), but just the ones that occurred to me in the moment.

Yeah know though, why are we glorifying 6 minutes of studio time anyway? There are lots of brilliant performances that occur by happenstance and can never be reproduced. We are lucky to have this one on vinyl, but I doubt Bob gives this particular studio session a second thought among his lifetime of performances.

]]> By: Potter http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64097 Potter Wed, 03 Aug 2005 20:55:05 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64097 The Mona Lisa is a painting about a girl. The Mona Lisa is a painting about a girl.

]]> By: carl http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64096 carl Wed, 03 Aug 2005 20:00:22 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64096 Yeah, well I was talking about the song and the lyrics. You are talking about the performance and characteristics of ensemble. Regardless, it's still a song about a girl. Yeah, well I was talking about the song and the lyrics. You are talking about the performance and characteristics of ensemble. Regardless, it’s still a song about a girl.

]]> By: ptrig http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64095 ptrig Wed, 03 Aug 2005 19:36:19 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64095 To interpret "Like a Rolling Stone" as simply a put-down song is to over simplify it. It is the interpretation that I would have made up until a couple of years ago when I began to play music with others in a band. I would have examined the words, said, "Aha, he's talking about a girl. And he's not being nice. No, sir. King Robert, he is not being nice at all." Dylan wrote some incredible words. They dance about with rhyme and ca-ca-cadence. But what makes "Like a Rolling Stone" so extraordinary is the tension that the musicians add to these words. What they play and how they play it. What Dylan sings and how he sings it. Pop, let's go, says the snare. And we're off. Leisurely at first. A nice fanfare. A trot of sorts. But Dylan's vocals are elsewhere. Out ahead of every one else. They speed up, he slows down. They meet momentarily. But by "Mmmmmemeeeeeaaallllll" we can sense where they are heading. It takes a while to get there. Dylan's spitting venom in verse two. The piano is stumbling. The other musicians lift it up, carry it forward. Whoa, where did that guitar come from? What are you doing? Yeah, I see. I can do that. Verse three things are happening. Happening? Ending, falling apart. There are no prisoners. You've got to keep up. Hold it. Here we go? Did you just do that? Who's playing lead? I don't care. It doesn't matter any more. It's a ride. Looping and twirling. Pushing towards collapse, but never falling into the brink. By the last verse the musicians are only locked together at the turns. Otherwise they are off, drifting, exploring new territory. The song could not be the same twice. It couldn't be played the same twice because the musicians didn't know what they were supposed to be playing. There's chaos. It can't be heard the same twice, either. There is too much going on. Parts coming, parts going. Parts suggested but never played. You begin to anticipate, but then are taken elsewhere. You can't hear it all at once. You never will. It's not about a girl. It's about exploration and discovery. It's an incredible moment of musicianship caught on tape. It's the Velvet Underground's "Sister Ray" condenced into 6 minutes and 6 seconds. To interpret “Like a Rolling Stone” as simply a put-down song is to over simplify it. It is the interpretation that I would have made up until a couple of years ago when I began to play music with others in a band. I would have examined the words, said, “Aha, he’s talking about a girl. And he’s not being nice. No, sir. King Robert, he is not being nice at all.” Dylan wrote some incredible words. They dance about with rhyme and ca-ca-cadence. But what makes “Like a Rolling Stone” so extraordinary is the tension that the musicians add to these words. What they play and how they play it. What Dylan sings and how he sings it. Pop, let’s go, says the snare. And we’re off. Leisurely at first. A nice fanfare. A trot of sorts. But Dylan’s vocals are elsewhere. Out ahead of every one else. They speed up, he slows down. They meet momentarily. But by “Mmmmmemeeeeeaaallllll” we can sense where they are heading. It takes a while to get there. Dylan’s spitting venom in verse two. The piano is stumbling. The other musicians lift it up, carry it forward. Whoa, where did that guitar come from? What are you doing? Yeah, I see. I can do that. Verse three things are happening. Happening? Ending, falling apart. There are no prisoners. You’ve got to keep up. Hold it. Here we go? Did you just do that? Who’s playing lead? I don’t care. It doesn’t matter any more. It’s a ride. Looping and twirling. Pushing towards collapse, but never falling into the brink. By the last verse the musicians are only locked together at the turns. Otherwise they are off, drifting, exploring new territory.

The song could not be the same twice. It couldn’t be played the same twice because the musicians didn’t know what they were supposed to be playing. There’s chaos. It can’t be heard the same twice, either. There is too much going on. Parts coming, parts going. Parts suggested but never played. You begin to anticipate, but then are taken elsewhere. You can’t hear it all at once. You never will.

It’s not about a girl. It’s about exploration and discovery. It’s an incredible moment of musicianship caught on tape. It’s the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray” condenced into 6 minutes and 6 seconds.

]]> By: carl http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64094 carl Wed, 03 Aug 2005 15:50:05 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64094 I have to say that this really is just a song about a girl. That's what it comes down to. When I read about the Warhol and the Factory and Edie Sedgwick, not even knowing about Dylan's involvement with her, his song came to mind. Of course if that were the end of it, there would be nothing more to talk about. I imagine the lyrics of this song emanating from the mouth of every schizophrenic, unwashed homeless person I see on the street. It is the ultimate accusation; you do not have to have fallen to feel its power, because it speaks to you "in your prime". It is a song about the ultimate disintegration and tendency toward entropy of all. It is also the song that the bullied sings to the bully at his 25th high school reunion. It is a mean mean song. I imagine it being sung to Augustus Pinochet by the "disappeared", to George Bush by a prisoner on death row, to the lyncher who was just convicted in Alabama. It just says "you will get yours, see you in hell" I have to say that this really is just a song about a girl. That’s what it comes down to. When I read about the Warhol and the Factory and Edie Sedgwick, not even knowing about Dylan’s involvement with her, his song came to mind.

Of course if that were the end of it, there would be nothing more to talk about. I imagine the lyrics of this song emanating from the mouth of every schizophrenic, unwashed homeless person I see on the street. It is the ultimate accusation; you do not have to have fallen to feel its power, because it speaks to you “in your prime”. It is a song about the ultimate disintegration and tendency toward entropy of all. It is also the song that the bullied sings to the bully at his 25th high school reunion. It is a mean mean song. I imagine it being sung to Augustus Pinochet by the “disappeared”, to George Bush by a prisoner on death row, to the lyncher who was just convicted in Alabama. It just says “you will get yours, see you in hell”

]]> By: Potter http://www.radioopensource.org/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64093 Potter Wed, 03 Aug 2005 09:35:11 +0000 http://www.radioopensource.org/2005/08/02/still-rolling-forty-years-on/#comment-64093 I blew the words on that. Thanks Dale. No direstion home. Once you have left, you don't go back. But also, you don't know where ou are going. I blew the words on that. Thanks Dale. No direstion home. Once you have left, you don’t go back. But also, you don’t know where ou are going.

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