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This is an updated & revised post originally published a year ago.

The “Infidels” Birthday inspired me to set up a list of Dylan’s best songs recorded in 1983.

I’ve chosen to include 2 versions of “Blind Willie McTell”. This is by far the best song Dylan recorded in 1983… and the both versions are fantastic.

1	Blind Willie McTell – electric version	not released*
2	Blind Willie McTell – acoustic version	The Bootleg Series 3
3	Jokerman	Infidels
4	Foot of Pride	The Bootleg Series 3
5	Someone’s Got A Hold Of My Heart – alt.version	not released*
6	License To Kill	Infidels
7	I & I	Infidels
8	Lord Protect My Child	The Bootleg Series 3
9	Sweetheart Like You	Infidels
10	Tell Me	The Bootleg Series 3

 

* My source is the “Rough Cuts” bootleg:

Check out bobsboots.com

Now for the goodies..

1. Blind Willie McTell – electric version:

I didn’t think I recorded it right. But I don’t know why that stuff gets out on me. I mean,
it never seems to get out on other people.
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder, March 1984)

–

Seen the arrow on the doorpost
Saying, “This land is condemned
All the way from New Orleans
To Jerusalem”
I traveled through East Texas
Where many martyrs fell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

Well, I heard that hoot owl singing
As they were taking down the tents
The stars above the barren trees
Were his only audience
Them charcoal gypsy maidens
Can strut their feathers well
But nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

See them big plantations burning
Hear the cracking of the whips
Smell that sweet magnolia blooming
See the ghosts of slavery ships
I can hear them tribes a-moaning
Hear that undertaker’s bell
Nobody can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

There’s a woman by the river
With some fine young handsome man
He’s dressed up like a squire
Bootlegged whiskey in his hand
There’s a chain gang on the highway
I can hear them rebels yell
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

Well, God is in His heaven
And we all want what’s His
But power and greed and corruptible seed
Seem to be all that there is
I’m gazing out the window
Of the St. James Hotel
And I know no one can sing the blues
Like Blind Willie McTell

2. Blind Willie McTell – acoustic version

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
5 May 1983

Spotify:

3. Jokerman

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
14 April 1983

I’m usually either here or on the West Coast or down in the Caribbean. Me and another
guy have a boat down there. Jokerman kinda came to me in the islands. It’s very
mystical. The shapes there, and shadows, seem to be so ancient. The song was sorta
inspired by these spirits they call jumbis.
~Bob Dylan (to Kurt Loder, March 1984)

–

Standing on the waters casting your bread
While the eyes of the idol with the iron head are glowing
Distant ships sailing into the mist
You were born with a snake in both of your fists while a hurricane was blowing
Freedom just around the corner for you
But with the truth so far off, what good will it do?

Jokerman dance to the nightingale tune
Bird fly high by the light of the moon
Oh, oh, oh, Jokerman

4. Foot of Pride – The Bootleg Series 3

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
27 April 1983

Composing it was alright, it probably had
a bunch of extra verses that probably… most likely weren’t necessary, they should have
been… they should have been combined. But, the reason why it was never used was
because the tempo speeded up, but there wasn’t any drum machine used on that, the
tempo just automatically took off, for some vague and curious reason.
~Bob Dylan (to Eliot Mintz, March 1991)

–

Like the lion tears the flesh off of a man
So can a woman who passes herself off as a male
They sang “Danny Boy” at his funeral and the Lord’s Prayer
Preacher talking ’bout Christ betrayed
It’s like the earth just opened and swallowed him up
He reached too high, was thrown back to the ground
You know what they say about bein’ nice to the right people on the way up
Sooner or later you gonna meet them comin’ down

Well, there ain’t no goin’ back
When your foot of pride come down
Ain’t no goin’ back

 

5. Someone’s Got A Hold Of My Heart – alt.version

They say, “Eat, drink and be merry
Take the bull by the horns”
I keep seeing visions of you, a lily among thorns
Everything looks a little far away to me

Gettin’ harder and harder to recognize the trap
Too much information about nothin’
Too much educated rap
It’s just like you told me, just like you said it would be

The moon rising like wildfire
I feel the breath of a storm
Something I got to do tonight
You go inside and stay warm

Someone’s got a hold of my heart
Someone’s got a hold of my heart
Someone’s got a hold of my heart
You—
Yeah, you got a hold of my heart

The BS3 version is a bit different, but great as well:

 

6. License To Kill

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
13 April 1983

Man thinks ’cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
And if things don’t change soon, he will
Oh, man has invented his doom
First step was touching the moon

Now, there’s a woman on my block
She just sit there as the night grows still
She say who gonna take away his license to kill?

 

7. I & I – Infidels

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
27 April 1983

Been so long since a strange woman has slept in my bed
Look how sweet she sleeps, how free must be her dreams
In another lifetime she must have owned the world, or been faithfully wed
To some righteous king who wrote psalms beside moonlit streams

I and I
In creation where one’s nature neither honors nor forgives
I and I
One says to the other, no man sees my face and lives

 

8. Lord Protect My Child – The Bootleg Series 3

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
2 May 1983

For his age, he’s wise
He’s got his mother’s eyes
There’s gladness in his heart
He’s young and he’s wild
My only prayer is, if I can’t be there
Lord, protect my child

As his youth now unfolds
He is centuries old
Just to see him at play makes me smile
No matter what happens to me
No matter what my destiny
Lord, protect my child

 

9. Sweetheart Like You – Infidels

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
18 April 1983

Well, the pressure’s down, the boss ain’t here
He gone North, he ain’t around
They say that vanity got the best of him
But he sure left here after sundown
By the way, that’s a cute hat
And that smile’s so hard to resist
But what’s a sweetheart like you doin’ in a dump like this?

You know, I once knew a woman who looked like you
She wanted a whole man, not just a half
She used to call me sweet daddy when I was only a child
You kind of remind me of her when you laugh
In order to deal in this game, got to make the queen disappear
It’s done with a flick of the wrist
What’s a sweetheart like you doin’ in a dump like this?

 

10. Tell Me – The Bootleg Series 3

Studio A, Power Station – New York City, New York
21 April 1983

Tell me–I’ve got to know
Tell me–tell me before I go
Does that flame still burn, Does that fire still glow
Or has it died out and melted like the snow
Tell me
Tell me

Tell me–what are you focused upon
Tell me–will it come to me after you’re gone
Tell me quick with a glance on the side
Shall I hold you close or shall I let you go by
Tell me
Tell me

-Egil