Roll on, John, roll through the rain and snow
Take the right-hand road and go where the buffalo roam
They’ll trap you in an ambush before you know
Too late now to sail back home
Shine your light
Movin’ on
You burned so bright
Roll on, John
~Bob Dylan (Roll On John)
–
I dig John [Lennon]. As a writer, a singer and a Beatle. I dig everytime I meet them, but him I dig. He doesn’t take things seriously as so many guys do. I like that.
~Bob Dylan (KRLA Beat Interview, June 1965)
–
Oh, I always love to see John [Lennon]. Always. He’s a wonderful fellow… and I always like to see him.
~Bob Dylan (to Jann Wenner, Dec 1969)
“No, I don’t belong to her, I don’t belong to anybody
She’s my Christ forsaken angel but she don’t hear me cry
She’s a lone hearted mystic and she can’t carry on
When I’m there she’s alright but then she’s not when I’m gone” -from “I´m Not There”
There are times you just pick up an instrument—something will come . . . some kind of wild line will come into your head and you’ll develop that. If it’s a tune on the piano or guitar . . . you’ll write those words down. And they might not mean anything to you at all, and you just go on. . . . Now, . . . if I do it, I just keep it for myself. So I have a big lineup of songs which I’ll never use.
—Dylan, Sing Out! June 1968
Finally, for its fortieth birthday, it received an official release under the same name as the film it unwittingly inspired, “I’m Not There.” Hallelujah.
-Clinton Heylin (Revolution in the Air: The Songs of Bob Dylan, 1957-1973)
“Dylan’s saddest song, achieved without benefit of context or detail. It’s like listening to the inspiration before the song is wrapped around it.”
-John Bauldie (The Telegraph)
May God bless and keep you always May your wishes all come true May you always do for others And let others do for you May you build a ladder to the stars And climb on every rung May you stay forever young Forever young, forever young May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous May you grow up to be true May you always know the truth And see the lights surrounding you May you always be courageous Stand upright and be strong May you stay forever young Forever young, forever young May you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy May your feet always be swift May you have a strong foundation When the winds of changes shift May your heart always be joyful May your song always be sung May you stay forever young Forever young, forever young May you stay forever young
– Forever Young by Bob Dylan
Here is a great live version. Bob Dylan – Forever Young – 12/04/88 – Oakland Coliseum Arena
“I couldn’t quite grasp what [‘Caribbean Wind’] was about, after I finished it. Sometimes you write something to be very inspired, and you won’t quite finish it for one reason or another. Then you’ll go back and try and pick it up, and the inspiration is just gone. Either you get it all, and you can leave a few little pieces to fill in, or you’re trying always to finish it off. Then it’s a struggle. The inspiration’s gone and you can’t remember why you started it in the first place. Frustration sets in.”
– Dylan, to Cameron Crowe
..He spoke of one song he was particularly proud of, that he’d written “a while back,” that successfully functioned on the level of complexity of his mid-sixties material, taking the listener outside of time.. He said the song was called “Caribbean Wind”.
~Bob Dylan (to Paul Williams Nov 1980)
@ #35 on my list of Dylan’s 200 best songs. We got 3 versions of this brilliant song.. the best is the live versions he played on November 12, 1980.
“Biograph” version
Recorded 30 April 1981 @ Clover Recorders – Los Angeles, California
It was gravity which pulled us in and destiny which broke us apart
You tamed the lion in my cage but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
Now everything’s a little upside down, as a matter of fact the wheels have stopped,
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good, you’ll find out when you reach the top
You’re on the bottom.
~Bob Dylan (Idiot wind)
Idiot Wind. Yeah, you know, obviously, if you’ve heard both versions, you realise, of
course, that there could be a myriad of versions for the thing. It doesn’t stop. It
wouldn’t stop. Where do you end? You could still be writing it, really. It’s something
that could be a work continually in progress.
~Bob Dylan (to Paul Zollo, April 1991)
…”Idiot Wind” [album version] is shock treatment. The voice that had been so gentle in “Simple Twist” now is right in your face, one moment reasonable and remarkably lucid, the next moment filled with fury.
~Paul Williams (Bob Dylan: Performing Artist, Vol 2: The Middle Years 1974-1986)
)
)