Man Gave Names to All the Animals is a song written by Bob Dylan that appeared on Dylan’s 1979 album Slow Train Coming and was also released as a single in some European countries. It was also released as a promo single in US. The single became a chart hit in France and Belgium.
However, the song also has detractors who consider it the worst song Dylan ever wrote. A 2013 reader’s poll conducted by Rolling Stone Magazine ranked “Man Gave Names to All the Animals” the 4th worst Bob Dylan song, although the hit single from Slow Train Coming, “Gotta Serve Somebody” placed second. I love’em both.
Man Gave Names to All the Animals has been covered by multiple artists, I’ve picked three of my favourites.
Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’
I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through
Tangled up in blue
Empire
Liverpool, England
26 June 1996
Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar & harmonica)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
They say ev’rything can be replaced
Yet ev’ry distance is not near
So I remember ev’ry face
Of ev’ry man who put me here
I see my light come shining
From the west unto the east
Any day now, any day now
I shall be released
Bob Dylan
Albert Grossman
Bob Neuwirth
Joan Baez
Alan Price
Tito Burns
Donovan
Derroll Adams
Horace Freeland Judson
Music by
Bob Dylan, Donovan
Edited by
D. A. Pennebaker
Distributed by
Docurama
Release dates
May 17, 1967
Running time
96 minutes
Country
United States
Language
English
Dont Look Back is a 1967 American documentary film by D. A. Pennebaker that covers Bob Dylan’s 1965 concert tour in England.
In 1998 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant”. In a 2014 Sight and Sound poll, film critics voted Dont Look Back the joint ninth best documentary film of all time.
