We carried you in our arms
On Independence Day
And now you’d throw us all aside
And put us on our way
Oh what dear daughter ’neath the sun
Would treat a father so
To wait upon him hand and foot
And always tell him, “No?”
Tears of rage, tears of grief
Why must I always be the thief?
Come to me now, you know
We’re so alone
And life is brief
Palais Des Sports
Besançon, France
4 July 1994
Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
Bucky Baxter (pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
May 22: Bob Dylan The Great Music Experience, Nara, Japan 1994 (video)
For the first time ever, Dylan was backed by a full orchestra, the New Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra. The final day was widely televised and Dylan was in magnificent form. I remember being near tears as The Voice returned in all its full, expressive, raging glory. I watched the footage again and again, transfixed at what seemed the best ever rendition of “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” and a magical and magisterial “Ring Them Bells”, with Dylan filmed beneath a huge statue of Buddha.
~Andrew Muir (One More Night: Bob Dylan’s Never Ending Tour)
Todaiji Temple Nara, Japan 22 May 1994 The Great Music Experience. Produced by Tony Hollingsworth.
Tomorrow night
Will you remember what you said tonight?
Tomorrow night
Will all thrills be gone?
Tomorrow night
Will it be just another memory,
Or just another lovely song
That’s in my full heart to linger on?
“Tomorrow Night” is a 1939 song written by Sam Coslow and Will Grosz. The same year Horace Heidt peaked at number sixteen with his version of the song.In 1948, Lonnie Johnson had a crossover hit on King Records (Johnson had also previously recorded the song for Paradise records in 1947) with the song, which had Johnson on guitar and Simeon Hatch on piano. Lonnie Johnson’s version hit number one on the R&B charts for seven non consecutive weeks and peaked at number nineteen on the pop chart.Lonnie Johnson’s version of “Tomorrow Night” would become his theme song and transformed the song into a blues standard. Lavern Baker had another hit on it in 1956. The song was recorded by Elvis Presley during his tenure at Sun records. Bob Dylan recorded the song on his 1992 album Good As I Been To You.
I wasn’t quite sure how to do it and what material to use. I would have liked to do old folk songs with acoustic instruments, but there was a lot of input from other sources as to what would be right for the MTV audience. The record company said, “You can’t do that, it’s too obscure.” At one time, I would have argued, but there’s no point. OK, so what’s not obscure? They said Knockin’ on Heaven ‘s Door.
~Bob Dylan (to Edna Gundersen May 1995)
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