I admit: I am in slightly taken with Time Out of Mind, the Dylan album that I’ve had long arguments with people about because they like others more and sure, they’re good and we all love the old Bob, but frankly, I’m partial to the new Bob and I’m worried. Very worried...
Argue all you want, but I think it is one of the most honest Dylan albums that I’ve heard in ages, and while many have come before (that I truly love), in terms of more recent music, it is Time Out of Mind that appeals.
“I’m sick of love….that I’m in the thick of it.” he sings in “Love Sick” about a certain kind of love (“this kind of love, I’m so sick of it.”) What kind of love, I wonder. Is he talking about a true and lasting love (if so, it doesn’t sound it). Is it a sort of fight and fuck love that we’ve most of us dealt with? Is it groupie shit that god knows, we’ve heard rumors but the hell with rumors, or is it still the hurt from years ago or a more recent hurt? No matter which way you cut it, the first cut is apt: He is, as he says “love sick” and the rest of the album bears it out.
The songs of note that stand out to this reviewer anyway all speak to love in one of its many incarnations, but love nonetheless. They are songs of longing and yearning and being left and being hurt and being tired and hating “silence” which can be like “thunder” which is true ~ a deafening silence. He says, “Could you ever be true? I think of you, and I wonder…” Here is a man who sounds to me, hurt. But is he talking about love itself or love with someone or love in his terms.
It would sound as though he is speaking of Love herself. Love in the Platonic sense and yet, and yet… it is directed to a certain person. The song itself is remarkably simple in terms of chords and notes and is not the typical dancing hopping Dylan, but who would expect that from a song all about being sick of love?
Dirt Road Blues is more typical, but what can one say about that song. It’s good, but it is more expected and not why I write now. It’s more blues, folk and takes us back and I love the happiness and tradition of it; one could almost trace the roots all the way back and that’s great, but it doesn’t sound as honest as some of the other stuff, though I have to say, in it I sometimes hear the “old” Dylan voice, meaning the younger Dylan voice – the one who shouted back to our “Judas!” friend “I don’t beeelieevee youuuu….” Listen, and every now and then it creeps in.
.jpg?t=20120209092158)
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - DJRadiohead
Excellent review. Glad to see this album getting some consideration.
I think I still like "Love and Theft" better in terms of latter day Dylan but there are days where I am more in the mood for "Time Out of Mind." "L&T" is a bit less moody and is more fun. What is odd about that is I usually like the moodier, 'darker' stuff better. Both are terrific albums.
"Not Dark Yet" might be one of the best five or six songs ever written.
2 - Rodney Welch
How can you fail to mention "Highlands"? That's the best song on the record -- a real narrative epic about midlife yearning.
As for the death knell that rings throughout the record: it was made around the time he was having heart trouble, which would later lead to an operation. He was definitely seeing the end in sight -- which is why I'm disappointed you never mentioned the last song, where he wrestles with it at some length, with both sadness and wry humor. He talks about Erica Jong, about Neil Young, about what he no longer is:
I see people in the park forgetting their troubles and woes
They're drinking and dancing, wearing bright colored clothes
All the young men with their young women looking so good
Well, I'd trade places with any of them
In a minute, if I could
It's a great song: the "My Back Pages" of his twilight years.
Anyway, glad to see someone chiming in about this disc, Dylan's strongest work since the one-two love & divorce punch of Blood on the Tracks and Desire. I've never really seen what the reviewers saw in Love and Theft.
3 - sade
yes, first ~ thanks both; i'm grateful for the read... and appreciate it.
i, of course, know the whole album and yes, it does definitely lighten toward the end and that much is true and the heart issue likely factors in but there is just so much about love. the mortality issue is also a factor, as you note wisely, but i think there is a lot of disillusionment. but again, you make an excellent point. The end with the lovers in the park etc etc is good, but here again he says he would give anything to swap places with just one of them... so there again is that longing even in the happy (in quotes) songs... but i do get your point and am certainly glad you made it.
yes, this album deserves/merits attention fully, thus/hence etc the review since it seemed to be not covered enough for MY tastes or not by me anyway and i wanted to give my two scents... all of my Dylan pieces are on www.tantmieux.squarespace.com ~ scroll down on the right nav to the Dylan section. They linked to it, which is cool cool cool... check out only if you want to... and again, thanks both for some interesting thoughts and as ever, the kind words. grateful
yours, as ever... and thanks for reading,
sadi
4 - DJRadiohead
Dylan has been steadfast and prickly in his denials that the heart operation he underwent around the time of this album had anything to do with the tone or subject matter.
Paraphrasing an interview he gave USA Today, he was annoyed so many critics inferred songs like "Not Dark Yet" were dealing with his mortality - as if everyone else does not have to deal with the concept of mortality.
Having said that, much of "Time Out of Mind" does deal with 'midlife' issues (autobiographical or not) and it deals with them brilliantly.
5 - Mark Saleski
this is one of those records where folks, before listening, think "eh...that old geezer hasn't done anything good since Blood On The Tracks".
...then you pop this cd in the player and it lops the top of yer head clean off.
fantastic.
6 - DJRadiohead
Very true sentiments, Mark. Too bad it encourages bad albums from other geezers who cannot pull off something this terrific.
7 - sade
i agree, Mark, hence the review, you and i are sympatico, as usual.
in my view; he aint' no old geezer though. he's still Bob Dylan and in that way, could never be old to me.... just a personal response... but as to the rest a resounding Yes! It does lop your head clean off because it's so damn true....
8 - Rodney Welch
DJ -- I can understand why Dylan (or any artist) would object to any kind of biographical interptretation, and maybe it was a little crude on my part to infer it. It's not like you have to be on death's door to grapple with the songs. It's just there are connections there that are hard to overlook. Dylan of course is all about multiple interpretations, of course, especially when you consider that he allowed such a painful song as "Love Sick" to be used to sell panties.
9 - DJRadiohead
Rodney, I do not think it was crude to draw the inference. I drew it and so did many others. I just happened to read a couple of his denials.
I still think you had some excellent observations on the album (and Highlands, to be specific).
10 - sade
i don't think it's so much about mortality, though i agree ~ name any artist, present company included, who wants their work to be interpreted... by someone else!!! it's a bit of a ballsy thing to do. But that is partially inevitable iwth any amount of success. I mean shit, even the smallest amount of success will guarantee this (and stalkers... lol).
But really - for me, it's not so much about mortality, which yes we all have to face in the final account but it's a different thing when it's at your door and anyway, can't blame dylan for being pissed off for someone bringing it up. I've been there and i get annoyed myself. it's my business; it's his business.
still, again, this seems more about Love and there is a lot of that here and i DO take it seriously because i keep seeing signs of these love sickness in other ways as well... not to say i'm a clinical psychologist or trying to analyse him in this way; i'm not. i'm simply offering up an opinion as one who has/ or is/ there ,... or what i think is where he is or was,..
i hope this makes sense to you all...
good discussion...
cheers, x
sadi
11 - DJRadiohead
Sade - I agree that the whole album is not about mortality. "Not Dark Yet" certainly touches on that. I think the album has multiple themes. Love and relationships figure prominently... although not in the way they are often dealt with by, well, younger artists. I think this is a 'grown up record,' if you will pardon the phrase.
I am so glad you posted this. This is a great album to discuss.
12 - sade
exactly ~ more grown up is key... and that's the point; he doesn't seem as able to "handle" (for lack of a better word) it (getting older) as does Nelson (willie), which i noticed during the show... so it's interesting and sad, because i dont' think of bob as that old... i really don't... but anyway... did i post my link? shit, i can't remember...
http://www.tantmieux.squarespace.com/bob-dylan-welcome-articles-/
there. now i know i have.....
but yes, more grown up to be sure, but sadder somehow...
tant pis. he's still pretty great in my book. wish i 'd known he was in Boston looking for a girl in the park....
13 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Sadi, another fantastic piece here. i gotta say i been enjoyin your recent streak of dylanology somethin profound. I got this record on at the minute, in fact. a wonderful album, and one that is indeed soaked in a fear of impending death. far as anyonek new, Dylan WAS approahcing death at the time, so this is fairly understandable.
its a brilliant record. a wonderful companion piece to his earlier Lanois collaboration, Oh Mercy.
14 - Mark Saleski
dang, i gotta go home and listen to this again.
right after my haircut.
...and mowing the lawn.
...and fixin' dinner.
15 - sade
Mark - you make me laugh always...
duke duke duke ~ i am SO glad you popped by because.
a. i've been meaning to email you and
b. i'm glad you like this piece so much.
what are you listening to? this album? this album is incredible... and i love it. not sure what i'll be doing next, but it will be another Dylan piece to be sure though i hope i have something new to say... we'll see... just keep trying... i see to be constantly inspired by him so that's always good....
in any event... lots of x's to you... and speak to you soon..... where is E. these days? never hear from him -
cheers, and glad you're liking this.
rock on.
s.
16 - godoggo
Two songs that I love: Not Dark Yet, and Trying to Get to Heaven.
Theres also some embarrassing parts e.g. that crap about listening to Neil Young, but I guess that's par for the course.
17 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Sadi, it was indeed this album i was listenin to. your article reminded me to get it ripped onto itunes, on account of i been meaning to for months.
my listening this past month, in so far as Dylan goes, has been mostly John Wesely Harding and his debut, which i find delightful.
Dylan and plenty Fuck Forever by Babyshambles, although i've never found Dylan to be so attractive, i must admit.
18 - sade
A: you love the two same songs i do... so we agree on that score... ;)
Ed: hmmmm, you speak to me of curious and new things. SEnd me email with more info... i know little of this and am curious.... send along, plus i need to chat w/ you anyway... you on MSN messenger per chance? if so, add me...
19 - sade
oh, and the attractive thing ~ let's say a personal idiosyncrasy then... i've always found him incredibly attractive, and even do now... he just is.. but that's such a personal thing, and i mean it in every way... he's just an attractive person, which is part of what has made him so successful. not only physically attractive, but he has charisma, charm, talent, the whole package so to speak... lucky him.
he always knew it too, if you read Chronicles...
20 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
chronicles is great! an i think i confused myself with the attractive thingy. i can understand why you would find him so, but i was busy musing along the lines of the frontman of Babyshambles, and was comparing the too. i've never felt a filthual attraction to dylan. Pete Doherty of Babyshambles on the other hand...
21 - sade
hmmmm....interesting. don't know what he looks like, but this conversation could now quickly degenerate into ... well... all sorts of mess. privately... i'll tell you more...;)
cheers, duke
sade
22 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
Sadi, you must observe HERE and all will become apparent.
and at this point i must announce my heterosexuality, and never ONCE have i been tempted in the other direction, at least not by anyone that isn't Pete Doherty or Connor Oberst...
23 - sade
duke, too funny... am very amused and laughed out loud at previous comment... never questioned it for a minute, love...
;)
sade
24 - DJRadiohead
My only hope is that the Fahey-ites will kill and then punish Conor Oberst.
25 - LostSok
Very nice Sadi. TOOM is a masterpiece, even though there are times I think the band was a tad lethargic. I've come to enjoy the live recordings of the TOOM songs better than the studio, especially Highlands and I Can't Wait, which were both sizzling around '99-'00.
Great read, though. Enjoyed it very much...