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In defense of 'Don't Think Twice'
DigiTrad:
DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALL RIGHT
Related threads:
Lyr Add: Don't Think Twice, Let's Just Fight (4)
Punch it twice, it's all right.... (13)
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: SINSULL Date: 09 Mar 08 - 10:39 AM Kendall does a beautiful version of Clayton's song. Too bad he never recorded "Don't Think Twice". He could have made it simple and bitter. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: SINSULL Date: 09 Mar 08 - 10:35 AM You guys are very kind. Paul Clayton wrote: Ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe Ain't no use to sit and wonder why Ain't no use to sit and wonder why, babe Just wonder who's going to buy you ribbons when I'm gone. Walkin down that long lonesome road Ain't no use to sit and cry now. I believe he finally acknowledged Clayton and even paid him something. Anyone know? |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Suegorgeous Date: 09 Mar 08 - 09:46 AM Agree with Little Hawk. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Charley Noble Date: 08 Mar 08 - 10:07 PM I always preferred to sing the Reader's Digest version of this song: "Don't Think Once, It's All Right" Cheerily, Charley Noble |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 08 Mar 08 - 10:04 PM The macho posing is a bit ironical, and I think that's quite intentional on Bob's part. It is clear if you read between the lines that the young guy in the song is quite upset about losing his girlfriend...but he's pretending like crazy that he's not upset just to make himself feel better about it. And that's why the macho posing. It's outer defiance in the face of inner hurt. The song was about Bob's on-again, off-again romance with Suze Rotolo, which he took very seriously indeed, and which mattered a lot to him. (And, yes, I know he was going out with Suze after the song was written and recorded...but it's still about that relationship. Like I said, it was on-again, off-again, and for quite some time. They separated more than once.) |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Joe_F Date: 08 Mar 08 - 08:18 PM In my copy of a certain collection: *Don't Think Twice, It's All Right* Bob Dylan was never in danger of that |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Chuck Perdue Date: 08 Mar 08 - 05:05 PM My son, Martin Perdue, gave me some posts re: my parody on Don't Think Twice, so I thought I would send along the original of my song, "They Don't Think Twice," and a couple of other of my Dylan parodies of the time. My wife, Nancy J. Martin-Perdue, and I were much involved in the folk scene--as soon as we discovered that there was one--which happened when I was a student at UC Berkeley in Geology ca. 1957--though I had been singing folksongs since I was about age two in 1933 in Georgia without any knowledge they were folksongs. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss! In the 1950's and '60's we got much involved in singing in coffeehouses around Berkeley, L.A., and other parts of California and, after mid 1960, Washington, D.C. and other east coast points. Went to Newport in 1963 and spotted a young kid hanging around with a bull whip on his shoulder. My impression was that he didn't play guitar or harmonica very well, nor sing very well but that he was a pretty good poet--and that he wrote many songs that seem (to me) to cry out for parody--Hence my attempts with several of Dylan's songs. If there is room for an attachment here I will include three songs--one with some help by Ernie Marrs--for whatever amusement they may provide. Have fun. PARODIES RE: SONGS BY BOB DYLAN THEY DON'T THINK TWICE Ain't no use to sit and wonder why babe, There's so many folk-singers around, Ain't no use to sit and ponder why babe, They all make the same sound, They know the same songs and they sound the same, They all sing like Peter, Paul, and what's-her-name, But they've got plenty of fortune and fame, And if they don't think twice, well that's alright. A parody of Bob Dylan's DON'T THINK TWICE which was made excruciatingly popular by PP&M. Written by Chuck Perdue on December 28, 1963. ________________________________________________________________ SONG TO BOBBY Hey, Hey, Bob Dylan, I wrote you a song, 'Bout the time you wrote Woody Guthrie a song, 'Bout the son Woody wrote about old Leadbelly, Now, who's gonna come along and immortalize me? A parody of Bob Dylan's song SONG TO WOODY, written by Chuck Perdue in the fall of 1962. I sang this song for Ernie Mars in the summer of 1965. He listened, went to his room and came back a bit later with this: Hey, Hey, Chuck Perdue, I wrote you a song, And in case you're wonderin' why it's just one verse long, Sooner or later I might write more, When you've done somethin' to be immortalized for. After hearing Ernie's song I crept away and wrote the following which I promptly sang for Ernie: Hey, Hey, Ernie Mars I wrote you a song, 'Cause the one you wrote me was one verse too long, But I'll make you a deal if you will agree, I won't write no more about you if you won't write no more about me. And we have kept that agreement. WITH ME ON MY SIDE Your name may mean nothin', but mine means a lot, As a matter of fact, it's about all I got, I ain't ashamed of it; got nothin' to hide, I can lick Bob Dylan with me on my side! This parody of Bob Dylan's WITH GOD ON OUR SIDE was written by Chuck Perdue in August of 1963. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Mr Red Date: 13 Aug 01 - 05:08 PM Hey! this is a love song if the guy didn't care so much why all the macho posing as he leaves? fiction maybe, but the delivery makes it all so believable. add my voice to the ayes |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Cappuccino Date: 13 Aug 01 - 06:37 AM DTT was the first song I ever learned to finger-pick, so it will always have a place in my heart. And one day I'll get it right. - IanB |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Roger the skiffler Date: 13 Aug 01 - 03:47 AM Peter T, Davey Graham does a very nice faster version of DTT. Rick probably has a copy. RtS |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: dick greenhaus Date: 11 Aug 01 - 01:58 PM We used to sing:... "Don't sing twice, Bob, that's all right..." |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: pavane Date: 11 Aug 01 - 11:44 AM I have all his early LP's (on vinyl, from first release). But I was NOT impressed when I eventually heard the bootleg stuff. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 11 Aug 01 - 09:48 AM With Dylan, you either get it...or you don't. - LH |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: pavane Date: 11 Aug 01 - 04:36 AM When I listen to the bootleg tapes, I understand WHY they weren't released |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: mousethief Date: 11 Aug 01 - 12:12 AM I'm not the world's largest Bob Dylan fan, but I will speak up in defence of DTT. I love this song. It quietly frames a scene and paints a set of emotions with deft brush strokes and a world of understatement. Like all good art, it's something of a mirror. Whatever ugliness people have inside, they may find in the song. But the song itself has no ugliness. Alex |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Frogmore Date: 10 Aug 01 - 11:08 PM Good to see that a majority recognize a gifted artist when they see (hear) one. And there ain't many at Bob Dylan's level. To anyone who has nothing better to do than find fault with this very good song written by a very young man, I can only say "You're damn lucky that no one (NO ONE) is reading the songs - or letters - or journal entries - or whatever you wrote at this age. I've heard it said that there is no easier enterprise on this earth than criticism. Frank Zappa said, "Shut up and play yer guitar." So I will. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 10 Aug 01 - 09:53 PM So, the Dylan over-rated thread has been resurrected. Me refreshing this thread is me not being drawn into the other. Since this thread was started I've got both Biograph and The Bootleg Series. When I look at the volume of work that Mister Zimmerman did that was never released on album, I'm abolutely awed. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Art Thieme Date: 07 Sep 00 - 11:58 PM RICK, I'm CERTAIN it wasn't CHICKENS that Paul Clayton sang about in the original song of his from which Dylan "took" "Don't think twice. It does make it pretty funny to sing it that way though. The real word on the monument album, a pop sounding album from Clayton, pretty rare, was RIBBONS. Who is gonna buy you ribbons when I'm gone? Art |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 02 Sep 00 - 01:57 PM I actually composed what I truly believe is the ultimate Dylan parody of all time. I mean it. I feel I can do this, because I love Bob Dylan so much that the whole sky couldn't be any larger than my love for him. So, without further ado...here it is...to the tune of "Like A Rolling Stone", but with a little short bridge thing at one point that isn't in the original song (kind of like those brief 2-line asides that he did between the regular verses in "Absolutely Sweet Marie" and some other songs). I'll put the Chords in above that part. I do it in Key of G. I stole a couple of great key lines in this parody from Wendell Ferguson, by the way...he's a terrific singer/guitar player and a very funny guy, and he was writing a similar parody at the time...at Don's Coffeehouse, and I just couldn't help myself. Now I gotta hear Wendell's finished version sometime... In key of G...is it rolling?
"Gagged On A Chicken Bone"
It happened just the other day
I tried to phone the emergency
[Bridge]
[C]I'm gonna sue the hotel too, for [Am7]negligence and criminal com[D]missionnnnn....
Lyrics by George Coventry & Wendell Ferguson
:-) !!! |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Peter T. Date: 02 Sep 00 - 11:23 AM "How much wood could a woodchuck chuck, if a woodchuck could chuck wood?, yes, and...." (An oldie) yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar Date: 02 Sep 00 - 03:49 AM Gary T
That's all there was of that parody. It tailed away on "anyhow ...." |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 31 Aug 00 - 10:52 AM One oif the things I like about Bob is his willingness to experiment with his own songs. I would love to hear his Muddy Waters treatment of Hard Rain. I also like that he (like Willie) doesn't feel that he hase to stick to his own material, but is willing play music that he likes. www.bobdylan.com has some sound clips of live stuff that he's done lately. It includes Muddy's Hoochie Koochie Man and Ralph Stanleys "I Am The Man Thomas" some very interesting stuff.
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Whistle Stop Date: 31 Aug 00 - 08:41 AM The Rolling Thunder tour was interesting in and of itself. I caught the tour relatively early on, and was impressed with the old-time medicine show feel of the event, and with the care that went into staging, sequencing, etc. Some months after that, I saw a film of the tour from a later outdoor stadium show, which I believe was the one recorded for the "Hard Rain" album. Completely different! Much more ragged, and much less satisfying to my ears. Where the tour had originally presented a very clear and unique concept, the later date I saw on film and heard on the record seemed to have abandoned this. I got the impression they were all kind of tired and strung out. There were some interesting rearrangements of the tunes, as there always are in Dylan shows. But it didn't seem to hang together nearly as well. My favorite moment from the show I caught was Bob standing in a classic rock and roll stance with no guitar -- right foot forward, left foot back, clutching the mike in his hand and bearing down hard on it -- while the band played "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" in a very aggressive, Muddy Waters style arrangement. Da DA da da Da - "Oh where have you been" - Da DA da da Da - "My blue eyed son?" A total departure, but surprisingly effective, and appropriate to the changing times. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 30 Aug 00 - 04:45 PM Hard rain is hard indeed. Very interesting alternate approach to the songs. It's probably the most vicious rendition of Idiot Wind ever. The changes in Tangled Up In Blue were interesting. Instead of the song being about Bob and a woman, it became a song about Bob, another man, and said woman. The other guy becomes the one who "helped her out of a jam, I guess, but he used a little too much force". The woman travels with the man, then leaves him, later hooks up with him again later and "they lived in a place on Montague Street..." Bob meets her in "a topless place", is invited back by her, and ends up staying with the couple for a time. Then "he (the other man) started into dealing with slaves, and something inside of him died, she had to sell everything she owned and froze up inside". Bob becomes withdrawn, keeps on keepin' on, and decides that he has to go back and find her again. Mysterious (as usual) and great. Going, Going, Gone has also mutated several times...there's an interesting version on the "Live At Budokan" album...one which I like very much on the whole. The critics hated it. What do they know? Most of them couldn't write a good song to save their lives. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 30 Aug 00 - 03:42 PM Peter, There's a sound clip here. (Sorry, can't Blueclickything) www.bobdylan.com/albums/hardrain.html |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Charlie2 Date: 30 Aug 00 - 03:26 PM Hey Peter, The Idiot Wind on Hard Rain is from the Rolling Thunder tour. That album is probably the hardest Dylan album out there. The version is fantastic but ragged! Great take on Shelter from the Storm as well. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Peter T. Date: 30 Aug 00 - 03:21 PM Someone told me that there is a version of Idiot Wind on "Hard Rain" (a live album) -- can anyone tell me if it is even harsher, or what? Have there been any later versions that anyone can recall? (I know that Tangled Up in Blue has gone through multiple changes). yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Charlie2 Date: 30 Aug 00 - 03:17 PM Dirge is a fantastic album. Going Going Gone is perhaps my favorite Dylan tune. That is a dangerous tune. "In this age of fyberglass I'm searching for a gem!" |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 30 Aug 00 - 02:56 PM Wow! Great discussion on Idiot Wind and DTW. Like Charlie2, I think Idiot Wind is an attack on everything from the music business, to the press, to Sara, to fame, to the whole society...a society that Bob has seen in bleaker and bleaker terms, as the decades rolled on. Take a look at his liner notes in the album "World Gone Wrong". He makes very clear his feelings about how decadent society has become, and how much the music has suffered as a consequence of that. An earlier version of "Idiot Wind" was "Dirge" on Planet Waves...addressing much the same issues, with about an equal amount of venom. It's in sharp contrast to the rest of the album, which is mostly bucolic and celebratory love songs about a relationship gone right for a change. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Charlie2 Date: 30 Aug 00 - 02:22 PM I've always thought that Idiot Wind was one of Dylans most difficult tunes. I don't really like the song, but I'm always intreagued with its inaccessibility and depth. I agree with Peter that the "bootleg version" is very interesting in its softer reading. What was amazing to me about that version is how much it illustrates Dylan's ability to change meanings simply by his intonation. In the softer version, the song is a lament, in the final version, it is a frontal attack on everything in Dylan's life from the press to the country as a whole. But Pete, I don't think I can agree with you about your comments regarding the greek origin of Idiot. I mean when he says "You're an idiot Babe, its a wonder that you still know how to breath" That is perhaps the most unadorned and bitter line he ever wrote. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Song Dog Date: 29 Aug 00 - 11:44 PM Remember folks, it's only a story in rhyme ---- a song. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Gary T Date: 29 Aug 00 - 07:28 PM I love it, Ewan! Have you got more of that parody? |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Ewan McVicar Date: 29 Aug 00 - 07:10 PM I've always had mixed feelings about Don't Think Twice, because it seems patronising. That's why a parody I heard in Boston in 1967 stuck in my mind. It aint no use to sit and wonder why, friends There's so many folk singers round It aint no use to sit and wonder why, friends They've all got the same old sound Cause they all look the same and they all act the same And they all sound like Peter Paul and Whatshername They've got all of the fortune and fame So if they don't think twice they'll be alright It aint no use to sing another song, Bob You can't sing anyhow ............. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Peter T. Date: 29 Aug 00 - 06:42 PM Cp is right, it is also much more diffuse of a song, with lots of those cardboard surreal images and mannerisms that sometimes mar his work). There are also the two versions (at least) of the song -- the one on the bootleg album (recorded before the one on Blood on the Tracks) is much less bitter, and to my mind a better song for that. Technically, I suppose the intriguing part of Idiot Wind is the fact that someone clearly told Dylan that the original meaning of "idiot" in Greek (idiotes) was "a private person, an individual" (people who weren't part of the society were later considered impaired or quirky, hence the later change in meaning). So he plays poetically with the contradictory idea of the "wind that blows where it listeth" (the wind as public force or natural force, and by extension rumour, or as the equivalent of the hot wind of the desert) and the private breath of foolish speech and argument. The question really is whether the switch to "we" in the last lines is powerful enough to change the whole previous song into a mutual lament -- I don't think so personally. The earlier, softer version almost gets away with it. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: catspaw49 Date: 29 Aug 00 - 06:22 PM Idiot Wind? What "league" are we talking about here? No, it doesn't have the pain, backlash, and yet somehow longing, sentiment that I find in DTT, but for sheer nastiness in the "Go Fuck Off Bitch" mode, its pretty hard to top! Maybe the singer has been hurt, but the anger here is a lot greater. In DTT you can still sense the sorrow and the "maybe." In IW, its just plain vicious hurt. Love 'em both, but they've different emotions behind each. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 29 Aug 00 - 03:15 PM Geez, Peter, what's your take on Idiot Wind? Steve |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Peter T. Date: 29 Aug 00 - 03:05 PM Whistle Stop and Little Hawk: don't get me wrong, I admire the song and the writer tremendously: I was trying to point out analytically why the song is so effective and vicious. One of its virtues is that it encapsulates one of Dylan's very powerful poetic techniques: what one could call tight vagueness. He uses very casual, what one thinks of as slovenly, throwaway lines, that keep making you wonder if he is paying attention, and you sort of let the lines skate past, and only at the end do you realize that he has foxed you. Or coyoted you. Same with this song. Obviously the singer is criticizing the other person ("that light I never knowed"), but it is done in such a way that it is not the overt criticism that does them in -- it is the subtle placement -- "You're the reason I'm travelling on, but don't think twice, it's all right". Can there be a more maddening line -- what could be more important than being the reason for someone's travelling on "the dark side of the road", and yet they are to dismiss it from their minds as of no importance. Which means that if the other person accepts this suggestion, then the whole relationship was of no importance. It is part of the poisoned hook. I don't think the autobiography matters one way or the other, though I wouldn't reject it. Similarly, I don't think critically it is obvious that the singer is only having a conversation with himself (this is known in the trade as reception critique) -- there is a presumptive audience, as there is in any creation, and this one is pretty strongly addressed -- "iffen you don't know by now"). It is almost like a taped letter left on the bed. But it does add to the ambiguity. The best line in the song for me is "Still I wish there was something you could do or say, to make me change my mind and stay," since of course he is now gone. Although one could argue that he is still just about to leave and is imagining himself on the road thinking back ("It ain't no use in turning on your light babe) to where he is now, writing the farewell note. Or for a moment regretting what can't happen in the scenario he has created. It is that flash of ambiguity that I admire most in Dylan -- just when he is being a complete creep....I assume that is why Joan Baez' Diamonds and Rust is so messed up. He could reall mess up a woman. Totally maddening, very simple song. Idiot Wind is not in the same league -- though I admire it too. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: catspaw49 Date: 29 Aug 00 - 01:51 PM I wrote a note to Peter saying I liked his post...and I do. WS makes a good point of course and perhaps that's why we relate. As I said to Peter, ol' Bob has a mean streak in him. And that is just the point. Most of us have that same mean streak.....I wish I didn't but I do. In affairs of the heart, the hurt is painful when it happens and the often immature, but also quite natural, way to deal with it is through the blame and guilt we foist upon the other person. Its why this song plays so well as a blues. "Idiot Wind" has even nastier sentiments. Bob is a master at conveying that sarcastic and superior feeling that we often give to the other person. One of my all time favorite sarcastic Dylan lines: .....You asked me how I was doing.....Is that some kind of joke? All those people that you mention, yes, I know them they're quite lame. I had to reaarange their faces, and give them all another name. or what about...... .......then you'd know what a drag it is to see you. Yeah.....he's human; mean streak and all. Spaw |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 29 Aug 00 - 01:13 PM Steve - Willie Nelson has so much class and integrity that he could darn near run for God (instead of president) as far as I'm concerned. What a superb performer. Peter T. - I'm one of those weirdos who pays absolute attention to the lyrics too, so you are not alone. A song like "Don't Think Twice" is not written to be listened to by the other party (in the collapsed romance) at all...it's a dialogue between the singer and himself. Period. If the singer happens to be famous, of course, then everybody else will end up hearing it too, and the usual reactions will follow. Bob was in a whole lot of pain. It was Suze that was leaving him (and she was in a whole lot of pain too, needless to say). He was riding the whirlwind (of fame) and losing most of his close human contacts in the process. I've written some pretty vicious songs about defunct relationships (both lovers and friends) on the odd occasion. I had to do it, just so I could talk to myself about what I was going through. The other person never gets to hear those songs if I can help it. If I was famous, I would not be able to help it...they would end up hearing the song. How much guts must it take to be famous and still honest? That's how it goes. The "I once loved a woman, a child I'm told" was obviously referring to Suze. No doubt about that at all. The deeper you love, the worse it hurts...at times. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Mbo Date: 29 Aug 00 - 01:13 PM I'm with you all the way, Charlie! |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Whistle Stop Date: 29 Aug 00 - 01:11 PM Peter, what do you want the guy to do? He is writing a song to express emotions, not platitudes. The character singing the song (remember, this isn't necessarily autobiographical; it may be pure fiction) is ending a relationship that affected him deeply. When relationships end, there is pain, anger, regret, fault-finding -- all kinds of messy and "unfair" emotions. Whether or not the character is entirely justified in feeling these emotions is beside the point -- we aren't actually familiar with the particulars of the (fictitious) relationship, so we don't know. But as long as he's singing a song about it, don't you want him to express them? Would it be worth listening to if he just kept his feelings to himself? I don't think our job as critics (which is what we are at the moment) is to judge the character's emotions and decide whether they are fair and appropriate to the circumstances. Our job is to decide whether he has expressed them in a way we can relate to and that has meaning to us. Based on that criterion, I think Dylan succeeded admirably; there are certainly a lot of us who can relate to this song. I'm just glad this thread isn't about "The Ballad of Hollis Brown"; imagine how we'd take Dylan to task for the multiple murders in that one. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Charlie2 Date: 29 Aug 00 - 12:53 PM I saw Neil Young play Harvest Moon in its entirety a few years back. This was six months before the album came out and you could have heard a pin drop for the entire show. In the end he finally did play some of his older stuff but the mood seemed to suggest that people were digging the unheard tunes better. I like being challenged and being allowed to hear new things. A few chestnuts at the end is always nice, but I don't think I'd criticize Van for shying away from the material. It's no mystery that he is an odd duck who is rather reluctant to be anyone's hero. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 29 Aug 00 - 11:18 AM Mbo, Van is like Bob in that they both have over 35 years of material to draw from. I'd have no problem if the show was 50% the new album and the rest was a mix of just some of the songs that you already knew and loved, keeping in mind that for either of these artists to do every song that you'd like to hear them perform in one evening would be impossible. When people asked me what I disliked about the show my response was 'Name a Van song that you like' No matter what song they named my reply was the same, "He didn't do it" or "He left the stage and his daughter did it" I had seen Willie Nelson a few weeks prior to the Van show. Willie does a great job of performing new material while also trying to play every song that you've come to love. My take was that Willie performs for his fans, Van does it for his ego, pretty much saying F you, I'll do what I want. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: GUEST,Mbo_at_ECU Date: 29 Aug 00 - 10:47 AM Steve, Van does lots of R&B, so I'm not sure what the problem was. If it were up to me, I'd hear new stuff all the time. Why should anyone have to sing the same songs over and over again, just because people know them. Some people always rant about how so-and-so's old stuff was really good, and they're new stuff isn't, and why don't they sing more of their old songs? I listen to something new a few times and go, well, now I've learned and listen to them all, I want more and MORE and MORE! I'm like Number 5! MORE INPUT! MORE INPUT!
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Peter T. Date: 29 Aug 00 - 10:12 AM Hi guys. I think I must be one of those weirdos that actually pay attention to the lyrics, rather than have them wash over me. Probably why I am no hell as a musician. I love "Don't Think Twice", but it is a deeply sick song, which is probably why people are mesmerized by Dylan -- how can anyone so openly display their own sleaziness, what kind of narcissism makes you do that? ("Idiot Wind" is another good example). The problem is that everyone who sings it or listens to it thinks of themselves as the leaver, and not the leavee. If you think about it from the point of view of the leavee -- the one addressed by the song -- you can see what a depraved song it is. Its insidiousness begins with the title ("Don't Think Twice, It's All Right"). Notice that it isn't "don't give it a second thought" or "forget about it, get on with your life", it is "don't think twice". Is the person to think once about it? How do you keep someone from thinking twice about something? No, the whole idea of the song is to make the person being left not only feel guilty, but to make them obsess about what they did wrong interminably, and so wreck the rest of their life. So that it is more than punishment, it is a poisoned hook. It is designed to keep the person being left haunted by the leaver -- so the leaver doesn't really ever leave. The song is left like a slowly exploding hand grenade. "You just sort of wasted my precious time" is a good example of the whole tenor of the thing -- the vagueness of the opening of the line (Oh I don't care) contrasts with the tightness of the end of the line (but I do). So don't really worry, except do. "Goodbye is too big a word, so I'll just say fare thee well" -- can there be a more poisoned line -- "goodbye is too big a word" -- why? Because you don't deserve it? Because I may be back? -- so I'll just say fare thee well -- Oh, the romantic gypsy with his faretheewells, I'll be back from shipwreck someday, maybe, so it isn't really the final goodbye, so just keep standing at the window, thinking about the one you drove away. And there are all these beautiful knife twists. That sneaky slide into the third person: "I once loved a woman, etc..." Not you, of course. Or is it you...? And the poison seeps: Am I the one who got his heart but I wanted his soul, or did I not even get that far? Is this some other woman he came into my life carrying around, who already had his heart, and that is why I couldn't get to him? Or is he accusing me of taking his heart but trying to get his soul? BUT HE ISN'T EVEN TELLING ME THAT!!! What was going on in him? And so on. Truly one of the great sadistic masterpieces. Nothing to do with misogyny. Just deeply vicious, and all BOB. yours, Peter T. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 28 Aug 00 - 03:55 PM So it's thread creep, but one of the biggest disappointments I've ever had was the one time I saw Van Morrison, about five years ago at Toronto's Maple Leaf Gardens. I guess he was promoting a new album that was very much R&B. He hardly played any of the songs that he is famous for. When the band finally started "Tupelo Honey" he left the stage and allowed his daughter (who was mediocre at best) to sing the song. He then returned to do more R&B only to have his daughter sing a couple of his more familiar songs. I have nothing against someone promoting a new album, but I found Van's behaviour to be boorish. His band was very, very very good, but eight of us went, four walked out. It took me a long time before I could even listen to Van again. Could have stayed home and watch the Blues Brothers video if I wanted to hear that much R&B.
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Ely Date: 28 Aug 00 - 03:00 PM I've never heard anyone call it misogynistic (maybe I've been lucky). It's so easily changed from one gender to another that I don't think I could ever take it personally, as a female. There are lots of other songs that bother me much, much more. Frankly, the line in "Tecumseh Valley" about "So she turned to whoring out on the streets/with all the lust inside her" bothers me much more--as if a woman's reaction to poverty and loneliness is lust rather than desperation. I suppose the two are very closely related in this situation, but the implications still disturb me. Nevertheless, I like the song and I love Townes. But then, I've always been oversensitive. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Little Hawk Date: 28 Aug 00 - 12:21 PM I agree Catrin, that's a wonderful line. One's heart may be lent, but one's soul is one's own. I've heard some bootleg cuts from the Dylan/Van Morrison tour, and Bob did not seem to be in good form on that one...maybe he was having voice trouble...it happens. Van seems to always be in great form. Steve - I live in Orillia. Used to live in Toronto. If you can, come and see me play at the Corner Coffeehouse in Newmarket this September 15th. |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Catrin Date: 28 Aug 00 - 11:09 AM I saw Bob Dylan in Blackbush in 1977(ish) and then again at Earls Court, around the same time. Both concerts were magical. I saw him again a couple of years ago when he was touring with Van Morrison. Van was brilliant but I was soooo dissapointed in Bob's set. I think it could have been the venue or something. I couldn't hear properly and for me, what is really great about Bob Dylan, is the words. There are few occasions in my life where I have felt so dissappointed. Back to the discussion - I always thought that line 'I gave her my heart, but she wanted my soul' was great. Hasn't there been another thread recently where people (of both sexes) have been talking about ex-partners who have demanded 'souls' when all that was on offer was 'hearts'?..... |
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Subject: RE: In defense of 'Don't Think Twice' From: Steve Latimer Date: 28 Aug 00 - 10:06 AM Little Hawk, I'm in the sprawling metropolis of Whitby. Where are you? Steve |
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