The Philosophy of Modern Song by Bob Dylan This book is Bob Dylan’s take on the songs that shaped contemporary American music, although some of the tunes discussed go back to the 1800s. Dylan’s work, which is designed as a scrapbook of sorts, has dozens of retro photos, which are fascinating. The first picture in the book is of a very young Elvis Presley looking over selections in a record store. He’s looking at albums by Little Richard, Harry Belafonte, and himself.
This is a hard book to summarize since it consists of vignettes of the 64 performances that Bob Dylan considers seminal to American music. I’m sure that there is a rational organizational structure to the selection order, but I certainly couldn't figure it out. It’s just pure Dylan.
The first essay is on Detroit City by Bobby Bare (1963). It’s about a southerner who relocated to Detroit. He often longs to go back home when his adopted city frustrates his dreams. We also learn about Bobby Bare, a journeyman singer who hit it big with this song. Dylan summarizes Detroit City. “This is not so much the song of a dreamer, but the song of someone who is caught up in a fantasy of the way things used to be. But the listener knows that it just doesn’t exist…. Like thousands of others he left the farm, came to the big city to get ahead, and got lost. That’s why this song works.”
Without a Song by Perry Como (1951) made the list of important works. Elvis loved this tune which is the “anti-Rat Pack” song. “Perry wouldn’t be caught dead with a drink in his hand but he could out-sing anybody. Perry is the anti-American Idol. He is anti-flavor of the week, anti-hot list, and anti-bling. He was a Cadillac before the tail fins; a Colt.45, not a Glock; steak and potatoes, not California cuisine. Perry Como stands and delivers. No artifice, no forcing one syllable to spread itself thin across many notes.
There Stands the Glass by Webb Pierce (1953) is a Dylan favorite. I had never heard of either Webb Pierce or his honky-tonk country music hit, which is an ode to drinking to excess. The singer is bummed out by life and takes to the bottle for comfort:
There stands the glass that will ease all my pain
That will settle my brain, it's my first one today
There stands the glass that will hide all my fears
That will drown all my tears, brother, I'm on my way
I'm wondering where you are tonight
And I'm wondering if you are all right
I wonder if you think of me in my misery The music fits these lyrics perfectly. Dylan notes that Wade had a guy who took care of his performance wardrobe, a Ukrainian Jew named Nuta (Nudie) Kotlyarenko. Nudie had some run-ins with the authorities on illegal drugs, but he came through it all and became the costumer to the stars. He dressed four US presidents and two popes. We don't need to know about Nudie to understand the song, but the author gives us lots of interesting sidebars in his book.
Tutti Fruitti by Little Richard (1955) is a classic by any measure. Dylan writes that the lyrics contain lots of double entendres about gay life before most people had ever heard of it. Most of the lyrics are this over and over again: ”Tutti frutti, oh rootie. Tutti frutti, oh rootie…” Many of Little Richard’s songs referenced gay life in some ways, which would be news to Ed Sullivan, who had the preacher (Richard was ordained) on his show several times.
Money Honey by Elvis Presley (1956) chronicles the stress of a man with little money in a relationship with a woman who expects more from him. Despite your smooth moves, she leaves you for a well-heeled guy. By the end of the song, you're OK with that because you’ve figured out that all she loves is money. Dylan gives us a mini-essay on lucre in which he points out that today the wealthy dress in sweat suits and the homeless have iPhones.
My Generation by The Who (1965) was one of those quintessential (great word!) odes to youth that we Baby Boomers swooned over. As Dylan writes, “You're in an exclusive club, and you’re advertising yourself. You’re blabbing about your age group, of which you’re a high-ranking member. You can’t conceal your conceit, and you’re snobbish and snooty about it.” And, “Every generation gets to pick and choose what they want from the generations that came before with the same arrogance and ego-driven self-importance that the previous generations had when they picked the bones of the ones before them.”
Jesse James, sung by Harry McClintock (1928), is a puff piece on the outlaw set to lyrics. The song was written around the time Jesse James was shot and killed. It was part of the American folk catalog and was sung by many people. It essentially paints Jesse as a Robin Hood-type good guy, which does not square with the facts. Dylan observes that contemporary outlaw songsters - the Highwaymen of the 1990s (Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, and Waylon Jennings) and the gangsta' rappers of today - were not usually real outlaws. Jesse James was. “Rap stars, country outlaws, hedge fund scammers, and mafiosos live in the lap of luxury while real gangsters like Jesse James hide in the shadows and fear death around every corner.”
Poor Little Fool by Ricky Nelson (1958) is about a young man who is infatuated with - and manipulated by - a beautiful young lady. “Later on, when she was gone, you knew she’d been dishonest, told you many a tall story that you fell for, put up a nice front. Now you’re a wooden man, bloodless and cold, she came in first and racked off another win, came out on top, feather in her cap. Poor little fool, yeah exactly.” Dylan makes the point that Ricky Nelson, more than Elvis Presley, was the true ambassador of rock and roll. Elvis was on the Ed Sullivan Show a few times, but young Rick came into your house every week on The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet. Rick Nelson had several Number One hits and he drove a lot of teenage girls to swoon over him. He was America’s first teen idol. He had a pretty good acting career and drew big crowds to his concerts until his untimely death in a plane crash on December 31, 1985.
The Pretender by Jackson Browne (1976) could be the artist's best song, and he cranked out a lot of good ones. It’s not clear what the song is about. It seems to reflect the thoughts of someone who isn’t quite getting things done in his life the way he thought he would. As Dylan writes, “The pretender doubles down on everything, side steps what he doesn't like, and is good at getting himself out of his own way.” And, “He’s trapped in the lesser world, the world of the legal tender, where sirens sing and the church bells ring, and the morning light streams in. The all-knowing light, the illuminating light, the lights that’s so bright it makes him blind as a bat.”
Mack the Knife by Bobby Darin (1959) is an absolute classic. Some people compared Bobby Darin to Frank Sinatra but the two had little in common besides their Italian heritage. Frank came from a successful family while Bobby didn’t know who his father was. Each of them was immensely talented. Darin, who aspired to be an actor, had roles in a few forgettable movies while Sinatra had an impressive film career. Darin and Sinatra both regularly played Las Vegas, but Bobby had no Rat Pack around him. This song is from a German play, The Threepenny Opera, which is about petty thieves and rascals who break into song at every opportunity. Mack the Knife is a dark character in the play. Darin’s first hit was Splish Splash, which made it big in 1958. After that song made people notice him, Darin became a more serious singer, again emulating Sinatra but never catching him. Bobby Darin had been a frail child raised in tough circumstances. He had heart problems throughout entire life. He died in 1973 at age 37 when his heart literally gave out.
You Don’t Know Me by Eddie Arnold (1956) is the lament of a man who is in love with a woman who doesn't reciprocate. The second stanza says it all:
No, you don't know the one
Who dreams of you at night
And longs to kiss your lips
And longs to hold you tight
Oh, I'm just a friend
That's all I've ever been
'Causehh you don't know me.
Eddie Arnold grew up on a farm and worked in a funeral home when he wasn’t singing. He was managed by Colonel Tom Parker, who made his fame with Elvis Presley. It’s likely that once Elvis showed up, the Colonel lost interest in “the Mortician Plowboy” which is what Parker called Arnold. Ray Charles had a big hit with this song in the fall of 1962, just as the Cuban Missile Crisis was heating up.
Ball of Confusion by the Temptations (1970) reflected the turbulent times of the late 1960s. It was a message song, something the group was not noted for recording. This stanza is typical:
Eve of destruction, tax deduction, city inspectors, bill collectors.
Mod clothes in demand, population out of hand, suicide, too many bills.
Hippies moving to the hills, people all over the world are shouting, end the war.
And the band played on.
Dylan describes the song: “Things are tense, you quarrel with everyone. Blood running in the streets, earthquakes on the next block, women getting raped on the corner, spaceships taking off. Nothing fastened down. A new form of repression every day.” Not too upbeat but those were interesting times to say the least.
On the Road Again by Willie Nelson (1980) is “the song of a traveling bandit” according to Bob Dylan. “This is as good as the road gets. You never really go anywhere, you just stay in your bus, go out and perform for a few hours and move on.” This is a happy song because when you’re on the road, you’re not bogged down by anything.
Cheaper to Keep Her by Johnny Taylor (1973) is a song that I missed. It advises any listener who’s contemplating divorce to think carefully before going ahead. The lyrics talk about lawyers and alimony and the mean judge and how you’ll miss your kids once you split up.
Bob Dylan likes this song but he does not like divorce. “Marriage and divorce are currently played out in the courtrooms and on the tongues of gossips; the very nature of the institution has become warped and distorted, a gotcha game of vitriol and betrayal.” And, “Marriage is the only contract that can be dissolved because interest fades or because someone purposefully behaves badly.” Dylan opines against divorce because it hurts the kids and he comes down hard on divorce lawyers who “are in the destruction business.”
On the Street Where You Live by Vic Damone (1956) was written by Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Lowe for the play, My Fair Lady. This is just a joyous song about a man who is clearly smitten by a woman. As Dylan opines, “People stop and stare but that doesn’t bother you, you’re on a head trip and you’re too spaced out to notice. They gawk at you, and gossip, give you the evil eye… The scrutiny doesn't even remotely touch you. There’s no place on the planet you’d rather be, than on this dead-end street, the street where she lives.”
London Calling by The Clash (1979) is a classic punk song, which Dylan sees as “the music of frustration and anger.” He notes that The Clash tended to go overboard in their songs and performances, but this time they kept it tight. The song is the anti-Mop Tops ditty. “Phony Beatlemania has bitten the dust. The Clash have nothing but disdain for Beatlemania. The adolescent and extreme emotions of the awkward age. I Wanna Hold Your Hand, all the theme songs for Little Missy and the school maids, sweet-little-sixteen mania, have no place in the real London anymore.”
Blue Bayou by Roy Orbison (1963) was also a big hit for Linda Ronstadt in 1977. The singer yearns for simpler times and better places to be. In regular day-to-day life, “You found the Tower of Babel - you found skyscrapers of gibberish and double talk superstructures and frameworks of hot air and crap.” You want to go “Back to happier times, where folks are lively and merry, where you can have a blast, make the most of things and clown around. Where you can put both oars in the water and balance yourself. Where you can play with a full deck and the universe belongs to you.”
Dylan observes that Blue Bayou is both a spectacular song and a spectacular record. “The sadness exists both in the words and in the operatic swoop of Roy's voice - it’s just about impossible to separate the singer from the song. Linda Ronstadt did a terrific cover version, but it will always be Roy’s song.”
Blue Suede Shoes by Carl Perkins (1956) was recorded in the legendary Sun Studios in Memphis. The song has a menacing meaning. It’s “a signal to gate crashers, snoops, and invaders - keep your nose out of here, mind your own business and whatever you do, stay away from my shoes.”
You can burn my house, steal my car
Drink my liquor from an old fruit-jar
Do anything that you want to do
But uh-uh baby, lay off of my shoes.
Carl really liked his shoes.
Doesn’t Hurt Anymore by John Trudell (2001) is another artist/song pairing that I never heard of but this is good. It’s mostly spoken word. The performer is a Santee Dakota Indian who has been very active in the American Indian Movement. He organized many important protests in the 1970s when the movement was taking off. After a protest at the FBI building in Washington in 1979, someone firebombed his home on the reservation in Nevada, killing his wife, their three children, and his wife’s mother. The authorities did not investigate the incident too seriously. No one was ever apprehended.
This song's lyrics reflect what someone with serious PTSD might feel. Dylan writes, “You’ve heaved thunderbolts and boulders at time, but Time persisted. Your heart’s been roughed up, but it’s not spurting any blood, so you don’t recognize or even subscribe to the hurt.”
I think about how I'm doing
But I don't know what I'm thinking
Shattering into shadow light
Reflecting thoughts I can't relieve
My heart doesn't hurt anymore
But my soul does, maybe
That's what souls are for, to
Take the hurt the heart can't take
The heart can't take
War by Edwin Starr (1970) was an anti-war Motown hit that was not about the topics of most Motown songs - relationships and love. The Temptations recorded this first in the studio, but Edwin stepped up to Barry Gordy, head of the record label, and said that he had a better version. He was right. Motown also didn’t want to alienate customers by having their most popular group - the Temptations - record a controversial song. Dylan compares War to Barry McGuire’s Eve of Destruction that came out a few years earlier and also pointed out the flaws of wars.
Dylan eloquently sums up citizens relationship to conflict: “As a people, we tend to feel very proud of ourselves because of democracy. We walk into the booth and cast our votes and wear that adhesive ‘I Voted’ sticker as if it’s a badge of honor. But the truth is more complex. We have as much responsibility coming out of the booth as we do going in. If the people we elect are sending people to their deaths or worse, sending other people a half a world away - whom we never even consider because they don’t look like us or sound like us - to their deaths and we do nothing to stop it, aren’t we just as guilty?”
That is an interesting question.
Blue Moon by Dean Martin (1964) is a remake of an old standard. Dylan writes that “This is the Dino that Elvis imitated. The lazy, good-for-nothing drunk.” Dylan points out that the song makes no sense but it has a good beat and anyone can sing it. This was written in 1934 by the famous songwriting duo of Rodgers and Hart. In 1961, a new Do-Wop group, the Marcels, recorded it as a B side to what they thought was the better song they released. They were wrong. Blue Moon reached the top of the charts, while no one can remember what song was on the other side of the record.
Dean Martin projected the image of an amiable drunk, but Dylan’s not sure that is accurate. As part of the research for this book, he looked at a lot of video recordings of Martin's many Las Vegas shows and Bob D is pretty sure that the being-buzzed part of the act was just an act.
Gypsies, Tramps & Thieves by Cher (1971) was autobiographical for the singer. Her father left the family when she was nine months old and her mother was sketchy, to be charitable, with five marriages and a life of instability. The song contains themes of racism, teen pregnancy, and prostitution, which Cher saw growing up. By the time she recorded this, Cher had become a very successful recording artist. She was still married to Sonny Bono when this became a hit. They would divorce in 1975.
By the Time I Get to Phoenix by Jimmy Webb - a 1996 release although the song first appeared in 1967 - was one of a series of songs that helped both the song writer and the performer. We all know the story - he's leaving her and she won’t know it until he is far away. “She stops for lunch and gives you a call, you must be back home by now. She calls and lets the phone ring, but there’s no answer, it rings and rings and almost vibrates off the wall… Around midnight, you’re almost in Oklahoma, and you think about now that there’s a good chance that she'll be tossing and turning, unable to sleep. She wasn’t convinced that you’d ever leave her, she never considered it for a minute, now she knows it’s a sure thing. You didn’t even have the courage to kiss her goodbye.”
The song reflects the innocence and simplicity of yesterday. There were no answering machines in the late 1960s when it was written, no cell phones, no texts, no Twitter. Just people getting along or not getting along, and you could just leave without leaving any messages. That makes you a schmuck but you could do it.
Strangers in the Night by Frank Sinatra (1966) was a huge hit in the middle of the British Invasion of pop music. The tune became Number 1 on the pop charts, beating out Paperback Writer by the Beatles and Paint It Black by the Rolling Stones. Frank Sinatra hated the song.
The lyrics recount the meeting of two people who were “Sweethearts and honeys right from the beginning.” They just happened to run into each other:
Strangers in the night
Two lonely people
We were strangers in the night
Up to the moment
When we said our first hello
Little did we know
Love was just a glance away
A warm embracing dance away
Viva Las Vegas by Elvis Presley (1964) is a shameless plug for Sin City, which became the hub of the singer’s live performances. The song also promoted the movie of the same name that featured a rising young actress, Ann Margret. The film was not a huge hit with critics, but the public loved it and Elvis and Ann Margret were given good marks for their performances. Dylan writes that this is a song about faith, “the type of faith where you stand in the marble lobby of an opulent hotel with neon flashin’ while being served free drinks by a thousand pretty women wearing sequined leotards flirting for tips in a bright-light city full of pawnshops and suicides and you still think you’re going to win.”
Waist Deep in the Big Muddy by Pete Seeger (1967) is an anti-Vietnam War song that tells the story of a platoon of soldiers wading in a river on a practice patrol in Louisiana in 1942. The sergeant senses danger but the Captain orders the troops to move ahead. The water gets rough and deep, the captain drowns, and the sergeant orders the unit to turn back to the shore. They do and they live.
Pete Seeger had been banned from television in the early 1950s during the Senator Joseph McCarthy Red Scare hysteria. Seeger and his group, the Weavers, were considered subversive. In 1967, Tom and Dick Smothers invited Seeger to sing on their CBS TV show. In rehearsal, Seeger sang Waist Deep in the Big Muddy. No dummy, CBS boss William Paley knew that the song was a blatant protest against the war. He ordered that the song not be in the show that was broadcast, irritating the Smothers Brothers and beginning the process that would lead to the cancellation of their show.
Dylan observes that back then, network shows were viewed by everyone, regardless of political orientation. People who were for and against the war tuned in each week to watch The Smothers Brothers program. Paley didn't want to alienate any viewers so he pulled the plug on the song. As Dylan observes, viewership is different today. “Ultimately most folks will listen to what they already know and read what they already agree with.” Viewers who watch Fox News never check out MSNBC and vice versa.
That’s it. I wrote about 25 songs out of the 64 in the book. They're all interesting, including many that I had never heard performed. Bob Dylan’s taste is eclectic, to say the least. He is a true student of American music as well as an iconic writer and performer.
Bob’s Take
These songs are all over the place, ranging from soft pop hits to beautiful, if painful, poetry. I had to go to my Apple Music subscription to listen to some of these songs that I wasn't familiar with.
As I was reading the book, I realized that it was very well written, almost like a series of song lyrics. I looked to see who had helped Dylan write this and found out that he was the sole author. Given that he is a great lyricist, that makes sense. He’s also a genius which would help him string words together well.
There were lots of 1950s songs highlighted. That may have been a golden age for the American songbook. Dylan seems to think so.
The book’s cover is interesting. Everyone recognizes Little Richard, but the guy on the right, Eddie Cochran, is a little harder to identify. He had a huge hit with Summertime Blues in 1958. The person in the middle is a young lady, with the name Alis Lesley. She was an early Elvis Presley imitator, which is why she took the stage name that she did. When Lesley performed in Las Vegas, Presley himself came to see her. He was reportedly impressed enough to recommend her for Little Richard’s forthcoming tour of Australia. Alas, after a few years on the road, Alis decided that show business wasn’t for her and went back to doing normal things. Lesley is now 84 and living in Phoenix.
