Visions of Johanna

This week, legendary singer and song writer Bob Dylan turns 70 years old. I felt that it’s only right to give him a tribute. Bob Dylan has an incredible catalog, which stretches all the way back to the early sixties. Dylan’s music went through multiple stylistic changes and kept progressing for better or for worse; making it difficult to categorize him as one thing and not the other. Today I will discuss my favorite Bob Dylan record which is “Blonde on Blonde”. Released in 1966, Blonde on Blonde contains many of my favorite Bob Dylan songs including but not limited to “Visions of Johanna”, “I Want You”, “One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)” and “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands”.

“Blonde on Blonde” is the third record in his first electric period; a shift that was considered controversial at the time. Many preferred the folk sound of his early material and went as far as booing him off the stage. What I find incredible is that Dylan did not budge; he didn’t compromise his art through the entire backlash.

“Blonde on Blonde’s” lyrical content is also noticeably different. There is a very surreal quality found in all the songs; even simple love songs like “I Want You” contain phrases such as. “Now your dancing child with his Chinese suit/He spoke to me, I took his flute/No, I wasn’t very cute to him, was I?”  Lyrics like these are not meant to be interpreted literary, there is no special meaning behind them. It is a matter of aesthetics, placing different phrases and words together to create something beautiful.

“Blonde on Blonde” is a very long album that requires some patience but it is well worth it at the end of the day. There is a lot of variation throughout the album, not a lot of repetition. Each individual song takes a sound of its own but that doesn’t disrupt the cohesiveness of the record. This is about as good 

as they come and I highly recommend it. 

Song of the day is "Absolutely Sweet Marie" from "Blonde on Blonde".