I Contain Multitudes
"I Contain Multitudes" | ||||
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Single by Bob Dylan | ||||
from the album Rough and Rowdy Ways | ||||
Released | April 17, 2020 | |||
Genre | Folk[1] | |||
Length | 4:36 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
Bob Dylan singles chronology | ||||
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"I Contain Multitudes" is a single by the American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 17, 2020.[2][3] The song appeared on Dylan's 2020 album Rough and Rowdy Ways. The title of the song is taken from the poem "Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman.[4]
The song was released, unannounced, less than a month after Dylan's previous single, "Murder Most Foul".[5][6] The two singles were the first original material released by Dylan since his 2012 album Tempest.
Critical reception
While reviewing Rough and Rowdy Ways in his Substack-published "Consumer Guide" column, Robert Christgau said the track "provides exactly the right thematic sendoff" within the context of the album's "elegaic retrospective".[7] Mark Beaumont of NME called it a "sanguine personal exposé" and "a kind of literary folk 'My Way', a porch chair portrait of a life fully lived", in which Dylan "peels away the details of his journey with the grace and conciliation of a master making his peace".[8]
References
- ^ Atkinson, Jessie (June 16, 2020). "Album Review: Bob Dylan - Rough and Rowdy Ways". Gigwise. Retrieved June 21, 2020.
- ^ Hiatt, Brian (April 17, 2020). "Hear Bob Dylan's Daring New Song, 'I Contain Multitudes'". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ Beaumont-Thomas, Ben (April 17, 2020). "'I'm just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones': Bob Dylan continues return to new songs". The Guardian. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ "Song of Myself, 51". Poets.org. Retrieved April 17, 2020.
- ^ "'I Contain Multitudes', Bob Dylan's reflective new song – the NME review". NME Music News, Reviews, Videos, Galleries, Tickets and Blogs | NME.COM. April 17, 2020. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Ali, Rasha. "Listen to Bob Dylan's second surprise song in a month: 'I Contain Multitudes'". USA TODAY. Retrieved April 20, 2020.
- ^ Christgau, Robert (July 8, 2020). "Consumer Guide: July, 2020". And It Don't Stop. Substack. Retrieved July 14, 2020.
- ^ Beaumont, Mark (April 17, 2020). "Bob Dylan gets self-reflective with the personal exposé that is new song 'I Contain Multitudes'". NME. Retrieved July 14, 2020.