Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
| "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Bringing It All Back Home | |
| Released | March 22, 1965 |
| Recorded | January 13–14, 1965 |
| Studio | Columbia Recording, New York City |
| Genre | Folk rock, blues rock, talking blues |
| Length | 6:32 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
"Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his fifth album, Bringing It All Back Home. In 2005, Mojo magazine rated the song as the 68th greatest Bob Dylan song.[1]
Dylan recorded an acoustic version on January 13.1965, the first day of the Bringing It All Back Home sessions, a day later he recorded the final version with Bobby Gregg on drums, William Lee on bass, and Paul Griffin on piano.[2] He did not perform the song live until October 13, 1988, then went on to play it during the final six concerts of his 1988 tour.[3]
The title is an allusion to a Dylan number from two years prior: "Bob Dylan's Dream". The track commences with an early take of Dylan beginning to play the song alone before producer Tom Wilson is heard bursting into laughter[4] and signalling for a start-over. The track is then transitioned into a later take played by the full band.[5]
The song is a satirical and highly surrealistic story that gleefully jumbles together historical and literary and narrative reference points from the voyages of Columbus to Moby Dick to the present day. The narrator mentions his ship's captain, "Captain Arab" (making reference to Captain Ahab from Moby-Dick)[6] several times during the telling of the tale.
The song was covered by Taj Mahal on the Dylan tribute album Chimes of Freedom[7]
References
- ^ "The 100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs". Mojo Magazine. September 2005. Retrieved May 27, 2009.
- ^ McNally, Dennis (2014). On Highway 61: Music, Race, and the Evolution of Cultural Freedom. Counterpoint. p. 408. ISBN 978-1-61902-449-6.
- ^ Williams, Paul (2009). Bob Dylan: Performance Artist 1986-1990 And Beyond (Mind Out Of Time): The Life and Music of Bob Dylan. Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-0-85712-118-9.
- ^ Browne, David (November 4, 2015). "Remembering Bob Dylan's Pioneering Producer Tom Wilson". Rolling Stone. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
- ^ Marcus, Greil (2006). Like a Rolling Stone: Bob Dylan at the Crossroads. PublicAffairs. ISBN 978-0-7867-3658-4.
- ^ Cotkin, George (2012). Dive Deeper: Journeys with Moby-Dick. Oxford University Press. pp. 254–255. ISBN 978-0-19-998672-9.
- ^ Dickerson, John (February 7, 2012). "A Weird and Wooly New Mix of Bob Dylan Imitations and Tributes". Slate. Retrieved August 1, 2020.
