Friday, February 10, 2006

A Lyric of the Day

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth
"Rip down all hate," I screamed
Lies that life is black and white
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers
Foundationed deep, somehow.
Ah, but I was so much older then,
I'm younger than that now.

-- My Back Pages, Bob Dylan

Posted by Rich at 7:35 AM
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

This is an example of why Dylan is so great. He was perceptive and smart and unafraid, even as a young songwriter. He recognized that the easy answers sold by the folkies and other "progressives" of the era in which he wrote "My Back Pages" didn't take into account the complexity of the issues with which they were wrestling. In this song, he was renouncing even his own declarations.

The Byrds' version of this tune was, of course, absolutely note-perfect. And it's the one and only cover tune I've heard Bill Mallonee/VoL play live (and they delivered a rock-solid version as well - based on the Byrds cover).

Great song from a great songwriter.

2/11/2006

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