Lonely music

[jon abbey]

he sounds like he's got one foot in the grave (...), and he doesn't care at all.

T H A T ' S T H E P O I N T

well, couple that with the fact that he has nothing of interest left to say, and you've got quite the riveting document.

[skrobek]

he sounds like he's got one foot in the grave (...), and he doesn't care at all.

T H A T ' S T H E P O I N T

well, couple that with the fact that he has nothing of interest left to say, and you've got quite the riveting document.

I don't believe you.

What's "of interest" ? His apocalyptic world view? Sure, he's aknowledged it all the time : "I'm well dressed, waiting on the last train";

"You can't win with a losing hand";

"I see young couples kissing"

yes, one foot in the grave, and that's what he's got to say at that time right ? Well I that's far more interesting than Burrough's sexual trips to morrocoo or Bukowski's chasing young women, or Joyce's drinking...

Having one foot in the grave is not a problem, it's a moment. period.

edit: and Desire was surely overrated, not Modern Times... even Blood On the Tracks, come to think of it, then, people were really expecting a comeback and were ready to accept anything as a masterpiece, Oh Mercy also... The last 3 albums came as a real surprise...

[jon abbey]

superficial cliche, superficial cliche, superficial cliche. I'm glad he speaks to you, I get nothing out of repeated listens to that one.

I also don't like Desire much, but if you honestly think Modern Times is even a pimple on the ass of Blood On The Tracks, I don't think we have much left to talk about. and yeah, BotT isn't especially consistent, but Tangled Up in Blue, just on its own, come on now.

quite the dialogue we have going in a 'lonely' thread, huh?

[free math]

i could take or leave the rest of it, but time out of mind does have this, which is pretty damn lonely: http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/notdark.html" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;" onclick= "window.open(this.href);return false;

[Jesse]

Your link didn't work for me, FM, but if it was to Not Dark Yet, that is the sole song on that CD I played.
I think generally I rank Dylan's efforts along the same lines as Jon, though recalling other threads where Dylan's body of work was assessed, Jon is more generous towards the 80's releases than I am.

[skrobek]

superficial cliche

funny you should say that, because a large part of Dylan's focus has been to use clichés and slightly alter them.

I'll give ONE example. "Trying To Get To Heaven", he says "some trains don't pull no gamblers / No midnight ramblers like they did before"

which is a cliché, but the "some" of course changes the whole perspective: all the other trains till do ? that simple alteration in the cliché plunges it into the abstract or the dream. Knowing than Dylan had constructed a "rambler" persona for himself in the early 60's, the line could be read as a reference to his fantasies of trains pulling ramblers and gamblers, when we all know these things were gone even before his birth...

genius

and yeah, back on thread, "Not Dark Yet" + "Standing In The Doorway" are quite the lonely music I had in mind...

[jon abbey]

I could actually probably fit everything I care about after The Basement Tapes onto a double CD, just a track or two here and there.

I'll check out Not Dark Yet again, but for me this late-era Dylan is just him going through the motions, and it's especially sad because of who he used to be. most of the lyrics are really superficial, cobbled together bits and pieces (Not Dark Yet does look better than that on a quick skim), but even worse than that, it just sounds like an actor reading lyrics that have been handed to him, there's nothing deep there and nothing that makes me care or think. I really believe that if these records had been released by an unknown, they would have totally disappeared, no one would have cared. plus I always hate Daniel Lanois production (except on the Neville Brothers-Yellow Moon, where somehow it works).

anyway, enough of this sidetrack, you just happened to hit a pet peeve of mine.

[jon abbey]

superficial cliche

funny you should say that, because a large part of Dylan's focus has been to use clichés and slightly alter them.

I'll give ONE example. "Trying To Get To Heaven", he says "some trains don't pull no gmablers / No midnight ramblers like they did before"

which is a cliché, but the "some" of course changes the whole perspective: all the other trains till do ? that simple alteration in the cliché plunges it into the abstract or the dream. Knowing than Dylan had constructed a "rambler" persona for himself in the early 60's, the line could be read as a reference to his fantasies of trains pulling ramblers and gamblers, when we all know these things were gone even before his birth...

genius

oh, for crying out loud. if you set the bar any lower, he'd step on it.

[J.F.]

I seldomly choose music to have it reflect my current state of mind or emotion in an obvious way, but if I did, I could imagine PJ Harvey would work fine in lonely moments/periods (of course except for her "happy" record Stories from the City...).

Oh... and: Solo recordings by Steve Lacy! Especially Axieme comes to mind. It runs a little slow, and has a roomy ambience all over - both adds a lot to the music's atmosphere which makes it about the most "lonely music" I know.

[skrobek]

enough of this sidetrack, you just happened to hit a pet peeve of mine.

"I’m a new york city man, baby, say "go" and that is that"

well Jon, it's où tu veux, quand tu veux

I have decided to take your comments on Dylan and Lou Reed as pure provocation

[strgn]

dylan is perfect everywhere, everytime. music from the big pink hits the same spot as the basement tapes, obv. lots of country too -- hank williams (beyond the sunset), the byrds (sweetheart of the rodeo). i guess that's more country-rock than country, but that's where i'm from. neil young is great lonely music, especially the 'dead man' soundtrack--this has gotten me through so many late nite drives--, but everything else--do yourself a favor and listen to 'zuma' if it's summer (it is). funk makes you feel better about everything, and you can dance by yourself. parliament + funkadelic. james fucking brown. creedence. search any boogie comps you can find. CHANGE - THE GLOW OF LOVE. that brothers johnson track that was in the stoner basketball movie (70s thing?). it's 'Get the Funk Out Ma Face" and it's the best Michael Jackson track you haven't heard.

[strgn]

SLY AND THE FAMILY STONE - THERE'S A RIOT GOIN ON

with gene clark - no other and chris bell - i am the cosmos for seconds (the latter for latters, after suicide fantasies involving steel drums and synths and cowbells are cleared).

[dave quam]

i dunno i guess theres a riot going on has some good lonely music parts maybe, but I agree for sure on all of Gram Parsons stuff.

[mono tony]

I dunno if this is cliched but the lost mariner by loren connors and alan licht is some lonely-ass, late night music. it also sounds like a late night soft-porn soundtrack, at parts

[skrobek]

try henry rollins
you'll understand it's good to feel lonely and to stay alone

http://youtube.com/watch?v=d_3g4QPojMc

[dave quam]

I just remembered, early john fruciante