I think of Dylan's 1997 "Not Dark Yet" where he says 'It's not dark yet, but it's getting there' as a early farewell song. And now, 26 years later he's more alive and kicking than ever.

I love how he uses his current voice so beautifully. He understands it as an instrument & uses it brilliantly.

This is such a good album. I can’t Believe how good his output at 80 is. He plays this incredible song on tour nowadays, saw him live on tour in september and he was so good.

Thank you for listening to the new dylan. I LOVE this album. All of it. No one ever listens to new stuff.

Your respect and appreciation of this artist is both noteworthy and much appreciated.

Dylan is unique, a one off, irreplaceable, the likes of whom we will never see again, an amazing artist, lyrical genius, no one comes close.... someone to cherish while we can... followed him from 1962 ... never disappoints

First time hearing that one for me and I loved it. I heard him interviewed not too long ago and he mentioned that he was feeling the music coming through him again. . . evidently he'd felt he'd lost it for a while - the world needs his music, thank God he's still writing.

As a devoted Dylan enthusiast of 55 years, I have developed my own personal take of all his songs. You knocked my take of this song on its ear and totally nailed it. Dylan has been so unfairly criticized for his generous borrowing of material from other sources in constructing his incredible song poems that he finally describes his method in this song. I didn’t see it with all my knowledge and you picked it up on first listen. Bravo. Thanks for waking me up. Keep this going. I love your incredibly insightful first listen takes on this brilliant artist. Same album, try “Crossing the Rubicon” and Mother of Muses

Dylan is a master thief. Nearly every line is a reference. Yet he is able to make something new out of even references. Best album in years imo.

Bob Dylan is the Michelangelo of the modern world ..

God bless Bob Dylan--- This may be one of his best tunes ever. Such imagery, such a mellow vibe and beautiful music. Bob may live forever with this one.

Dylan really made top albums in the 60s, 70s, 80s (many I love), 90s… A couple classics, 00s, still hanging in there, 10s, a couple decent albums and a lot of great archive releases, 20s, more amazing archive albums and this 2020 release. Legend. Archive material will be released the next 100 years there is so much in the vault and his past 2000 concerts have been taped. Securely in the vault for his relatives to live well on for generations.

The Jerome referenced with St. Peter would be St. Jerome, the 4th Century Catholic priest and theologian who was the first person to translate the entire Bible into Latin from the then-extant texts, so it fits in with the song's continuing imagery of the creation of a new thing from multiple other things. His finished work, the Latin Bible, is called The Vulgate, insofar as it translated the Bible into the language of the Roman Empire and its people (the vulgar language of the people - the original Latin word vulgate didn't have the negative connotation that its modern English equivalent, "vulgar," has today), and is still the official Biblical text of the Roman Catholic Church.

Things Change and Not Dark Yet are two great examples of later Dylan.

Great analysis. I love how you are genuinely interested in understanding lyrics. You are very bright and thoughtful.

Bob Dylan’s recent stuff is as good if not better than his old i think. Would love to see more

He’s having his second? Third? Fourth? Wind. This rejuvenation has lasted 35 years or so, since he began his “Neverending Tour”. His excellent band plays on his records and tours. They never really stop, so they never get rusty. When someone needs a break they’ll drop out for a few shows, a few months, a few years. I think Charlie Sexton’s had three residencies. The records since ‘Time Out Of Mind’ in 1997 have been made this way, and they’re wonderful.

Jerome was the church father who translated the Bible into Latin which became the accepted version used by the Roman church for centuries.

Then there’s Titanic on Tempest . Wow

"You can bring it to Jerome," which probably has a historical reference as someone else mentioned, is almost certainly also a reference to a 1955 Bo Diddley song called Bring It To Jerome. The song title refers to Jerome Green, who played maracas in Diddley's band.

Wow, im impressed...sometimes it takes new fans 10 years + to delve later stuff, especially even post-70’s stuff....he does still have it....2001 to 2012 (love & theft to tempest is my fave late, late period dylan), if u want to delve it hit any of these “summer days” “floater” “po’ boy” “when the deal goes down”, “nettie moore” “working man’s blues”, “duequense whistle” “narrow way” and “soon after midnight” just to name a few gems.....u scrutinize lyrics too (which would prob make bob roll his eyes), but man, hes brutal in these years, and i think youd really love it....beauty plus brutal words ....hes every bit as a much poet as hes always been

Such a wonderful work, this entire album is great. Love and theft is another great one from the last 20.

Terrific reaction. I think you may have nailed this song--it may be about Dylan's songwriting process. Thanks for enlightening me. Take care.

Loved it. Brilliant. I chuckled through the track, it's Bob's delivery with the lyrics that make it snarky. Perfect!

Crossing the Rubicon and key West philosophy piste from the same album are a must✌️🙏

Dylan and you Syed are giving me new perspectives and meanings to the Frankenstein story/myth. He is our Poet Laureate--he is on that level and pantheon of greats like a Shakepeare, a Picasso, a Dante. His "poetry" is totally interwoven with his song, voice, musical arrangements. That i do believe will stand the test of time like these other greats. 🎉

This whole album is great. Murder Most Foul is definitely worth checking out.

White Horse Tavern was a generational Tavern in West Village where writers hung out every night in town until closing

I think you are absolutely right! It’s about the process of writing.

Your analysis of the lyrics is a tour de force. Thanks.

Bob Dylan "Things Have Changed" (Official Music Video A MUST!)...Nuff Said.

I'd echo the suggestions that you do Murder Most Foul, his longest, most extraordinary song, which blew my mind when I first heard heard it. Musically mesmerising too.

I'd say the last 30 years have been wonderfully productive for him as far as penning some great songs and putting in some great live performances. He can be erratic and as idiosyncratic as ever, but I think he never really stopped doing his own thing and it has carried him through this last period of his life. I think I've seen indications he's finally going to retire from continual touring. Heart-broken if the "never-ending" tour is finally ending, but he gave us 6+ decades of brilliance, and it's incredible how he continued to put out relevant and interesting music/lyrics through his career. P.S. I think your attention the writing/Frankstein's monster metaphor is correct. Dylan has always lifted and derived inspiration from folk songs, which themselves were often penned by an anonymous artist and passed down and changed throughout the ages/cultures. He very much exists in this tradition and has always heavily lifted, if not outright reused, lines from very old songs, hymns, Bible verses, works of literature, dime store novels, comic books. He often amalgamates ideas and emotions in stream of conscious, wry observational quips.

Try pay in blood from the tempest album. It's an angry old bob still spitting out the truth.

Rough & Rowdy Ways is a superb. You should run through the whole album especially Murder Most Foul & I Contain Multitudes

this entire album

Nice to see this recent Dylan work. Always interesting to watch an artist evolve.

Have you checked out Leonard Cohen? Poet turned musician who also was relevant into his 80's.

Keep doing these reactions. Try Jokerman from the album "Infidels"

Beautiful insight. Second reactor I’ve heard in three days compare Dylan with Shakespeare. I’m in.

“Bring It To Jerome” is a Bo Diddley song.

He was writing about a Greenwich Village writer’s Tavern where many creative Artists would go every night to share art with other creative artists

It’s import with Bob to contextualise his Eras cross reference his lyrical verse and then his historic and contemporary situational musicality . Live vs Studio delivery is another level only long term Dylan attendees will get

Wow. That was AMAZING. I loved hearing these lines and that flow. A true artist !

I love this song! Try "Man in the long black coat" next

Have a listen to Brownsville Girl from the 80s...generally regarded as a down period....its one of his greatest songs

Dylan’s become sort of an old blues man in his old age

The whole album has themes of death, the dying process, and life continuing or perhaps rebirth, creation, creative process, meaning of music, etc. at least that's what I focus on. There are the dreamy tracks Key West and Murder Most Foul in which there's an assassinated president and then description of an ethereal journey to a place beyond life and death. Someone noticed that some lines of False Prophet were taken from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, and the speaker of those lines in the original book is some deity whose role is to guide people who died onwards. Just like the driver of JFK in the last song. The music and culture titles in that song are in my opinion appreciated as something that helps us through the trauma of death. Songs like "Good bye Jimmy Reed" and "Mother of Muses" seem to also be about praising songs as something much more than just entertainment. In "My own version of you" I think he is describing the creative process and in a way explaining what it requires of you to be a real artist. You have to cross the rubicon, take a risk, give everything. There's death and violence involved. It's gruesome. But it's significant and done with love. And you are your ancestors, songs remind us of this and connects us to history, like Dylan does here with numerous references to ancient rome and egypt etc. "I can see the history of the whole human race, its all right there its carved onto your face". "I go right to the edge, I go right to the end I go right where all things lost are made good again" (I contain multitudes) "Key West is the place to be If you're looking for immortality ... Key West is on the horizon line"

I’ve always thought this song was about the dangers of creating God in your own image. “I’ll be saved by the creature that I create” and “someone who feels the way that I feel” references the divine but only one you already agree with. The reference to Caesar also makes sense in this context bc he declared himself a god. The rest of the song references the evil his creation will do, like destroying his enemies.

I believe he is talking about the process of creating yourself. You arrive at a point in history, then you amalgamate all you find into a creation of yourself. You keep that process going throughout as you reflect certain things, discard some, keep others, bring on new ones and move on through. Stagnancy is the death of the self. And, Dylan has refused to be stagnant - ever.

really appreciated this analysis!

Bono recommended Lanois to Bob Dylan in the late 1980s; in 1989, Lanois produced Dylan's Oh Mercy. Eight years later, Dylan and Lanois worked together on Time Out of Mind, which won another Grammy Award for Album of the Year in 1997.

First time hearing this song for me, and I’m sorry to say that. I’ve not been doing my due diligence to Dylan lately. Some poets say that every poem is in some way a reflection of the writer, and Dylan is a poet always. Fabulous piece. Brilliant, thank you for this reaction. (Personal note: He first mention Leon Russell as a piano player. You should check out Leon. Maybe not as a reaction, but Dylan is saying something important by putting him first. Leon performing live was a sort of rock and roll/religious experience that I’ve never heard anyone else duplicate. Try a song or two from Leon’s 1973 live album.)

Great analysis man. I’m been on Bob since I was 10 years old in 1965. Delve into the 90s Trilogy come back or follow on from Daniel Lanois influence from Oh Mercy to Time Out of Mind then onto Love and Theft and Modern Times

As a long-time Dylan fan who was there when he started, this song blew me away when I heard it in 2020. To me, the song does actually start out about a woman, it's kind of a different angle for a song story - I want to make my own version of you, the way I want a woman to be. But typical of Dylan, he messes around with the idea for a while until he gets sick of it, and goes off on a tangent. That's usually when his songs get interesting. The last verse (Freud and Marx) is some of his most powerful imagery since Desolation Row. The whole album is amazing, considering that he made 5 CDs of Sinatra covers just before it. He seems to go and immerse himself in historical music genres as a way of regenerating his ideas. Incidentally, it would be interesting to see you react to one of the Sinatra songs - maybe 'Don't try to change me now' or the video version of 'The night we called it a day'. Thanks for doing this!

You’re the best syed

Back in he early 90s, what we were even then calling his late period, but turns out to have been his mid-late period, he released a song called Series of Dreams that was an outtake (!) from his Oh Mercy record. It still gives me goosebumps. The video is a top 10 for me as well. So much of what has followed that record has been amongst his very best IMO. Someone already mentioned Not Dark Yet, and there’s a later companion piece to that great song from the following decade called Lonesome Day Blues that deals with mortality and a summing up in a very dark, but beautiful way. Hell, on the same record as this is a 17 minute magnum opus called Murder Most Foul that attempts to summarize American history through the lens of JFK’s assassination, and damn near succeeds. It’s a rare artist whose later output matches and even exceeds their earlier celebrated work, and Dylan is at the top of a very short list of songwriters who’ve managed it for me, with others being Bowie, Cohen and Tom Waits.

Try "Key West" on the same album, especially the soft but pervasive accordion accompanying Dylan's voice. It's beautiful, softer but as great as the unforgettable driving piano on the much earlier "One of must know"

Great reaction bro - you should definitely check out 'Key West (Philosopher Pirate) from the same album, I'm a lifelong Bob fan and it has become my second-favourite all-time Bob song, right behind Desolation Row.

Check out Bo Diddley for "Bring it to Jerome"!

Thanks!

You should analize "The death of Emmit Till" also the Beatles,"Its all too much" by Harrison. I thought you did an excellent review of Watchower. Wow! Great insight. You have a brillant mind for insight.

You should listen to Desolation Row by Dylan

Intelligent reaction..

There’s a lot of really marginal material from the 80s. Dylan himself says he was burnt out and spent and couldn’t find the muse a lot. But hell - a couple of his best songs from then! And he didn’t even release them until years later: Blind Willie McTell is one of his all time best. And Dignity is a fantastic lyric. Also: Most of the Time from your he late 80s album O Mercy is one of the most. Roll isn’t and understated lyrics on heartbreak by anyone ever.

I think it's time you go back to the 80s and try 'Brownsville Girl' from Knocked Out Loaded

Stay with the Dylan thing for awhile. His words go beyond the concious mind, and hits the abstraction of the soul.

Bring it to Jerome is a song by Bo Diddley.

Good tune Bob

I like your take on it

That whole album is amazing. One day we’ll get you to lock in for Murder Most Foul 😊

Reminds me of Tom Waits Check out some of his stuff

Blind Willie McTell is a slightly older one by him and brilliant. Great haunting piano ballad and his singing is on point

Frankenstein was about Prometheus like Oppenheimer. This song I think you're right is more about creating somebody in a relationship or recreating yourself or God knows what it's about. I think you're supposed to listen to a whole bunch of times and maybe you can figure something out or maybe you can't or maybe all you need to do is listen to the imagery in the lyrics as it comes to you. He told the guy from 60 minutes that he doesn't remember how he wrote Gates of Eden, And that he couldn't do it again. I think he's kind of done it again here. It's amazing. Like you say he's 80. How's this possible?

I enjoyed hearing a song that was new to me with you

If you respect lyrics do Frank Zappa, Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Tom Waits and more Dylan ;)

My Own Version... Jerome was a 4th century church historian. What would Julius Caesar do? Cross the Rubicon, for glory or death.. Enjoy Dylan. Appreciate Dylan. Dylanologists have tried to analyze, decipher, interpret or deconstruct Bobby for decades (there are books). Keep listening and discover his perpetual re-invention. Dylan owes us no explanation for the gifts he's given us. I'm grateful to be on the same planet at the same time as him.

He’s referring to Saint Jerome when he says you can bring it to Jerome.

Eighty, dude. Bob Dylan is 80 years old. What he is doing--touring 100+ a year all over the globe, writing at the highest level--is in a class of its own. Most 80 year olds you might have noticed if you follow politics for instance, are a shell of their former selves. Bob Dylan is a seriously gifted individual.

Listen to Adeel cover 70 year old Dylan and u realize like the Byrds and Peter Paul and Mary how lyrical and melodic he is…. His voice can hide the the amazing musicality and poetry he creates.

The fact that Dylan had an appreciation for the Beatles when they were writing I want to hold your hand while he was writing amazing complex lyrics is surprising. Actually, he still holds McCartney in very high regard

Maybe try his song Silvio. Great reaction.

I know you must get a ton of recommendations but definitely check out Dylan's "comeback era" albums (Oh Mercy and Time Out of Mind) from the 90s.

If you want to try to middle aged Dylan, check out Man in the Long Black Coat, 1989. It's from the album Oh Mercy, recorded in New Orleans. The song is great. He wrote about the trip to New Orleans and the recording sessions in his autobiography Chronicles Vol I. It's a terrific read, written in his unmistakable voice. You might also want to check about Martin Scorse's documentary No Direction Home about Dylan.

One aspect of this tune, as a general social commentary, may be a moral parable about the creation of AI seen through the lesson of Frankenstein (or the modern day Prometheus). To be or not to be? That is the question.

Saint Jerome might by the allusion. Known for his intellect.

Both Dylan and Shakespeare won the Nobel Peace Prize for literature the Nobel committee said Dylan changed a generation with his music

Murder most foul is the outstanding song off that album … if you’ve got 17 minutes … some of it takes place in the dying brain of John F Kennedy … I think … scathing takedown of a clumsy lie & an elegy for what was lost that day. I caught it ten years old on the evening news on a little black & white tv in the corner.

Check out the Tempest album

Great reaction. Listen to Murder Most Foul for a real ride.

Can you react to his songs Only A Pawn In Their Game and A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall.

He doesn't like Freud? I like Freud, he put his finger on life stages, and where you can be fixated and you got to move on somehow. I never knew all these words, it's a great song

Dylan was raised Jewish, became sort of a Christian then backed off a bit. So he uses Christian and Jewish themes in his poetry.

first you become a monster. . . then you learn how to control the monster

"Bring it to Jerome" is a song performed by Bo Diddley:kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ptOfech9p8fJc5s.html

It seems to me that it’s about creating his own version of God. He’s written a lot on the themes of the Gospel in recent years, as in songs such as Narrow Way and Pay in Blood. Here, he says, “you’ve got what they call the immortal spirit,” the history of the human race is “carved into your face,” and “I’ll see you baby on judgement day.” Those who made their own version of God would be Freud and Marx.

You have a gift for doing this in real time on Dylan's lyrics. Can't say I agree, but then that's part of the fun with Dylan. Black horse tavern on Armageddon street - you've be reading The Revelation to John the apostle. Picking that up on the fly, you're good! My further thoughts - he swings by hell where the enemies of man (Freud and Marx) dwell. But you have the immortal Holy Spirit that crept into your body the day you believed and were born again. That is the most cerebral and artistic rendering of being saved from hellfire by believing in Jesus I've ever read, seen or heard. I don't think Shakespeare could have done that.

Dylan dwingt tot studie, verheffing

please react to the four horsemen by Aphrodite's child

React to murder most follow from the Same album his first number one song ever