Bob Dylan is well recognized as perhaps the most poetic songwriter of our times, so we thought we should ask a poet for some advice. American poet and songwriter klipschutz kindly agreed to tell us about his favourite Dylan non-album tracks – all quotes/misquotes from memory.
10. “Wanted Man” (from The Bootleg Series Vol.15: Travelin’ Thru, 1967-1969)
“Where you might look tonight, you might see this wanted man” – Johnny Cash did this one proud and then some.
9. “Ballad of Easy Rider” (from Ballad of Easy Rider, 1969)
“Wherever that river flows, that’s where I want to be” – [Roger] McGuinn gets songwriting credit for this. Dylan helped out is the story. There’s no doubt more to it.
8. “Farewell Angelina” (from The Bootleg Series Vol.12: The Cutting Edge, 1965-1966)
“….and I must go” . Talk about your long farewells! Sounds like he’s filibustering, doesn’t want to leave after all.
7. “Love Is Just a Four Letter Word” (from Joan Baez Any Day Now, 1968)
“Cats meow till the break of day” – a gift on a platter to Joan Baez, who threw everything she had into it.
6. “Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window” (from The Bootleg Series Vol.12: The Cutting Edge, 1965-1966)
“Use your hands and your legs”- Springsteen maybe cribbed a little for “Rosalita.” His answer: .”use the door /that’s what it’s there for”.
5. “Up To Me” (from Biograph, 1985)
“…when I was a postal clerk” – Roger McGuinn (I’m showing my Jurassic Park age by remembering he once went by Jim) made this his own.
4. “Abandoned Love” (from Biograph, 1985)
“My heart is telling me I love you still” – any Dylan fan worth his, her or their salt knows it was only played live once. Extra credit for date, venue, street and neighborhood. The Everly Brothers did a winning version. But it’s hard to beat Chuck Prophet and Stephanie Finch’s version.
3. “Things Have Changed” (from Wonder Boys, Music from the Motion Picture, 2000)
I’m out of range – I have still to read Wonder Boys [novel by Michael Chabon, 1995 and also a film]. That needs to change in 2025.
2. “She’s Your Lover Now” (from The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991)
“…She’ll be standing on the bar soon/with her fish heads and her harpoon” – are you absolutely sure you don’t want her back, Bob?
1. “Dignity” (from Greatest Hits, Volume 3, 1994)
“Met Prince Philip at the home of the blues” – my gut hit is to take Bob at his word. Chuck Prophet says: “Amazingly, that song was left off of Oh Mercy. It got reconfigured a number of times. Finally showed up on that live unplugged record. With Winston Watson on drums.”
LISTEN HERE (SPOTIFY PLAYLIST)
ABOUT KLIPSCHUTZ
klipschutz is the pen name of Kurt Lipschutz. Author of, most recently, Mr. Congeniality (2021). Before that: Premeditations (2019). The Erection of Scaffolding for the Re-Painting of Heaven by the Lowest Bidder (1985) long out of print, is a collector’s item. He has also co-written a hundred songs released by Chuck Prophet. Along with Jeremy Gaulke, he edited Four by Two (a complete set, 12 issues, of the handmade minimag resides in the Special Collections Library at UC Berkeley.) Prophet and klipschutz continue to move Temple Beautiful: The Musical forward. klipschutz lives in downtown San Francisco with Colette Jappy and three cats.
Poetic Justice 
Leave a comment