50 years old and still as groundbreaking as ever.
Artist, album and year: Bob Dylan, Bringing It All Back Home, 1965
Why is it a classic? : If ever a song should be used as an instruction manual on how to live life then Dylan’s seminal track, that managed to cover so much in just 135 seconds, is definitely that.
The tune was released 50 years ago this week and it still has the ability to astound, educate and define an entire period in music like no other track can.
The songs origins are deeply rooted in Dylan’s fascination at the time with the ‘Beat Generation’, especially the work of Jack Kerouac (the title is allegedly inspired by his short story ‘The Subterraneans’) and Alan Ginsberg (who helped write the cue cards for the famous video).
The tune is a rare hybrid of the blues genre, eight or 12 bars are the standard for blues-based songs, but Dylan uses 18 bars to cram in all the words in his verses.
Before even talking about the incredible lyrics, it’s key to point out that Dylan has name-checked Chuck Berry’s song ‘Too Much Monkey Business’ as a vital reference point in Subterranean Homesick Blues’ composition.
The hallucinogenic yet surreal stream-of-consciousness lyrics provided the perfect window for Dylan to discuss and look at the burgeoning counterculture that was blooming in America.
The first verse depicts a situation of low-level drug busts as tensions run high in the streets between civilians and the two main powers of the establishment, government and police.
Dylan advocates a policy of thinking for yourself, especially against the populist rhetoric by saying, “you don’t need a weather man, to know which way the wind blows”.
The third and final verses sees him focus much more on individual choices and their place in society. There’s a strong sense that a persons choices are ultimately futile because ‘The Man’ has it in for you.
Abide by the rules and maybe, after “20 years of schooling,” you might end up “on the day shift.”
If you don’t then the army is always an option but beware of “the girl by the whirlpool, lookin’ for a new fool” and the treacherous party leaders.
So what’s the solution? Where do people find peace? The final verse suggests that music, dancing and love are all decent options or else you can always “jump down a manhole” and join the underground movement.
Did You Know? : Film director Spike Lee’s grandfather Bill Lee is the bassist on this track.
The lyrical hook: The entire song is pure poetry so we’ll just take the first line and go from there, “Johnny’s in the basement, mixing up the medicine”.
Bob Dylan – Subterranean Homesick Blues – HQ from Noisefield on Vimeo.
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