well it is about John Wesley Hardin and is admittedly one of Dylan's most lackluster lyrical efforts
personally i enjoy the song a great deal and think the lyrics are interesting, but they lack the true social commentary of Dylan's better folk works,
John Wesley Hardin wasn't born in Cheney county and he would probably hurt an honest man, he was renowned in history as 'the meanest man alive' and the song is about that outlaw and the outlaw life
Dylan said in an interview that Hardin as a figure interested him and he had a tune that he really liked, when he sat down to write it he just kind of fumbled a bit, but then he said, in an attempt not to make the song seem like just a filler he made it the album title and lead off song
that's bobby
You know... screw all that "true social commentary" junk about Dylan's bettr "folk works". Didn't Dylan himself always say that he didn't intend to be made into some kind of prophet for the 60s? Of course, Dylan loved to say crazy things. Like the story about the song being a missive that he turned into something better by titling the album after it. A song doesn't have to be packed with hundreds of references to be good. John Wesley Harding is a simple song, and that makes it better than a lot of the "social commentary" stuff....
You know... screw all that "true social commentary" junk about Dylan's bettr "folk works". Didn't Dylan himself always say that he didn't intend to be made into some kind of prophet for the 60s? Of course, Dylan loved to say crazy things. Like the story about the song being a missive that he turned into something better by titling the album after it. A song doesn't have to be packed with hundreds of references to be good. John Wesley Harding is a simple song, and that makes it better than a lot of the "social commentary" stuff.
well it is about John Wesley Hardin and is admittedly one of Dylan's most lackluster lyrical efforts personally i enjoy the song a great deal and think the lyrics are interesting, but they lack the true social commentary of Dylan's better folk works, John Wesley Hardin wasn't born in Cheney county and he would probably hurt an honest man, he was renowned in history as 'the meanest man alive' and the song is about that outlaw and the outlaw life Dylan said in an interview that Hardin as a figure interested him and he had a tune that he really liked, when he sat down to write it he just kind of fumbled a bit, but then he said, in an attempt not to make the song seem like just a filler he made it the album title and lead off song that's bobby
You know... screw all that "true social commentary" junk about Dylan's bettr "folk works". Didn't Dylan himself always say that he didn't intend to be made into some kind of prophet for the 60s? Of course, Dylan loved to say crazy things. Like the story about the song being a missive that he turned into something better by titling the album after it. A song doesn't have to be packed with hundreds of references to be good. John Wesley Harding is a simple song, and that makes it better than a lot of the "social commentary" stuff....
You know... screw all that "true social commentary" junk about Dylan's bettr "folk works". Didn't Dylan himself always say that he didn't intend to be made into some kind of prophet for the 60s? Of course, Dylan loved to say crazy things. Like the story about the song being a missive that he turned into something better by titling the album after it. A song doesn't have to be packed with hundreds of references to be good. John Wesley Harding is a simple song, and that makes it better than a lot of the "social commentary" stuff.