Bad poetry? I think this wasn't even supposed to be deep poetry deserving of analytical thought. Picture a Venn Diagram with two circles: poetic Dylan (think "Highway 51" and "Ballad of Judas Priest...") & front-porch singer/songwriter (think the New Morning album). Poetic Dylan puts poetry to music, but the lyrics come first. Front-porch singer/songwriter Dylan has occasionally corny lyrics, but the music and melody come first. The two spheres overlap, and in the middle you have his perfect mix of poetry and melody (think "All Along the Watchtower"), but a lot of times it's just great poetry to so-so music, or songs like "Spirit on the Water," where Dylan is a traditional singer-songwriter not trying to impress us with lyrics first and foremost.
This song makes me think of Dylan playing on an old Southern plantation, you know, "Southern Gothic." It's a really pretty love poem, but the lyrics come second. It's about a dependent relationship; he feels like she brings him the happiness he seeks in life, so he's willing to put up with being mistreated:
"Sometimes I wonder
Why you can't treat me right
You do good all day
Then you do wrong all night
When you're with me
I'm a thousand times happier than I could ever say
What does it matter
What price I pay"
I imagine it's a song you'd play drinking wine on a romantic evening at Olive Garden lol
The romance of it is kind of dysfunctional, as he is putting her on a pedestal, but it is frank about the self-deprecation and self-pity, and the "do-do, do-do" melody is so pretty, it gives it a nostalgic feel. I was going through a similar relationship and the time, and this song meant so much to me because of that. I'm too proud to let my inner hopeless romantic take over, but I feed him a song like this every now and then and he's satisfied ;D
My favorite song from the album.
Bad poetry? I think this wasn't even supposed to be deep poetry deserving of analytical thought. Picture a Venn Diagram with two circles: poetic Dylan (think "Highway 51" and "Ballad of Judas Priest...") & front-porch singer/songwriter (think the New Morning album). Poetic Dylan puts poetry to music, but the lyrics come first. Front-porch singer/songwriter Dylan has occasionally corny lyrics, but the music and melody come first. The two spheres overlap, and in the middle you have his perfect mix of poetry and melody (think "All Along the Watchtower"), but a lot of times it's just great poetry to so-so music, or songs like "Spirit on the Water," where Dylan is a traditional singer-songwriter not trying to impress us with lyrics first and foremost.
This song makes me think of Dylan playing on an old Southern plantation, you know, "Southern Gothic." It's a really pretty love poem, but the lyrics come second. It's about a dependent relationship; he feels like she brings him the happiness he seeks in life, so he's willing to put up with being mistreated: "Sometimes I wonder Why you can't treat me right You do good all day Then you do wrong all night
When you're with me I'm a thousand times happier than I could ever say What does it matter What price I pay"
I imagine it's a song you'd play drinking wine on a romantic evening at Olive Garden lol The romance of it is kind of dysfunctional, as he is putting her on a pedestal, but it is frank about the self-deprecation and self-pity, and the "do-do, do-do" melody is so pretty, it gives it a nostalgic feel. I was going through a similar relationship and the time, and this song meant so much to me because of that. I'm too proud to let my inner hopeless romantic take over, but I feed him a song like this every now and then and he's satisfied ;D