Bob Dylan -- "Obviously Five Believers"
Lyrically, this one is kind of a throwaway for Dylan. There's nothing to distinguish the lyrics as Dylanean until you get to the next to last stanza, with its mysterious talk about jugglers and believers, counted out in quantities of five. Even then, there's not too much to say about the lyrics, other than the fact that the rest of the song gives us some pretty classic blues material.
But to limit the discussion of the song to the lyrics is to miss the mark. This is a straight-up blues number with a driving beat and a nicely bended riff on the harmonica that effectively punctuates the end of each verse. The guitar work here -- and I haven't been able to figure out which of the guitarists present at the Blonde on Blonde recording sessions is playing the lead -- works in and out of various standard blues and rockabilly phrases without lingering on any one of them for too long to wear out the welcome. If there's nothing profound here, at least there's a jumping tune and a nice lead-in to the weightier material of "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands."
No comments:
Post a Comment