General Music Chat

http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/visions.html
above is a link to the lyrics from 'visions of johanna', a bob dylan song. i believe the song was one of his 'free association' type works... so it's open to a lot of interpretation... I'd be interested in hearing what anyone's opinion on what the song is about.

I think it means he did way too many drugs back in the '60's!

Lotsa good imagery, but it doesn't really say much, does it? Mostly, it seems to me to be random thoughts after sex with the wrong girl, but I could be wrong, & I'm not at all sure where that thought came from.

He is a master of rhyme, but I don't often get him. Guess I'm a bit shallow, heck, there have been times I've had to have ppl explain my own lyrics to me before they made sense...LOL

More often than not, Dylan seems like a guy who spent a lot of time studying a thesaurus, & occasionally comes across with a deep song by pure accident. I never thought he was the genius so many others think he is. But I will admit that when he nails a song, it's pure gold, lyrically.

no, he'd def a genius of poetry if not music.
lonesome death of hattie caroll is easily understood and ought to convey why I believe this...
or william zanzinger
or billy
or talking world war three blues

but many felt as tho you do... reporters hammered him asking him if his songs had any 'meaning'. he was deeply hurt by this.
free association often sounds like babel, because a writer just puts down what comes to mind... but often without conscience that writer comes up with great meaning...

but then I'm also a big fan of beat nic guys like kurt v and jack k.
give a listen to at least one of the above... I'd love to convert you!

Thanks for this topic!

Wikipedia has some interesting stuff to say about it...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visions_of_johanna


Here is an amazing video of Dylan doing it live...

http://youtube.com/watch?v=6i6NOfD48Gk

craig:

I'm more than delighted if you gained something from it...

I'm still listening to "vincent" twice a day so...

you keep it up and I'll keep it up.


all else:

ps... I won't offer my interpretation at this point (not that anyone's asking) cause I don't want to color anyones opinion. I will tell you that some believe it is about war based on the reference to "blind man's bluff", other's believe it is about two women and desire for either. That's all I wanna say for now.
cheers

Dylan is a master of taking a seemingly inconsequential moment or mood and Faulknerizing it into desperate hi-art. Lou Reed did this too. I think early Dylan goes into the sometimes overused 'genius' realm. Jim Carroll and Tom Verlaine are good at this type of stuff, too....
Now im gonna hit up youtube for some '66 Like a Rolling Stone Live.....

it's certainly debatable, but I would reserve the term poetic genius for only a handful of musicians...
one's who are legitimized by the poetic community (not just the music community)...
off the top of my head I can really only conceive of two:
dylan and waitts. (obviously just my opinion, but note that I def don't throw that term around)