"Don't reach out for me, she said. Can't you see I'm drownin', too?
It's rough out there. High water everywhere."
It's rough out there. High water everywhere."
Featured on Dylan's 2001 album Love and Theft, "High Water (for Charley Patton)" illustrates how Dylan's songwriting remains sharp. I purchased the track from Dylan's recent archive release, Tell Tale Signs, and it's a live version from 2003. The studio cut moves at a slower pace and Dylan's sneer is absent. But the live track crackles with life as Dylan winds his way down the Mississippi narrating the destruction wrought by torrential rain and flood waters. He assumes several personas as his tone meanders from carnival barker, to Huey Long-style populist, an oracle, or a corner preacher warning of portending doom. As he races through the lyrics--mumbling as he goes and propelled by the driving rhythm--his demeanor is reminiscent of his biting vitriol and mocking in Maggie's Farm. Brilliant.
I wrote Dylan off after 2004 and I assumed he had lapsed into insignificance. Before I left Chicago, I attended a performance at the Vic Theater of approximately 1,200 people in a packed, sold out house. In the previous year or so he had dropped the guitar for a keyboard, which I noticed was rather low in the mix. I loved the intimate setting (I saw him in '98 at the cavernous United Center) and I thought it best to leave on a positive note rather than risk wasting any more time and money. Of course, one song isn't a guarantee of any form resurgence that would justify fifty or so dollars in concert expenses, but it's refreshing to hear Dylan maintain the attitude and inspiration that drew me and others to his music.
Charley Patton, a contemporary of Robert Johnson, was one of the fathers of Delta Blues and Dylan's inspiration stems from Patton and Johnson. Dylan stands on the shoulders of giants in this case as in others--notably Woody Guthrie; further proof of an American folk tradition and Americana alive in his music.
I wrote Dylan off after 2004 and I assumed he had lapsed into insignificance. Before I left Chicago, I attended a performance at the Vic Theater of approximately 1,200 people in a packed, sold out house. In the previous year or so he had dropped the guitar for a keyboard, which I noticed was rather low in the mix. I loved the intimate setting (I saw him in '98 at the cavernous United Center) and I thought it best to leave on a positive note rather than risk wasting any more time and money. Of course, one song isn't a guarantee of any form resurgence that would justify fifty or so dollars in concert expenses, but it's refreshing to hear Dylan maintain the attitude and inspiration that drew me and others to his music.
Charley Patton, a contemporary of Robert Johnson, was one of the fathers of Delta Blues and Dylan's inspiration stems from Patton and Johnson. Dylan stands on the shoulders of giants in this case as in others--notably Woody Guthrie; further proof of an American folk tradition and Americana alive in his music.
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