Bob Dylan had been drifting for quite a while by the time 1997′s Time Out of Mind was released. Some of his output over the previous two decades had been plain embarrassing. A rare highlight was 1989′s Oh Mercy. Dylan decided to reunite with Daniel Lanois, who produced that album, for a record that managed to signal his artistic rebirth while also making him sound like he was well on his way to the grave. “Not Dark Yet” was Time Out of Mind‘s first single, and it’s the moody album’s center. A world-weary and resigned-sounding Dylan sings of shadows and burdens, hardened souls and unhealed scars. The closest thing to a chorus is the line, repeated at the end of every stanza, “It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.” It’s a moving end-of-life song written and sung by an aging artist who has somehow managed to remain vital. It’s certainly not turning dark yet for Dylan as he enters his eighth decade.
Sometimes, you can hear a song 1,000 times and only remember the chorus. Blame the brain and its wiring or the vagaries of the human attention span — but often, the bulk of a song can just slip on by. “I Want You” falls into that category. It begins on a sour note: “The guilty undertaker sighs/ The lonesome organ grinder cries.” But almost immediately everything drops away because the music is just so damn sweet. That light, bouncy guitar hook that pairs up with the piano at the end of every forth verse for the descending hook — it might be one of the few truly euphoric moments in a Bob Dylan song. And of course, there’s the repetitively longing chorus. “I want you, I want you, yes I want you, so bad/ Honey, I want you.” Who doesn’t want someone to feel that way about them? The last song recorded for Dylan’s monumental Blonde on Blonde, the first true rock double album, “I Want You” has been described by BBC Radio’s Jeremy Vine as having a “melody wrapped in tinsel … all bouncy and joyous.” He’s right. Give it another listen. You’ll quickly find yourself all bouncy and joyous.
As we prepare for the Game of Thrones finale, we recognize Joffrey and nine other baddies who showed us that terrible, horrible things can come in small packages
