Adams Raps Dylan

Back in 2007, Ryan Adams was acting a little weirder than usual, and one day he put out something like 24 albums worth of material on his website, under names like Sad Dracula, Warren Peace, The Shit, and DJ Reggie. It was mostly original songs, in all sorts of styles, tossed off with no polish and little effort. I didn't pay any attention to it, because even though I think Adams (above, with Mrs. Adams) is as close to the Second Coming as we've gotten since Springsteen--well, I mean, the Beatles "You Know My Name (Look Up the Number)" wasn't worth listening to either, right?

Cut to 2010--today, actually--I was reading about a rap from one of the DJ Reggie records, titled "Isis," and how freaky great it was, so I thought I'd give it a listen. Took me five minutes to find and download, and about three seconds of listening to realize it was a rap version of Dylan's song from the 1976 album Desire. It wasn't exactly my kind of thing, but it was interesting, so I scanned the rest of the song titles and found "You're a Big Girl Now," which my rocket scientist brain told me was another Dylan cover. And now I share them with you, because that's the kind of guy I am.

As for the covers... Freaky: yes. Great: you decide.

Isis

You're a Big Girl Now

New Morning - Bob Dylan (1970)

Listening to the remastered version of Bob Dylan's New Morning, I am struck by how lovely the album is, and how light--it feels like it could up and float away at any second. For that reason it feels inconsequential, unsubstantial. The substance it lacks, it seems to me, is longing, be it romantic ("Boots of Spanish Leather"), philosophical ("A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall"), spiritual ("Mr. Tambourine Man"), or even vengeful ("Like a Rolling Stone"). Who wants to pay good money to hear someone else rhapsodize about their happy life? That's why "Sign on the Window" feels like such a cold gust of truth:

"Her and her boyfriend went to California
Her and her boyfriend done changed their tune
My best friend said 'Now didn't I warn ya
'Brighton girls are like the moon
'Brighton girls are like the moon...'"

The yearning in those lines refutes all the blissed-out platitudes that come before and after them. Listen close and you can hear the "Idiot Wind" howling in the distance.