Album liner notes from WORLD GONE WRONG, 1993 ABOUT THE SONGS (what theyre about) BROKE DOWN ENGINE is a Blind Willie McTell masterpiece. its about trains, mystery on the rails-the trains of love, the train that carried my girl from town-The Southern Pacific, Baltmore & Ohio whatever-its about variations of human longing-the low hum in meters & syllables. its about dupes of commerce & politics colliding on tracks, not being pushed around by ordinary standards. its about revival, getting a new lease on life, not just posing there-paint chipped & flaked, mattress bare, single bulb swinging above the bed. its about Ambiguity, the fortunes of the priviliged elite, flood control-watching the red dawn not bothering to dress. LOVE HENRY is a traditionalist ballad. Tom Paley used to do it, a perverse tale. Henry-modern corporate man off some foreign boat, unable to handle his psychosis responsible for organizing the Intelligentsia, disarming the people, an infantile sensualist-white teeth, wide smile, lotza money, kowtows to fairy queen exploiters & corrupt religious establishments, career-minded, limousine double parked, imposing his will & dishonest garbage in popular magazines. he lays his head on a pillow of down & falls asleep. he shoulda known better, he mustve had a hearing problem. STACK-A-LEE is Frank Hutchinsons version. what does the song say exactly? it says no man gains immortality thru public acclaim. truth is shadowy. in the pre-postindustrial age, victims of violence were allowed (in fact it was their duty) to be judges over their offenders-parents were punished for their childrens crimes (weve come a long way since then) the song says that a mans hat is his crown. futurologists would insist its a matter of tatse. they say lets sleep on it but theyre already living in the sanatirium. No Rights Without Duty is the name of the game & fame is a trick. playing for time is only horsing around. Stacks in a cell, no wall phone. hes not some egotistical degraded existentialist dionysian idiot. neither does he represent any alternative lifestyle scam (give me a thousand acres of tractable land & all the gang members that exist and youll see the Authentic alternative lifestyle, the Agrarian one) Billy didnt have an insurance plan, didnt get airsick yet his ghost is more real and genuine than all the dead souls on the boob tube - a monumental epic of blunder and misunderstanding, a romance tale without the cupidity. BLOOD IN MY EYES is one of two songs done by the Mississippi Sheiks, a little known de facto group whom in their former glory mustve been something to behold. rebellion against routine seems to be their strong theme. all their songs are raw in the bone & are faultlessly made for these modern times (the New Dark Ages) nothing effete about the Mississippi Sheiks. WORLD GONE WRONG is also by them & goes against cultural policy. strange things are happening like never before. Strange things alright-strange things like courage becoming befuddled & nonfundamental. evil charlatans masquerading in pullover vests & tuxedos talking gobbledyook, monstrous pompous superficial pageantry parading down lonely streets on limited access highways. strange things indeed - irrationalist bimbos & bozos, the stuff of legend, coming in from left field-infamy on the landscape-pray to the Good Lord hit the light switch! JACK-A-ROE is another Tom Paley ballad (Tom, one of the New Lost City Ramblers) the young virgin follows her heart (which cant be confined) & in it the secrets of the universe. there was a wealthy merchant wealthy & philosophically influential perhaps with an odd penchant for young folk. the song cannot be categorized-is worlds away from reality but gets inside reality anyway & strips it of its steel and concrete. inverted symmetry, legally stateless, travelling under a false passport. before you step on board, sir... are you any good at what you do? Submerge your personality. DELIA is one sad tale-two or more versions mixed into one. the song has no middle range, comes whipping around the corner, seems to be about counterfeit loyalty. Delia herself, no Queen Gertrude, Elizabeth 1 or even Evita Peron, doesnt ride a Harley Davidson across the desert highway, doesnt need a blood change & would never go on a shopping spree. the guy in the courthouse sounds like a pimp in primary colors. hes not interested in mosques on the temple mount, armageddon or world war III, doesnt put his face in his knees & weep & wears no dunce hat, makes no apology & is doomed to obscurity. does this song have rectitude? you bet. toleration of the unacceptable leads to the last round-up. the singers not talking from a head of booze. Jerry Garcia showed me TWO SOLDIERS (Hazel & Alice do it pretty similar) a battle song extraordinaire, some dragoon officers epaulettes laying liquid in the mud, physical plunge into Limitationville, war dominated by finance (lending money for interest being a nauseating & revolting thing) love is not collateral. hittin them where they aint (in the imperect state that theyre in) America when Mother was the the queen of Her heart, before Charlie Chapin, before the Wild One, before the children of the Sun-before the celestial grunge, before the insane world of entertainment exploded in our faces-before all the ancient & honorable artillery had been taken out of the city, learning to go forward by turning back the clock, stopping the mind from thinking in hours, firing a few random shots at the face of time. RAGGED & DIRTY one of the Willy Browns did this - schmaltz & pickled herring, stuffed cabbage, heavy moral vocabulary - sweetness & sentiment, house rocking, superior beauty, not just standing there-the seductive magic of the thumbs up salute, carefully thought out overtones & stepping sideways, the idols of human worship paying thru the nose, lords of the illogical in smoking jackets, sufferers from a weak education, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle-taking stupid chances-being mistreated just so far. LONE PILGRIM is from an old Doc Watson record. what attracts me to the song is how the lunacy of trying to fool the self is set aside at some given point. salvation and the needs of mankind are prominent & hegemony takes a breathing spell. my soul flew to mansions on high whats essentially true is virtual reality. technology to wipe out the truth is now available. not everybody can afford it but its available. when the cost comes down look out! there wont be songs like this anymore. factually there arent any now. by the way, dont be bewildered by the Never Ending Tour chatter. there was a Never Ending Tour but it ended in 91 with the departure of guitarist G.E. Smith. that ones long gone but there have been many others since then. The Money Never Runs Out Tour (fall of 91) Southern Sympathizer Tour (early 92) Why Do You Look At Me So Strangely Tour (European 92) The One Sad Cry Of Pity Tour (Australia & West Coast American 92) Principles Of Action Tour (Mexico-South American 92) Outburst Of Consciousness Tour (92) Dont Let Your Deal Go Down Tour (93) & others too many to mention. each with their own character and design. to know which was which consult the playlists. Bob Dylan
Posted on: Wed, 23 Jul 2014 13:56:12 +0000
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