Hip Hop Fan Reacts To Bob Dylan - Its Alright Ma I'm Only Bleeding

[@jeffmartin1026]

"Money doesn't talk, it swears" - still one of my favorite lines from Mr. Dylan.

[@christopherhopkins949]

Obscenities who really cares

[@DogFish-NZ]

As a massive Bob Dylan fan, it's amazing listening to your reaction. You got my subscription, notifications are on 🤘 Listening to people cover his songs are fantastic. His 30th anniversary concert was epic as, all the major players in the 90s doing his songs, then he does this last. Must be special to him.

[@shapursasan9019]

"He not busy being born is busy dying.” - Bob Dylan

[@cillianmclaverty9392]

Always loved “bent out of shape by society’s pliers”

[@reggy_h]

There are so many lines in this song that seem to be appropriate to modern society. One verse virtually describing a race to the bottom. I bought this album when it was released and I've grappled with Dylan's lyrics all this time and decided that he is just painting pictures with words and it's up to the listener/ viewer to decide what it means to them. Sometimes, like a picture you just like it but you not sure why. "Chimes of Freedom", "Hard Rain" are just a couple more examples. No wonder that he got the Nobel prize. I don't know a single thing about Rap but a great video all the same. Thanks.

[@DanMcManus]

Remember, Dylan wrote this in 1964 and released it in 1965. Take a look at what else was popular music in 1965. Dylan was decades ahead of the curve.

[@watkinssixtyfive7788]

Remember what else was happening at the time. Kennedy eliminated, Johnson escalating the war in Vietnam, all according to the plan of the military-industrial complex; GI Joe being marketed to kids (the propaganda). This is biting political commentary wrapped in enigmatic language. Nostradamus in his day had to hide his message inside of opaque verse because speaking truth to power would have meant torturous death. Dylan's last verse touches on the theme of censure by evoking the medieval imagery in a sarcastic one-liner, then finishes with the defiant ' it's life and life only' as a middle finger to those who would cancel him.

[@Robot256k]

It's called poetry and there was a shit load of good artists back then, so I'm not really sure what you're getting at? Dylan has also came out in interviews and said he doesn't know how he managed to write most of his music back then. He's lost the ability years ago, probably in the mid eighties to create lyrics like that.

[@SwitchTalkChannel]

@@watkinssixtyfive7788 To be fair, let's take a look at the other side, also. Just for the sake of it. Let's make it shocking and poetic and snappy, as I'm sure you'll enjoy that: Think back to 1964, Germany in ruins, worse than poor, Korea aided by Russia even more than before, the Cold War's warhead threats higher than ever. Feeling nothing safe at all as you look upon the horizon at dawn or the hippie feminist revolution breaking down family ties just as planned, and the Chinese Communist Party filling student magazines by the rack without familiar speech; all the silver-tongued hidden words thrown upon the door, right at the feet of every university baby and fresh-faced street whore, teaching them how to parent themselves right down to the new factories where the future is built all alone in small containers. Some slightly less obvious Huxley, Hegel, and Orwell references for you in there, just for the sake of it.

[@dinkaboutit4228]

@@Robot256k Yeah but then he dropped Time Out of Mind in '97, which, IMO, disproves that completely.

[@sst3d]

It’s about the era… Vietnam. He was a stunning poet.. appreciate your efforts

[@trevorporter4776]

Dylan, an amazing poet.

[@a2zme]

Absolute masterpiece .. first time I heard this song as a teenager, it stayed w/ me .. still hasn't left. ps: one of the very few early Dylan tunes that Bob still plays in concert.

[@michaelgrillo4333]

I agree with you most hardly. The song has stuck with me for 50 plus years. The only way he can understand the meaning to the lyrics is to listen to it about 10 times while he is driving down the road and find the thought and meaning in his own light. he wants to seek his meaning when Dylan wanted you to think about it in your own life.

[@yecatsmailbox]

Same situation here!

[@lukeyraptor6738]

Not normally a fan of this sort of reaction style videos but being obsessed with Dylan and seeing your hip hop background, I couldn’t help but watch and I’m so glad I did! Your critical analysis is astounding; very interesting to see how everybody interprets songs as complex as this differently. Would love to see you tackle Just Like A Woman, Sad-Eyed Lady or Stuck Inside of Mobile!

[@jameshannagan4256]

i would love to watch him listen top Masters Of War or With God On Our Side they are both not as cryptic and easier to understand.

[@gleam6370]

This type of content is mostly a pandering-fest

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

Or Gates of Eden.

[@TheDivayenta]

Now you know why he won the Nobel Prize for Literature. You have to let great poetry wash over you. Then you get the overall meaning. The Subterranean Homesick Blues video he created in ‘65 is the first rap video ever. The video visuals are a must!

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

I played Dylan's albums on repeat while I worked on cars and motorcycles. I recommend learning Dylan this way to anyone.

[@interrupt394986]

you cannot pigeonhole bob's "it's alright ma" it is groundbreaking timeless art and it is not of this world we now live in. The best way to appreciate this song is to sit alone in a room just you and the song. It will make you weep because of it's absolute perfection. Bob Dylan is a living legend.

[@TheJakecakes]

Its absolute truth. Dylan himself claims its an otherworldly channel.

[@chrissmurray255]

Spot on mate. Oh, by the way - who killed you?

[@interrupt394986]

@@chrissmurray255 Dunno, Chriss. Don't know why or what the reason was for!

[@chrissmurray255]

@@interrupt394986 Giggle, chuckle, chortle!

[@christopherhelton6999]

Reminds me of my own Dylan story. The morning of September 11, 2001, I had barely started my sophomore year of college. We had skipped anthropology class to watch the twin towers fall live on TV in the common room of a nearby ladies' dormitory. Later, dazed and in shock, I walked the five minutes back to my dorm room, put my CD of "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" into my old 3-CD changer stereo, and listened to "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall" I don't even know how many times, contemplating with horror what lay before us all. 22 years later, it hasn't gotten any better.

[@michaelwalker5257]

He's like an Impressionist painter; things are more suggested than said flat out. As you said, "trying to describe an emotion". Maybe even moreso, he's EVOKING an emotions in us by his images: we may not know exactly what he's saying, but we feel...We get the message, each in our own way. So much more artful than telling us what to feel. It doesn't really even matter what it 'means'. Genius.

[@sabinasabino141]

You know, he paints as well as a hobby, it's worth a look.

[@SCB-dd4io]

Sorry I just repeated what you said. Focus on how it makes you feel

[@ilya4759]

He is talking about the situation in the USA leading to the full-blown Vietnam War...he knew how ugly it is getting and how the people are being sold on the goodness of the upcoming war

[@davisworth5114]

Right, these young kids have a hard time just being still and receptive, like they don't get any joy from a world class performance because they think the point is to understand the lyrics.

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

@@davisworth5114 - With Dylan that IS the point. (Nobel Prize!!)

[@jonathanlocke6404]

The "hundred dollar plates" reference may be to that sort of political/charity fundraiser where people pay to attend some sort of dinner with speakers and the like and network with other attendees. He was often invited to be a part of these kind of things, sometimes for pretty worthwhile causes, and he probably attended some.

[@dennisfarris4729]

Teachers teach...go to college and be someone.........

[@kenkaplan3654]

This song is the single greatest lyrical achievement in the history of folk-pop rock, rivaled only by Dylan's other great works and the best of Leonard Cohen. It cannot be fully grasped (some parts are obvious others are not) at first listen.

[@umpdaddy1]

His genius won him a Nobel Prize in Literature. He's a wonder.

[@pgrabar]

"money doesn't talk, it swears" - one of my many favorite Dylan lines.

[@rogeebundy6002]

Obscenely who really cares Propaganda All is phony

[@jon4139]

Bob Dylan swears sometimes too

[@thomasgruseck7971]

"He not bust being born is busy dying" is one of the most profound and quotable lines of all time.

[@thomasgruseck7971]

*busy being born

[@BasedNation]

Quotes by Jimmy Carter I believe in his inaugural address

[@kipkelly8559]

@@BasedNation except Dylan wrote this 13 years before Carter was President

[@decherysworld]

@@kipkelly8559 yeah he quoted Dylan in his speech...

[@johngore7744]

It speaks volumes about human emotions.

[@DogFish-NZ]

As a massive Bob Dylan fan, it's amazing listening to your reaction. You got my subscription, notifications are on 🤘 Listening to people cover his songs are fantastic. His 30th anniversary concert was epic as, all the major players in the 90s doing his songs, then he does this last. Must be special to him.

[@gernblanston5697]

It's great to hear the studio first, but the live performance from 1965 really shows the prototype rap nature of it. Subterranean Homesick Blues and Desolation Row are very similar in this style of vocal delivery.

[@ArnoSchmidt22]

Desolation Row is probably the most beautiful song ever written.

[@settheory2219]

​@@ArnoSchmidt22I once asked a busker to play it for me...I was shocked when he played the whole thing. Definitely paid him for that.

[@shocklobster6266]

An underated line in this song is "bent out of shape by society's pliers' . Feel that one ha

[@TheZogsvengali]

Been watching your Dylan videos. So beautiful to watch new generations be moved by the power of this music and experience it for the first time.

[@lindataggart9076]

Dylan doesn't attempt any thing it is always perfection. Because it is Dylan..

[@jonneil7169]

I know i've said this before, but this may be one of his best songs..(as long as i don't think of all the others). Thanks for bringing us the music with the lyrics and analysis, really makes you think about it on a deeper level. I think the line-"can lead to 100 dollar plates" refers to classy dinners with the bigwigs. This was the mid to late 60's, probably $5000 dollar plates these days...

[@geraldherrmann787]

Listen to the same song live at Budokan (It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) (Live at Nippon Budokan Hall, Tokyo, Japan - February/March 1978)

[@magicbrownie1357]

I've always thought the earliest pop recordings that resembles modern Hip Hop came from Bob Dylan. Greatest lyricist of all time, imho.

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

And Dylan was influenced by "the talking blues." Of the 1940s and 50s.

[@tonydelapa1911]

Well done, Syed. As you implied, it’s somewhat of a fool’s errand to try to get one of Dylan’s lengthy wandering songs in one take, but Ithought your discussion was mostly right on. The thing about Dylan’s most masterful pieces is we tend to like them more as we hear them more. He was and remains brilliant. There are others who compare well, but he is the gold standard over the last 60 years (!). Thank you and Happy Holidays to you.

[@tdgallagher218]

Great reaction, as always. I enjoy seeing you appreciation Dylan's writing style as well as listening to your superb comments. I've been a huge Dylan fan since the late 60s and particularly find his early works (up into the 80s) most fascinating. This song has always been a favorite in the way it is structured. Not only does each line in the verses rhyme, but so does the final line of each verse rhyme with the chorus that follows it. Ofc, the last line is the kicker that makes me laugh everytime (they'd probably put my head in a guillotine). An excellent example of his humor. One tune I'm confident you would appreciate is Chimes of Freedom. Practically every line in that song creates its own story. It's one of his best, imo. Listening to it will be time well spent. Cheers and happy holidays to you and yours!

[@MartinFGayford]

It's interesting to see a younger person reacting to this song that is so iconic but it's really interesting hearing your take on the origins of rap. Subterranean Homesick Blues (from the same Dylan album) is often cited as an 'origin of rap' and that seems influenced by Chuck Berry (Nadine, Too Much Monkey Business) but It's Alright Ma seems to have come out of nowhere. Dylan's own talking blues (via Woody Guthrie) are a sort of model but the song is so uniquely centred on poetry that it's a very long way from anything else.

[@Kelters]

One of Dylan's absolute best songs. So happy you got around to it. You picked up on some basic stuff, but you need to hear this many, many times to get anywhere near it, IMHO. -- As for the internal rhyming, did you pick up on the other rhymes between the last lines of each block? For instance V. 7, 8, 9, 10 last lines also rhyme ( you, you, to, to).

[@RhettAnderson]

I love how the title never shows up in the song. Fifty some years later and I'm still waiting for it.

[@Macdiz]

Yeah at the end of each chorus I’m like this is going to be the one lol

[@42awww]

Well said my friend. Dylan was truly one of a kind. First time I've seen your video, so I don't know what you covered. I am a Dylan fanatic, and there are so many lines that are unforgettable. Imho, lyrically speaking, on that very album is Mr. Tambourine Man, which has to be the greatest lyrics he has ever written. But, not really a hip-hop structure, but so much meaning in a stoned way. Great try to figure out the lyrics, on It's Alright Ma, a daunting task! Rolling Stone put out what would be a fairly accurate list of the top 70 Dylan songs in order. ( I believe everyone agreed with #1-Like a Rolling Stone), but this song was placed at # 7. Great job!

[@jasonremy1627]

"Subterranean Homesick Blues" is another great one in this style, or perhaps "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues". If your want to get some of Dylan's absolute spite at it's most scathing, "Positively 4th Street" is brutal.

[@jameslyons3320]

As an old Dylan devotee I will only add that honesty and brilliant poetry are then seated in a musical form that is nearly perfect and hits me right in my brain and heart.

[@quethpinkle]

Love to see you cover some late-period Dylan too! Things Have Changed is a great inverse of The Times They Are A-Changin’, Not Dark Yet is a masterpiece of impending mortality, Cold Irons Bound is one of his grooviest songs musically, etc. Also I&I is superb with Bob and Mark Knopfler of the Dire Straits working together.

[@lisathaxton7322]

Agreed, I'd add High Water and Tryin' To Get To Heaven also, both in the "mortality" realm with Not Dark Yet

[@zenhaelcero8481]

Great songs. I pre-ordered the upcoming Time Out of Mind bootleg, can't wait to hear some other versions of those tracks!

[@doiminiclynch5208]

Would love to see this

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

@@zenhaelcero8481 - I just got it.

[@MichaelMiller-eg5dr]

"Cold Irons Bound" - Agree.

[@ChipG3000]

Great Dylan song. I know you like to listen to the studio session first but there’s a black and white video on KZbin of Dylan’s live performance of this, it’s great, he completely commands the room.

[@leonardshevlin7260]

When my aunt was a freshman at the University of Minnesota Bob Zimmerman was in one of her classes.

[@jonathanlocke6404]

I think there is a real beat poetry influence on this...

[@TrekBeatTK]

Bob appreciates hip hop and has mentioned artists he likes in various interviews over the years.

[@Lexwell_Lavers]

Dylan changed music because he was the first one to speak your mind. Positively 4th Street is a very scathing Dylan song with a pop music organ sound, The Ballad Of A Thin Man is another scathing Dylan song with an church organ sound. Dylan is really the ultimate musical chameleon, you'll realize this as you listen to his catalog. Just Like A Women, I Want You are also Dylan must listens.

[@kerrypickens8594]

I am glad you are able to see the connection between Dylan and hip hop. His writing was on another level.

[@Luisaan145]

This was the first Dylan album I bought. As a sixteen year old Oasis fan I knew it was a rite of passage. Tried to learn this one. I just ended up kind ripping off the chorus hook for my own song! Song helped get me a distinction diploma so worth it in the end.

[@Hartlor_Tayley]

There is a live solo performance of this song from sixty five which is incredible. Thanks for doing this song.

[@kennethbarber438]

check out Hard rain's gonna fall and Masters of war

[@maxhammer4067]

The whole album is a masterpiece, first track subterranean homesick blues is more rap, but tambourine man is the strongest song on the album for me,

[@MrChopshammer]

Yeah. Tambourine Man is a song that has always just been there in the background for most people. You think it's just a nice folk song about a man with a tambourine. But then you look at the lyrics and realise it's actually on another level.

[@SeanDaRyan]

Tambourine Man is the first song I ever learned on guitar. the Rolling Thunder ear version

[@wobbly09876]

Thanks!

[@SyedRewinds]

thanks for the support my friend!

[@user-xt8ij4wb5i]

Dylan took music to incredible new heights. Sophisticated more in depth serious written lyrics. Rap (a fake coin, used to get away wish theft, followed by a quick dialogue to distract a store keeper.

[@davidgagne3569]

Love this song. There is a folk tradition called the talking blues. This song kind of falls in that vicinity. And I agree - what an awesome song name! What does this song mean? I have no clue and yet I love it. He's acid and salt. Thanks for the mention of Kendrick Lamar. I'm going to check him out and start with Count Me Out.

[@toussaid5340]

The greatest lyrical song ever. No contest.

[@marcoevans2155]

Its catchy word salad babble. Many poets and artist of his day used this technique. Abstract nonsense.

[@miserableunoriginal]

@@marcoevans2155 the lyrics, though broad and abstract, are far from nonsense. They are clearly critiquing the ever changing social structure and societal norms that were being flipped on its head around this time in 1964/1965. Now Dylan does have numerous songs with nonsensical lyrics that are intended to paint an abstract picture of emotions rather then convey a “message”. But this one is definitely not just poetic nonsense.

[@mackb909]

This is one of my two favorite BD songs (the other is "Visions of Johanna"). Remember this was recorded in the studio live without overdubs, and he was accompanying himself on acoustic guitar and harmonica as he was rapping/singing.

[@waz3128]

Visions of Johanna could my favourite Dylan lyrics

[@spithounder]

He' s nobel laureate, probably one of the best writers of all time in regards to his reach in and influence. It's good to know a new generation is discovering and appreciating his work.

[@Matt_D_370z]

"Dylan was a big hip-hop fan-ever since rapper Kurtis Blow turned him on to artists like N.W.A and Public Enemy. 'These guys were definitely not bullshitting, Dylan wrote in "Chronicles." 'They were beating drums, tearing it up, hurling horses over cliffs.' "It's All Good" is his most gangsta moment: He adopts a Howlin' Wolf growl to flip the hip-hop catchphrase, kissing off a collapsing world where it isn't all good at all" (Rolling Stone "Bob Dylan: The Complete Album Guide" p. 67).

[@itsayswithoutgoing9571]

Bro, FINALLY! I’ve been requesting this one in the comments for a while. Hope it was worth the wait.

[@eirikrdberg1161]

Now this song he performs AMAZING live from 1965. Great that you reacted!

[@TrekBeatTK]

The rhyme scheme for this song is fabulous. Structured in three stanzas each with their own rhymes but with final lines of all three that rhyme with each other and the refrain. Mastery!

[@DEPARTMENTOFREDUNDANCYDEPT]

It is so satisfy to see someone from a different generation, who comes from a different cultural background and who has different musical tastes, discover this wonderful music and amazing song writing and poetry by Bob Dylan and make the connection between the music and culture of 1964 and the music and culture of today. THAT is magic of music and song writing, and it is a joy to behold.

[@ClifDickens]

DAMN. As a huge Bob Dylan fan, I'd never made the connection to Kendrick's cadence being similar but you are 100% spot on

[@shapursasan9019]

"He not busy being born is busy dying.” - Bob Dylan

[@lgpsan]

I like how he never says “I’m only bleeding” in the song itself. What do you make of that?

[@kevindurham7590]

Is that a "vision" you have just seen? For me the words are the "bleeding" - coming out from inside - an allegorical blood transfusion Or I could be completely wrong - it does not matter - its only a thought dream Cheers Kevin

[@budhee]

Born as this released, never heard til this year. Wow. Incredible stream of scathing assembly of words and sounds. Waiting for a cover of this - it surely wouldn't match but wortha go.

[@charliecochran3035]

This song to me has always felt like a very young man's journal where he addresses every entry to his Ma. Each entry seems to express some level of dismay, but ends with the young man telling himself he'll be fine. It's just life. Pretty simple really. Figuring out what he's talking about from one verse or even one line to the next is almost futile. He probably forgot most of it himself within a short time.

[@k-matsu]

The thing that a hip-hop artist should notice about Dylan immediately is his timing. Epecially with his early stuff, which is basically just human voice and guitar, sometimes with a very simple bass/drum rhythm section but often with none at all, it is the cadence of the voice, the pattern of the consanants and the way that he bounces off each syllable ... that creates ALL of the rhythm. And yet you cant help but to tap your fingers to the beat, because it is so catchy. It's alright ma is a decent enough example. A question in your nerves is lit Yet you know there is no answer fit To satisfy, insure you not to quit To keep it in your mind and not forget That it is not he or she or them or it That you belong to Put ANY beat track behind that and it will sound phenomenal. The words bounce off your mind in the way that any truly insightful rap lyric does. I could definitely see Bob putting out a successful Hip-Hop album, simply because the musical gift that he has can grow into a perfect song no matter what genre you choose. Go listen to Bob's stuff with the Staple Singers if you want to hear some good old gospel. And of course in the country category he did Nashville Skyline among others. Rock, pop, americana, blues, folk, and yeah, he could surely do hip-hop too.

[@AliasMark69]

Bob Dylan walks out to center stage.... Doubleday Field- Cooperstown N.Y. Crowd of around 7,000. He sits down with his guitar and sang the first verse of this masterpiece and the crowd went crazy screaming their approval that Bob stopped playing to say Thank You, then started the song over again. I was about 25 feet away and will never forget the way I felt and the crowds reaction. A Standing Ovation lasted for many minutes before Bob started doing...."Like A Rolling Stone" and that song was beyond description how everyone was blown away. A life changing event for me and my family.

[@kensilverstone1656]

"Beautiful laid flat." Brilliant comment. I've always loved Dylan on this basis alone. But I enjoy you taking the next step and moving up to try to interpret the lyrics, as you say, crazy to do on the first listening. thanks.

[@Luisaan145]

Oh, I strongly recommend Not Dark Yet if I haven't already. Heartbreaking!

[@alik5895]

It's a topical song straight out of the headlines which we 60 years later can't draw meaning from in the way listeners of 1965 could. This song was recorded the day that I was born. He was literally singing about me busy being born while everyone around me was busy dying.

[@mgman6000]

Hundred dollar plates is paying a hundred dollars to have a dinner at a political event in a fundraiser

[@sfgreg2008]

Dylan is a poet. He was influenced by the beats like Kerouac and Ginsberg, and also Dylan Thomas. His rhyme schemes have been used for centuries.

[@maxhammer4067]

His rhymes schemes also lean heavey on ts elliot and hank Williams

[@marcoevans2155]

His biggest influences was Little Richard and Woody Guthrie. In that order, Facts.

[@garyhamalainen1651]

What an incredible lyric on top of a somewhat unorthodox rythym structure. My probably over-simplified impression of the lyric is that he is just describing what he has observed in life and although troubled by it he's pretty sure that he can carry on without getting sucked into the madness and hypocrisy. I feel blessed to have lived through this period in popular music.

[@TrianglesAndCircles]

Yes! I've been waiting for this one.

[@BeardVsTheWorldUK1]

It is certainly interesting to hear the take of a Hip-Hop guy on this “proto-rap” song, as you call it , and I agree that many of the lyrics reach us on an emotional level. I also get the comparison to Kendrick Lamar-another artist always worth listening to. But the thing that sets Dylan apart is the sheer power and efficiency of his lyrics. They meet us head on when needed (see comments below for examples from this song) AND work on a metaphorical level, all in the least amount of words needed. The carefully selected notes he plays further underline the text, until many of the notions he “sings” about land like the bombs thousands of other rappers talked about and whose destructive power few have ever approached. This is why he won the Nobel Prize. In closing-I still get chills listening to this because of the guitar, because of the lyrics-dropping bombs on your moms, and most of all because no one hits as hard as Dylan does. It’s not even close. Wonderful video and thanks for doing this.

[@clinthowe7629]

there’s a video of him singing this.

[@Bekka_Noyb]

Another Dylan masterpiece! I suggest the following Dylan songs: Things Have Changed & It's All Over Now Baby Blue

[@Gnurklesquimp2]

Has anyone analyzed the rhythm? I'm really curious why it sounds so jarring yet so smooth and naturally delivered. It kinda reminds me of some of the stuff I've done with offset tuplets, tuplets based on an unconventional length of time, nested tuplets etc.

[@gregkrull528]

I really enjoyed your take on this gem by Bob Dylan. Your insights made me appreciate his genius even more. Well done.

[@DawnSuttonfabfour]

It means whatever it means to you. That's the beauty of Dylan. Am loving you starting to love Bob. He's very much a "Marmite" artist. People either love or loathe him. I highly, HIGHLY recommend his best live album "Live at The Budokan" which is Dylan perfection. His live gigs are famously "difficult" but Budokan is superb. Also the 15 minutes of "Desolation Row" is completely worth every second. There is a reason he was awarded a Nobel Prize in Literature. If I don't hear a notification from you before, I wish you a Happy Christmas 🎄

[@kenkaplan3654]

Not with this song. Along with "Masters of War" it is one of the most direct, didactic and pointed assaults on the madness and dysfunction of modern America life of the times. No surrealism like Tombstone Blues, Highway 61 and Desolation Row, Pick any verse,. It's obvious what he is doing. what he is assaulting "Disillusioned words like bullets bark As human gods aim for their mark Make everything from toy guns that spark To flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It’s easy to see without looking too far 'That not much is really sacred" "Advertising signs they con You into thinking you’re the one That can do what’s never been done That can win what’s never been won Meantime life outside goes on All around you" For them that must obey authority That they do not respect in any degree Who despise their jobs, their destinies Speak jealously of them that are free Cultivate their flowers to be Nothing more than something they invest in" "Old lady judges watch people in pairs Limited in sex, they dare To push fake morals, insult and stare While money doesn’t talk, it swears Obscenity, who really cares Propaganda, all is phony."

[@scottlbroco]

Great choice of a song for you to react to, Syed! If you like Bob Dylan now, just wait because within a couple of years from now he'll be essential listening to you. I know you're focused on Dylan's early works now, but when you reach the 80s, you'll have to hear "Infidels", an album produced by Dylan and Marc Knopfler. Dylan chose Knopfler and former Rolling Stones member Mick Taylor as the guitarists he plays with on the album. There's a song from the 90s that stands with Dylan's best work called "Not Dark Yet" that's stunning. I've a friend who's a huge Dylan fan and seen him a hundred and fourteen times, last I heard. He knows a guy who had the chorus of this song tattooed on his arms. On one arm he has "it's not dark yet", and on his other arm he has "but it's getting there". I've seen Dylan a few times and it's amazing how he's like a chameleon from one song to the next, almost like he's actually become a different character. He would've been a great actor if he'd wanted to; thank God he chose to be a songwriter.

[@Herzeleydt_Diesentrueb]

8:30 Hip-Hop appeared around 1972 - this poem was written '65. Enlighten me, if I'm wrong, pls

[@johndavids4780]

Dylan illustrates a feeling and brings home the point in the last line of each verse.

[@dyl-annfan6]

Dylan is unique, a one off, irreplaceable, the likes of whom we will never see again. So much amazing output, like no other. Listen to "Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie" more of less my "yard stick" on Bob Dylan, who else has written anything like this ? He's just amazing ...

[@patschickel8687]

One time I saw Jim in concert and he did this song. The crowd went crazy when he sang the line about the President standing naked. The President at the time was Richard Nixon. Can you imagine the audience reaction?

[@rikurodriguesneto6043]

On one of Dylan's live gigs he introduced this song "this song is called it's alright ma, i'm only bleeding ho ho ho" xD can't get it out of my head

[@williamlovett619]

Been so waiting for you to respond to this

[@Hayseo]

“The subterranean homesick blues” by Dylan is also basically a rap song.

[@MarkPuckett]

Bob's six-line stanzas where all lines rhyme except the last one is signature Dylan. You'll find it in other songs of his as well.

[@rogeebundy6002]

Oh my this is the song ive been hoping youd get to Bent out of shape by societys pliars

[@renatab8293]

nice video. I very much look forward to the next

[@robertmills8640]

I love your analytical reactions👍

[@dosesandmimoses]

This song personifies existentialism.. the genius .. indescribable

[@michelleneeds4165]

When you said about talking about an emotion on verse three, I remembered a Charles bukowski quote, where he says a bit glibly 'writing a poem you try to use as many words as possible to describe something simple, whilst writing a novel you try to use a few words as possible to describe anything complicated' I'm paraphrasing but I think it works here lol.

[@bethscott4330]

Thanks for covering Dylan. I wish I understood more of the meaning behind the words, maybe being an artist, it only matters what meaning we perceive. It’s most likely timeless and fluid.

[@edprzydatek8398]

Understanding the meaning of Dylan's words is sometimes an exercise in futility. But, still, we like to go along to the places he takes us.

[@ellenr3292]

He is not "covering" Bob... he is using our Bob for his inane purposes; fooled you I guess.

[@TheMarovan]

"Temptation's page flies out the door..." means when you go out into the adult world tempted by things that they say you can achieve but you crash against the reality of life harshnesss and when you are about to scream you realize everyone else is also having a hard time

[@mejbarron]

Young Dylan : "Bob Dylan ~ Town Hall, New York City. 60 years ago today. Full concert. 8:30pm New York time " -- at youtube

[@wolfgang4043]

Wow, this was very informative! Thank you!!

[@pulamusic]

"He not busy being born is busy dying." That lyric slays me.

[@siltom1962]

One of my favourites of his, in the top 5.

[@robertzimmerman3980]

Old Bob was rapping way before we even knew what rap was ! He’s a genius at what he does!!!

[@kevduff7416]

Bob Dylan’s the man I remember the first time I heard him back in 1993 when everybody was listening to dance music hip hop etc it was a cassette tape one side had another side of bob dylan and the other side was blood on the tracks blew my young mind at the time I’ve never looked back since

[@donaldbutcher1260]

This was the first album I bought with my own money, still makes me tingle when I hear it.

[@blakegass3627]

Verse thirteen is one of my favourite’s from Dylan, truly a man with his finger on the pulse.

[@susanbailey8479]

In your reference to Eminem, it’s ironic that I just read an article where Eminem said Dylan was one his most important influences. I love Dylan and if you haven’t heard, Subterranean Homesick Blues. That song seems so connected to rap and the story and stories are awesome. Love your channel.

[@sandrasmith8568]

Dylan is a masterpiece. Takes people with an intelligent deep thinking within oneself to appreciate. Thankfully, there are millions. Dylan will live with us forever.

[@jameshuston9589]

The mark of an intelligent man, when he says that he can't break it all down just listening once. Measure twice, cut once.

[@thorstenrock8708]

For the rhyming scheme, you might also want to check out Mozambique from the Desire album. Co-credits go to Jacques Levy.