Blood on the Tracks

Bird on the horizon, sittin' on a fence,

He's singin' his song for me at his own expense.

And I'm just like that bird, oh, oh,

Singin' just for you.

I hope that you can hear,

Hear me singin' through these tears.

-from You're a big girl now (Blood on the Tracks-1975)

I confronted Dylan pretty late in the process of my musical discovery. My early impression of him was that stereotypical 'Poet of Protest'/'Preacher' thing - singing what people at that time wanted to hear rather than what he wanted to say or what he felt like (yes, he finally said this in his autobiography).

But as I started to dig more and more of Dylan, and came across albums like Highway 61/Blonde on Blonde/Bringing it all back Home, the impression started to change a bit and justifiably so. In fact, I started to love Bringing it all back Home (but was never in my top 5 ). Then I heard Blood on the Tracks, and my whole idea of Bob Dylan changed (yes, that beautiful thing called hindsight played a big role). There was so much written about the album and the circumstances under which it was made, they surely played a role. All these articles and write-ups apart, I think I was capable enough to understand (like anybody else) the brilliance of Blood on the Tracks. And I knew it would always be my all time second favourite album.

The most outstanding thing about this album is the unadulterated expression of feelings (confession to be precise) - which I could never experience in any of Dylan's albums. Songs like You're a big girl Now, If you see her, say Hello & Shelter from the Storm - there is heartbreak & remorse & nostalgia written all over (You're a big girl now -no matter what people say, this is my favourite Dylan song - I have never come across a superior case of songwriting. You can't help but vouch for the man. No wonder, he got the woman back) . And to have something like this from someone like Dylan is truly amazing. Then there we have the magical, Tangled up in Blue & Idiot Wind.

It is said that Blood on the Tracks got a very indifferent press when it was issued. From my point of view (and many would agree), BOTT is the only Bob Dylan album which has aged so tremendously well. The songs would always remain universal and valid.