5th Day of May

Así es, en este blog se celebra oficialmente el día en que Bob Dylan se casó con Isis. La espectacular historia, relatada en el siguiente video, que previamente ya apareció en este post, y que es, por cierto, la mejor performance que Bob Dylan hizo alguna vez.

Bob Dylan - Isis

Bob Dylan - Sara

Probablemente la canción más personal de Bob Dylan, y perteneciente al álbum Desire. En "Sara", Dylan le habla directamente a su esposa, con la que estaba a punto de terminar su matrimonio.

Pongo una versión incompleta, en vivo, de

EL MEJOR CONCIERTO DE BOB DYLAN

pero que está en su integridad, al igual que el resto del concierto, en el link ese en mayúsculas que acabo de poner.

Bob Dylan - Sara

I laid on a dune, I looked at the sky,
When the children were babies and played on the beach.
You came up behind me, I saw you go by,
You were always so close and still within reach.

Sara, Sara,
Whatever made you want to change your mind?
Sara, Sara,
So easy to look at, so hard to define.

I can still see them playin' with their pails in the sand,
They run to the water their buckets to fill.
I can still see the shells fallin' out of their hands
As they follow each other back up the hill.

Sara, Sara,
Sweet virgin angel, sweet love of my life,
Sara, Sara,
Radiant jewel, mystical wife.

Sleepin' in the woods by a fire in the night,
Drinkin' white rum in a Portugal bar,
Them playin' leapfrog and hearin' about Snow White,
You in the marketplace in Savanna-la-Mar.

Sara, Sara,
It's all so clear, I could never forget,
Sara, Sara,
Lovin' you is the one thing I'll never regret.

I can still hear the sounds of those Methodist bells,
I'd taken the cure and had just gotten through,
Stayin' up for days in the Chelsea Hotel,
Writin' "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" for you.

Sara, Sara,
Wherever we travel we're never apart.
Sara, oh Sara,
Beautiful lady, so dear to my heart.

How did I meet you? I don't know.
A messenger sent me in a tropical storm.
You were there in the winter, moonlight on the snow
And on Lily Pond Lane when the weather was warm.

Sara, oh Sara,
Scorpio Sphinx in a calico dress,
Sara, Sara,
You must forgive me my unworthiness.

Now the beach is deserted except for some kelp
And a piece of an old ship that lies on the shore.
You always responded when I needed your help,
You gimme a map and a key to your door.

Sara, oh Sara,
Glamorous nymph with an arrow and bow,
Sara, oh Sara,
Don't ever leave me, don't ever go.

Bob Dylan - One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)

Una más en video de

EL MEJOR CONCIERTO DE BOB DYLAN

cortesía, claro está, de este joven bloguero.

En esta ocasión, tenemos otra canción del excelente álbum Desire, pero en una versión muy superior a la original, a mí poco humilde parecer. Una interpretación verdaderamente escalofriante, o chilling, creo que sería más apropiado.

Se las dejo con la letra.

Bob Dylan - One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)


Your breath is sweet
Your eyes are like two jewels in the sky.
Your back is straight, your hair is smooth
On the pillow where you lie.
But I don't sense affection
No gratitude or love
Your loyalty is not to me
But to the stars above.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your daddy he's an outlaw
And a wanderer by trade
He'll teach you how to pick and choose
And how to throw the blade.
He oversees his kingdom
So no stranger does intrude
His voice it trembles as he calls out
For another plate of food.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Your sister sees the future
Like your mama and yourself.
You've never learned to read or write
There's no books upon your shelf.
And your pleasure knows no limits
Your voice is like a meadowlark
But your heart is like an ocean
Mysterious and dark.

One more cup of coffee for the road,
One more cup of coffee 'fore I go
To the valley below.

Para más videos de este concierto, revisen la etiqueta "Montreal 75". Y sí, la seriedad regresa al blog.

This Is Land Is Your Land

Se me ocurrió, ante la necesidad de un post por Fiestas Patrias, poner esta muy bonita canción, compuesta por Woody Guthrie, y que creo atravieza fronteras. Prueba de ello podría ser la versión que tocara la Rolling Thunder Revue al fin de cada maratónico concierto, y específicamente la que pondré fue tocada en Canadá, en el que yo considero es

EL MEJOR CONCIERTO DE BOB DYLAN

por artistas como Bob Dylan, Joan Baez, Roger McGuinn, Joni Mitchell, entre otros.

Sin más, los dejo con dos versiones del mismo Guthrie, y finalmente la del concierto ya mencionado.

Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land (versión 1)


Woody Guthrie - This Land Is Your Land (versión 2)

Bob Dylan - This Land Is Your Land

Puse para buscar bandera del Perú en Google y la mitad de fotos eran de Leysi Suárez, así que ahí va.

Ah, y felices fiestas patrias, pes.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - IV

A ver, ya puse esta misma versión, que es la de la Bootleg Series Vol.5, pero únicamente en forma de audio, hace ya algún tiempo. Sin embargo, resulta que también es la misma versión del que ha sido anunciado acá como

EL MEJOR CONCIERTO DE BOB DYLAN

y del que ya puse un par de canciones más en forma de video también. Hablo de Isis y de Romance In Durango. Así que, al encontrarla en forma de video, se me hizo un deber ponerla acá también.

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall

Y si no han bajado ya el concierto en su integridad, pucha, mejor no lo hagan. Váyanse y no vuelvan nunca más.

Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun

Todo empezó cuando descubrí este video de Isis, hace varios meses, y me vi obligado a hacerme de todo ese concierto, que encontré un par de meses después, y que puse hace unas semanas, y ha tenido una muy buena recepción por parte de ustedes, por cierto (pero si eres uno de los que todavía no lo han bajado por algún extraño motivo, ¡largo, fuera de este blog!).

Y bueno, justo encontré el video de la canción que le precede a Isis del mismo concierto, una también de su disco Desire (para bajar también acá), llamada Romance In Durango. De más está decir que es genial, por lo que la pongo con la letra.

Bob Dylan - Romance In Durango


Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun
Dust on my face and my cape,
Me and Magdalena on the run
I think this time we shall escape.

Sold my guitar to the baker's son
For a few crumbs and a place to hide,
But I can get another one
And I'll play for Magdalena as we ride.

No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.

Past the Aztec ruins and the ghosts of our people
Hoofbeats like castanets on stone.
At night I dream of bells in the village steeple
Then I see the bloody face of Ramon.

Was it me that shot him down in the cantina
Was it my hand that held the gun?
Come, let us fly, my Magdalena
The dogs are barking and what's done is done.

No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.

At the corrida we'll sit in the shade
And watch the young torero stand alone.
We'll drink tequila where our grandfathers stayed
When they rode with Villa into Torreon.

Then the padre will recite the prayers of old
In the little church this side of town.
I will wear new boots and an earring of gold
You'll shine with diamonds in your wedding gown.

The way is long but the end is near
Already the fiesta has begun.
The face of God will appear
With His serpent eyes of obsidian.

No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.

Was that the thunder that I heard?
My head is vibrating, I feel a sharp pain
Come sit by me, don't say a word
Oh, can it be that I am slain?

Quick, Magdalena, take my gun
Look up in the hills, that flash of light.
Aim well my little one
We may not make it through the night.

No llores, mi querida
Dios nos vigila
Soon the horse will take us to Durango.
Agarrame, mi vida
Soon the desert will be gone
Soon you will be dancing the fandango.

Y a partir de ahora, empezaré a poner los links también en negritas.

Bob Dylan - Montreal '75 [Rolling Tunder Series]

No pasa muy seguido que me toca postear algo en este blog que considero una verdadera joya. No, decir "joya" es decir poco, puesto que el concierto de Bob Dylan que voy a poner trasciende cualquier valor material. Es arte en su más pura expresión.

La expresión del arte.

Ya a más de un mes de haber empezado la Rolling Thunder Revue, Bobby y sus amigos llegaron a Canadá, y tras tocar en Toronto un par de dias antes, llegaron a la magnífica ciudad de Montreal, el 4 de diciembre del 75, donde, a mí parecer, nono, antes los ojos de Dios que lo ve todo y es absolutamente objetivo, dieron el mejor concierto de toda la gira, y de lejos.

Se los adelanto, Bob Dylan es Dios.

La setlist es de las más completas, empezando con una energía impresionante y desbordante, con temas como "It Ain't Me, Babe", "The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll" y "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall", que apenas diez años antes hubiese sido inconcebible su interpretación con tanta rapidez y... locura, creo que es la palabra adecuada.

El denominativo de "Star" se queda chico.

Luego, pasa a un par de temas nuevos de ese entonces, de su genial disco "Desire", con los que mantiene la misma fuerza, llegando al climax del concierto en la canción "Isis", absolutamente maniaca, y que ya he puesto en forma de video antes, y cuyo descubrimiento fue lo que me llevó a encontrar este concierto, y les aseguro que no fue fácil.

Isis, oh, Isis.

Luego hay un segmento de cuatro canciones con Joan Baez, en las que los ánimos bajan, pero no por eso el nivel. Es bastante nostálgico escucharlos con tan buena química, que no hace sino hacernos acordar de sus épocas juntos en el 64.

Termina la primera parte del concierto con "I Shall Be Released".

Empieza la segunda parte con temas más calmados, del "Bringing It All Back Home", como son "It's All Over Now, Baby Blue" y "Love Minus Zero/No Limit", a lo que les sigue con un nuevo clásico, "Tangled Up In Blue", en la misma línea, y la mejor y más larga versión que he escuchado en vivo de dicho tema.

Pasaría luego a cuatro canciones del "Desire", completamente frescas, puesto que el disco ni siquiera había salido a la venta, incluyendo una potentísima versión de "Hurricane". Para de ahí llegar a una excelente y revisitada versión de "Just Like A Woman", en la misma onda que las del comienzo.

Bob Dylan y Rubin "Hurricane" Carter.

Termina, pues, este tour de force con "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" seguida de la excelente canción compuesta por Woody Guthrie, "This Land Is Your Land", e interpretada por todos los artistas participantes en la gira.

La lista de canciones:

1. When I Paint My Masterpiece
2. It Ain't Me, Babe
3. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
4. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You
5. A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
6. Romance In Durango
7. Isis
8. Blowin' In The Wind
9. Dark As A Dungeon
10. Mama, You Been On My Mind
11. Never Let Me Go
12. I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine
13. I Shall Be Released
14. It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
15. Love Minus Zero/No Limit
16. Tangled Up In Blue
17. Oh, Sister
18. Hurricane
19. One More Cup Of Coffee (Valley Below)
20. Sara
21. Just Like A Woman
22. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
23. This Land Is Your Land

Ahora sólo les queda bajar. Descargar. Si no lo consideran necesario, sólo les pido una cosa: no vuelvan a este blog, y si los conozco en la vida real, no me dirijan la palabra nunca más. No han, pues, entendido nada. Es este el mejor concierto de la gira, y probablemente, el mejor concierto de Dylan, si es que tal sentencia pueda ser alguna vez pronunciada categóricamente.

¿Pueden decirle que no a Bob?

Bob Dylan - Montreal '75

[DOWNLOAD DISC 1]

[DOWNLOAD DISC 2]

Y para los que lo notaron, no, la etiqueta de "Religión" no está por error. Bob Dylan es Dios, y esta es su revelación. Sólo nos queda volvernos temerosos.

A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall - II

Cada vez le entro más a la época de Bob del Blood on the Tracks, y del 75, hablando más inclusivamente. En parte por ese motivo, la maniaca versión del Bootleg Series Vol. 5 de A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall me parece más buena con cada escuchada, y mi pathos actual me obliga a ponerla. Y con ella, de paso la letra, que es excelente.

Bob Dylan - A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall


Oh, what did you see, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what did you see, my darling young one?
I saw a newborn baby with wild wolves all around it
I saw a highway of diamonds with nobody on it,
I saw a black branch with blood that kept drippin',
I saw a room full of men with their hammers a-bleedin',
I saw a white ladder all covered with water,
I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken,
I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

And what did you hear, my blue-eyed son?
And what did you hear, my darling young one?
I heard the sound of a thunder, it roared out a warnin',
Heard the roar of a wave that could drown the whole world,
Heard one hundred drummers whose hands were a-blazin',
Heard ten thousand whisperin' and nobody listenin',
Heard one person starve, I heard many people laughin',
Heard the song of a poet who died in the gutter,
Heard the sound of a clown who cried in the alley,
And it's a hard, and it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
And it's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, who did you meet, my blue-eyed son?
Who did you meet, my darling young one?
I met a young child beside a dead pony,
I met a white man who walked a black dog,
I met a young woman whose body was burning,
I met a young girl, she gave me a rainbow,
I met one man who was wounded in love,
I met another man who was wounded with hatred,
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Oh, what'll you do now, my blue-eyed son?
Oh, what'll you do now, my darling young one?
I'm a-goin' back out 'fore the rain starts a-fallin',
I'll walk to the depths of the deepest black forest,
Where the people are many and their hands are all empty,
Where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters,
Where the home in the valley meets the damp dirty prison,
Where the executioner's face is always well hidden,
Where hunger is ugly, where souls are forgotten,
Where black is the color, where none is the number,
And I'll tell it and think it and speak it and breathe it,
And reflect it from the mountain so all souls can see it,
Then I'll stand on the ocean until I start sinkin',
But I'll know my song well before I start singin',
And it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard, it's a hard,
It's a hard rain's a-gonna fall.

Isis

Bob Dylan - Isis

I married Isis on the fifth day of May
But I could not hold on to her very long
So I cut off my hair and I rode straight away
For the wild unknown country where I could not go wrong.

I came to a high place of darkness and light
The dividing line ran through the center of town
I hitched up my pony to a post on the right
Went in to a laundry to wash my clothes down.

A man in the corner approached me for a match
I knew right away he was not ordinary
He said "Are you looking for something easy to catch?"
I said "I got no money". He said "That ain't necessary".

We set out that night for the cold in the North
I gave him my blanket he gave me his word
I said "Where are we going?" He said "We'd be back by the fourth"
I said "That's the best new that I've ever heard".

I was thinking about turquoise I was thinking about gold
I was thinking about diamonds and the world's biggest necklace
As we rode through the canyons through the devilish cold
I was thinking about Isis how she thought I was so reckless.

How she told me that one day we meet up again
And things would be different the next time we wed
If I only could hang on and just be her friend
I still can't remember all the best things she said.

We came to the pyramids all embedded in ice
He said "There's a body I'm trying to find
If I carry it out it'll bring a good prize"
It was then that I knew what he had on his mind.

The wind it was howling and the snow was outrageous
We chopped through the night and we chopped through the dawn
When he died I was hoping that it wasn't contagious
But I made up my mind that I had to go on.

I broke into the tomb but the casket was empty
There was no jewels no nothing I felt I'd been had
When I saw that my partner was just being friendly
When I took up his offer I must-a been mad.

I picked up his body and I dragged him inside
Threw him down in the hole and I put back the cover
I said a quick prayer and I felt satisfied
Then I rode back to find Isis just to tell her I love her.

She was there in the meadow where the creek used to rise
Blinded by sleep and in need of a bed
I came in from the East with the sun in my eyes
I cursed her one time then I rode on ahead.

She said "Where ya been?" I said "No place special"
She said "You look different" I said "Well I guess"
She said "You been gone" I said "That's only natural"
She said "You gonna stay?" I said "If you want me to, yes! ".

Isis oh Isis you mystical child
What drives me to you is what drives me insane
I still can remember the way that you smiled
On the fifth day of May in the drizzling rain.

Es una versión en vivo del 4 de diciembre del 75, en Montreal. Y para colmo, hay un video de exactamente la misma canción, aunque algo cortado. Para mi escueta interpretación de la historia, revisen este viejo post.

Bob Dylan - Isis