Rough And Rowdy Ways/ Bob Dylan - singer-songwriter

By Narendra Kusnur

Album: Rough And Rowdy Ways
Artiste: Bob Dylan
Genre: Singer-songwriter/ folk-rock
Label: Columbia Records/ Sony
Rating: *****

That ancient voice sounds just that shade rougher and gruffier, like the outcome of a thousand whisky-laced cigars. Bob Dylan’s fans had a heady taste of it with the surprise release of three songs, which helped fight the lockdown blues.

Finally, the most awaited album in recent memory is out. With a title inspired by a Jimmie Rodgers country song, 'Rough And Rowdy Ways' fulfils expectations in every manner possible. Throughout, the lyrics are filled with surprises, mentioning historical events, paying tribute to greats, taking a jibe at the good, bad and not-so-ugly, or just enjoying themselves in reason and rhyme.

The first album of original songs after Dylan won the controversial Nobel Prize For Literature in 2016, 'Rough And Rowdy Ways' sounds every minute like a philosopher's essay. “Mother of Muses, sing for my heart, sing of a love too soon to depart; Sing of the heroes who stood alone, whose names are engraved in tablets of stone,” he says on ‘Mother Of Muses’, almost as if to lash out at critics of the award.

“I'm first among equals, second to none; Last of the best, you can bury the rest”, he announces on ’False Prophet’, and then sings, “I don't love nobody, give me a kiss” on ‘Key West (Philosopher Pirate)’.  “Go home to your wife, stop visiting mine; One day I’ll forget to be kind”, he sings on ’Black Rider’, a tune which could pass off as a Ted-X speech.

After a rough patch from the mid-1980s, Dylan has had a resurgence of sorts after his 1997 album 'Time Out Of Mind'. After his epic 'Tempest" in 2012, he experimented in versions from the Great American Songbook, probably making Frank Sinatra stir in his grave.

An album of original material was needed, and boom, on March 27 this year, Dylan gave the first hint by releasing the 18-minute ‘Murder Most Foul’. Beginning with an allusion to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in November 1963 (barely six months after his pathbreaking second album 'The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan' was released), he goes on to pay tribute to a string of favourite musicians. Thus we have direct or indirect references to artistes from Etta James to Stan Getz, Fleetwood Mac to the Eagles and Queen, Jimi Hendrix to BB King to the Who and Tina Turner (on the lines “Tommy can you hear me, I’m the Acid Queen”).

The quintessential Dylan name-dropping appears often, beginning with the opening track ‘I Contain Multitudes’ where he sings, “I'm just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones; like them British bad boys the Rolling Stones” in sharp contrast to the theme of his 1966 hit ‘Like A Rolling Stone’.

Elsewhere, one finds mentions of Fred Truman, Martin Luther King, George Patton, Uncle Sam, Lil Susie, Charlie, Mary Lou and Miss Pearl, whoever she is. He talks of Jews, Hinduism, Sanskrit and Arabic, and of spiritual surrender, of preaching “the gospel, the gospel of love, a love so real, a love so true”.

After paying tribute to John Lennon in 'Tempest', Dylan writes ‘Goodbye Jimmy Reed’ for the great blues master. It’s a contrastingly uptempo tune in an album filled with laidback orchestrations gently caressing the backdrop.

Guitar, piano, bass and drums are used smoothly with accordion and violin enhancing ‘Murder Most Foul’. The credits also mention popular singer Fiona Apple, though one really can’t figure out where she appears, unless she put on a Dylan voice and dressed up like Cate Blanchett in the film 'I'm Not There'. Strangely, there's no mention of the producer and one would assume Dylan did the job himself.

Spread over 10 songs and 70 minutes, 'Rough And Rowdy Ways' is a brilliant journey into the depths of creative songwriting. Dylan turned 79 last month, and he's lyrically ageing like French wine. He’s been writing great songs for nearly six decades, and for that, he remains unparalleled in the history and future of music.