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Rating: "Well, but this one, it's not Bob Dylan, is it?”, said a dear friend upon hearing "Girl Of The North Country" that opens "Nashville Skyline", "he's singing!” (meaning: "It's not Bob Dylan, he's singing!").
Indeed, it leaves you amazed. In duet with Cash, Dylan signs off on this new version of one of his classics, and he has a voice that's not his: low, soft, like a crooner, like a country singer. What happened to him? Nothing. He decided that it was enough as far as rock, political songs, and visions were concerned. Heading towards country. The disparaged silly country made up of fiddles and slide. But what is this rubbish? A joke? Bob, what are you doing? Nothing. Bob Dylan does Bob Dylan, in other words, whatever he wants. And it surprises us: change of voice, change of style, writing pop song lyrics. Happy? 'Nzomma.
Oh yes: surprising the public is nice if it's not done gratuitously. You can feel that this revolution is made just to shake off all the things he had become: a spokesperson for a generation, prophet of rock, high on cannabis and LSD. So there is something good, but there are things we could have done without.
There's "Lay, Lady, Lay", and thank goodness because this is a great song. There's "I Threw It All Away", "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You", "To Be Alone With You". These are still performed live today and hold their own. Simple love songs, but they are listenable and don't leave a bitter taste. There are some divertissements on the country canon: "Peggy Day", "Country Pie", "One More Night". They come and go and leave no lasting impression.
In short, nothing much, nothing astounding. Nothing revolutionary. Pleasant, that's all. As Alessandro Carrera said, it's not Dylan using country but country using Dylan. In the realm of country, it's a good album. However, symbolic: Dylan the chameleon can change voice, themes, style at his pleasure, he doesn’t want labels and if someone tries to put them on him, he surprises everyone. He was an artist at the peak, in 1966-7. Two years of silence, this bewildering album. Generally, when one reaches the top, you don't get back there. Is this the natural descending phase, a voluntary descending phase, or who knows what else? Will the peaks remain unrelated? No, it’s just a matter of time.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
06 Lay Lady Lay (03:21)
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
And you're the best thing that he's ever seen
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he's standing in front of you
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
I long to see you in the morning light
I long to reach for you in the night
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
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Other reviews
By the clash
"Bob’s voice here is so different from the previous album... that it is difficult to recognize."
"A simple album, essential in its music, too brief in its 27 minutes, carefree and sad, the two faces of love..."
By paolofreddie
"The great merit of the final result is that one can sense a relaxed and disenchanted atmosphere."
"Bob is now a family man, and he tries to stay out of the trouble that his previous life, as a rockstar, had entailed."
