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When talking about Bob Dylan and his dense and winding discographic career, many tend to jump directly from "Under The Red Sky" to "Time Out Of Mind," completely bypassing the biennium 1992-1993, years in which the singer-songwriter decided, while waiting to find great inspiration for new compositions, to return to his roots: he decided to pay tribute to his oldest and deepest musical and artistic origins, with the albums "Good As I Been To You" and "World Gone Wrong", the first acoustic albums since "Another Side Of Bob Dylan," dating back to the now distant 1964. A choice partly due to contractual obligations, but in its own way, courageous, radical, against the current, almost reactionary: the typical uncompromising Dylanian turn.
"World Gone Wrong" from 1993 is essentiality made into an album; at first listen, it may sound even too austere: it is a one-man record, just Bob Dylan and his acoustic guitar, nothing else, nothing at all, except for the trusty harmonica that peeks out in "Stack-A-Lee." The artist's voice, which has lost the brilliance of the times of "Desire" and "Street Legal" in favor of a dry and nasal tone, further contributes to characterize the atmosphere of "World Gone Wrong," which smells of dust, whiskey, of an America now distant in time and almost forgotten, of a severe and uncompromising, traditional acoustic and rural folk-blues, older than Woody Guthrie.
It is a homogeneous album, without grand peaks, songs like the almost epic "Jack-A-Roe" or the ramshackle blues of "World Gone Wrong", "Ragged & Dirty", and "Broke Down Engine" stand out for the mastery with which the Duluth Jokerman manages to revive this primordial blues, with a "realistic" approach, not of modernization or sweetening but of pure historical transposition; "Two Soldiers" and "Delia" are bare and raw ballads, imbued with a dark drama like the ancient tragedies they evoke, while "Love Henry" and "Blood In My Hands" offer a bit of warmth and sweetness, in rough and unadorned form, but sincere and emotional, as does the short "Lone Pilgrim", which closes the album like a simple, fleeting but intense farewell.
Four years later, Bob Dylan would present himself to his audience again with "Time Out Of Mind" and it would be a whole different story, "World Gone Wrong" is not an easy-listening album and is a niche product, as evidenced by its poor commercial success despite the name Bob Dylan stamped on the cover; it was born out of an intimate need of the artist and certainly not to pursue some high sales figures or even to attract new admirers; it is not a masterpiece but holds high value as a historical document, ennobled by the fidelity, and deep respect with which the singer-songwriter approaches a particular type of music that sits at the peak of his artistic genealogical tree.
Tracklist Lyrics and Samples
06 Delia (05:41)
Delia was a gambling girl, gambled all around,
Delia was a gambling girl, she laid her money down.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia's dear ol' mother took a trip out West,
When she returned, little Delia gone to rest.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia's daddy weeped, Delia's momma moaned,
Wouldn't have been so bad if the poor girl died at home.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Curtis' looking high, Curtis' looking low,
He shot poor Delia down with a cruel forty-four.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
High up on the housetops, high as I can see,
Looking for them rounders, looking out for me.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Men in Atlanta, tryin' to pass for white,
Delia's in the graveyard, boys, six feet out of sight.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Judge says to Curtis, "What's this noise about?"
"All about them rounders, Judge, tryin' to cut me out."
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Curtis said to the judge, "What might be my fine?"
Judge says, "Poor boy, you got ninety-nine."
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Curtis' in the jail house, drinking from an old tin cup,
Delia's in the graveyard, she ain't gettin' up.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia, oh Delia, how can it be?
You loved all them rounders, never did love me.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
Delia, oh Delia, how can it be?
You wanted all them rounders, never had time for me.
All the friends I ever had are gone.
10 Lone Pilgrim (02:43)
I came to the place where the lone pilgrim lay,
And pensively stood by his tomb,
When in a low whisper I heard something say:
How sweetly I sleep here alone.
The tempest may howl and the loud thunder roar
And gathering storms may arise,
But calm is my feeling, at rest is my soul,
The tears are all wiped from my eyes.
The call of my master compelled me from home,
No kindred or relative nigh.
I met the contagion and sank to the tomb,
My soul flew to mansions on high.
Go tell my companion and children most dear
To weep not for me now I'm gone.
The same hand that led me through seas most severe
Has kindly assisted me home.
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