Sign on the Window isn't the Bob Dylan podcast you need, but it's definitely the one that you want! Each week we select a Dylan song at random, live with the song for a week (or two) and then get together to discuss. This week we got back to 1970 with "Time Passes Slowly" off New Morning.
This week Kelly and Daniel briefly talk Scratch and Al Kooper being "cheesed" off (3:00), our versions (9:00) and the song itself (15:00). We closed with our playlist, recommendations and next week's epic selection.
Next episode: The cabaret was quiet except for the drillin' in the wall
CONTEXT (3:00)
There's a play Scratch by Archibald MacLeish — based on The Devil and Daniel Webster. Dylan wrote that he met with him and this song (or, at least, song title), "Father of Night" and "New Morning" were proposed. Later he said he'd already written the songs when he went to see him. Later MacLeish wrote to his publisher that Dylan was incapable of making songs.
Either way, this is one the earliest songs from New Morning. It was recorded many times in 1970 — March 4 (in 1 take, as "New Song 2"); March 5 (3 takes); May 1 (4 takes), June 2 (14 takes), and August 12 (8 takes, including our New Morning cut).
Al Kooper appeared on the record and noted the difficulty of its recording:
When I finished that album I never wanted to speak to him again … I was cheesed off at how difficult [the whole thing was] … He just changed his mind every three seconds so I just ended up doing the work of three albums … It was the first time I went in and had an arrangement idea for it and I said, ‘Let me go in and cut this track and then you can sing over it.’ So I cut this track and it was really good … and he came in and pretended like he didn’t understand where to sing on it.
Dylan has never played the song live.
VERSIONS (9:00)
In the myriad recording sessions, we have a few versions we discuss. Obviously, the New Morning version from August 12, as well as the May 1 version with George Harrison and June 2 version.
SONG ITSELF (15:00)
Thematically, Daniel and Kelly talk about the idea of escape (which we've seen with Planet Waves, "Went to See the Gypsy," "Shelter From the Storm" and, most recently, "Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You") inside this nice country tune about simplicity and communing with nature.
They discuss the natural setting, fishing, Suze, wagons, and Dylan's idea of utopia.
DOES IT WORK IN 2019?
As this podcast is named after a similarly-themed New Morning song, Daniel's attachment goes further than Kelly. It's a simple song — but not as delicate as "Sign on the Window." If this wasn't Dylan, maybe it's a pass?
THE EPISODE’S BOOKLET & PLAYLIST (23:00)
RECOMMENDATIONS
Kelly recommends Great Grandpa live and Stranger Things season 3.
Daniel finished Barry Lopez's Horizons and listening to The Ringer's Binge Mode along with the back half of Harry Potter.
ENDINGS
There's 415 songs left. Kelly guessed our next episode with #363. That'd be "Let Me Die In My Footsteps," which is not our next episode. It's #283, "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts." See ya next time for a long one!
REFERENCES IN EPISODE
Pronouncing the longest place name in NZ and the World! (Taumata)
Follow us wherever you listen to podcasts. See our real-time playlist See That My Playlist is Kept Clean on Spotify. Follow us intermittently on Twitter and Instagram.
Tell your friends about the show, rate and review wherever they let you, and consider supporting us by subscribing or at Patreon.
092 – "Time Passes Slowly"