Forever Young (Bob Dylan Song)
| Forever Young | |
|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | |
| publication | 1974 |
| length | 4:58 (slow version)
2:49 (fast version) |
| Genre (s) | skirt |
| Author (s) | Bob Dylan |
| album | Planet waves |
Forever Young is a rock song by Bob Dylan that first appeared in two different versions on the 1974 album Planet Waves . Later it was also released as a single.
The text is a string of good wishes for life and blessings (first line: “May god bless and keep you always” - “May God bless you and keep you at all times”), which are awarded to a young person who remains anonymous (“May you grow up ... "-" May you grow up ... ") . It consists of three stanzas, each of which ends as a refrain with the wish “May you stay forever young” - “May you stay young forever” . Due to the slow, ballad-like melody, the song has something solemn, comparable to a sacred hymn. In the context of the song, the wish to remain “always young” is not understood as the clichéd dream of “eternal youth”, but in a figurative sense as staying young in the heart and in the mind, which results from the (albeit also very metaphorical ) Stanzas emerges.
The song became one of Dylan's most popular tracks and has been played many times at his concerts. Its popularity led other artists to try their hand at the song - including Joan Baez , Johnny Cash , The Band (with Dylan live on The Last Waltz ), Grateful Dead , Meat Loaf , Kitty Wells , Blake Shelton and Diana Ross . Cover versions that were not directly adapted have also emerged over the years; Rod Stewart, for example, rewrote the song and made his own version of it that supports Dylan's piece in terms of content by conveying the same message. A version of the song that is unusual for a cover interpretation can be found on the fourth CD of the album Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International from 2012. The over 90-year-old Pete Seeger can be heard playing the melody no longer sings, but speaks to the music.
About English-language cover versions, there were also some in other languages, including in German by André Heller and Wolfgang Ambros of "Forever Young" as Forever Young played; at Morten Harket (head of the band a-ha ) states in Norwegian Evig Ung . Another German-language version is available from Wolfgang Niedecken and his band BAP .
Web links
literature
- Bob Dylan : Lyrics 1962–1985. Two thousand and one, Frankfurt am Main 1987.