Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
| Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again | |
|---|---|
| Bob Dylan | |
| publication | 1966 |
| length | 7:07 |
| Genre (s) | Folk rock |
| Author (s) | Bob Dylan |
| Label | Columbia Records |
| album | Blonde on blonde |
Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again is a folk-rock song of American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan , in 1966 on his album Blonde on Blonde and shortened in full length as a single has been released.
In 1976 a live version appeared on the Hard Rain album . An alternative take that was played a little faster was released in 2005 in the Bootleg Series Vol. 7.
The song is about an obscure odyssey that is painful at times and at the end leads back to its starting point, which triggers outspoken frustration and pain in the lyrical self .
The music magazine Uncut put the piece on their list of the 40 best songs by Bob Dylan at number 13.
Emergence
Dylan was unhappy with his studio work in early 1966 and accepted an offer from his producer Bob Johnston to move production to Nashville . There, Dylan and the accompanying band recorded 20 takes of this song on February 17, 1966. He repeatedly restructured the music and the lyrics so that they spent a total of three hours recording. The 20th and last take was finally selected as the master take. Take 5 was later to be released in the Bootleg Series.
Lyrics
The song consists of nine stanzas with eleven verses each. In it, Dylan describes an agonizing odyssey, which thematically brings him closer to Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues , which he released on the previous album Highway 61 Revisited .
Dylan uses various literary characters in "Stuck Inside of Mobile". In the first stanza the ragman (rag collector) is introduced, a mute contemporary who draws circles on the street and does not allow himself to be spoken to. The motif of being held fast already appears in the first stanza when certain women supply the narrator with tape, but he intuitively knows that he cannot escape. At the end of each stanza there is the refrain , which consists of three verses. The lyrical self expresses its incredible frustration at being stuck in Mobile (Alabama) again after all the antics with the Memphis Blues .
In the second stanza, Shakespeare appears talking to a French girl. The narrator would like to know if the girl told him off, but the post office was stolen and the mailbox is locked. In the third stanza a female figure appears again. Mona warns the self of the railroad workers who would drink its blood like wine. The narrator remembers his only encounter with a railroad worker; the latter smoked his eyelids and poked cigarettes.
In the fourth stanza, Dylan attacks artistically hypocrisy and silence when talking about the death of his grandfather, who towards the end lost all control over himself and even started a fire; but when he dies, everyone is said to be totally shocked and did not expect it. Only the lyrical me saw it coming. The fifth set of verses is about how politicians want to prove themselves to be strong men and yet show closeness to the people. For example, the senator shows everyone his rifle and at the same time distributes free tickets for his son's wedding. The narrator says that he almost got arrested and luckily was not found under a truck without such a card.
In the sixth stanza the lyrical ego criticizes the superficiality, mendacity and hypocrisy of a priest whom he opposes harshly. So he asks him why he dresses like this and confronts him with negative headlines; he is cursed by the priest, obviously because the ego is open and finally indicates to him that he (the priest) is just like himself and that he hopes the priest is satisfied with it. The seventh verse tells of experiences with drugs , when the rainman (obviously the dealer ) supplies the lyrical self with Texas medicine ( speed ) and railroad gin (homemade booze ). The narrator mixes the two components (Like a fool I mixed them) and then suffers from the fact that the people around him are all uglier, the mind doesn't quite work and he no longer has any sense of time.
Ruthie is the character of the eighth stanza. She invites the lyrical self to a honky tonk lagoon , where you can watch her dance free of charge and marvel at the Panama moon . The narrator is confronted with a sexual offer, to which he replies that he has a debutante . She - so Ruthie - knows what he needs, but she knows what he wants. In the last verse, the narrator observes how crazy people want to climb a facade and fall down in perfect timing. He himself wonders what price one has to pay in order not to have to go through all of this again.
Cover versions
Grateful Dead played the song live on stage for over two decades. When Dylan toured with them in 1987, the song was also a regular part of the repertoire. For the soundtrack to the film I'm Not There took Cat Power on the song. Kiko Veneno and North Mississippi Allstars also tried their hand at the piece.
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/Uncut_P2.htm#Dylan
- ↑ http://bjorner.com/DSN01225%20%2866%29.htm#_Toc476200874