Dylan Cover: Mr. Tambourine Man

April 03, 2024 00:06:06
Dylan Cover: Mr. Tambourine Man
Heart Banter by David Gittlin
Dylan Cover: Mr. Tambourine Man

Apr 03 2024 | 00:06:06

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Show Notes

Bob Dylan wrote and recorded the original version of "Mr. Tambourine Man," but The Byrds' electrified folk-rock version shot it to #1 on both the US and UK charts. The song hadn't been released when The Byrds learned it from a demo Dylan gave to their manager, Jim Dickson.

Dylan released Tambourine Man in March 1965 on his Bringing It All Back Home album.

What is "Mr. Tambourine Man" about? On the surface, this tambourine man is a wandering musician whose music has captured Dylan under its spell. The song is considered by many to be about drug experiences, with lines like "Take me for a trip upon your magic swirling ship" and "Take me disappearin' through the smoke rings of my mind." Phrases like these suggest a marijuana or LSD trip. Dylan is famously close-lipped about explaining his songs, but in his 1985 Biograph compilation album, he revealed that "Mr. Tambourine Man" is not about drugs. Instead, he said the song was inspired by a backup folk musician named Bruce Langhorne, who played a large tambourine in one of Dylan's recording sessions.

To me, the song's poetic images are like impressionist paintings. The melody is haunting and mesmerizing. The song stands alone as a true work of art. Here's my version.

 

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Episode Transcript

[00:00:11] Speaker A: Hey, mister Tamborie let him play a. [00:00:15] Speaker B: Song for me how much we be and there is no place Hungary. [00:00:26] Speaker A: Hey. [00:00:27] Speaker B: Mister Tampering man play song in the. [00:00:33] Speaker A: Jaguar in you when all that evening's. [00:00:49] Speaker B: Empire has returned in his hand vanished from mine left me blindly to stand but still not sleeping. [00:01:06] Speaker A: My weariness me. [00:01:10] Speaker B: I'm burning on my feet I have no love to meet the ancient empty streets to detriment. [00:01:27] Speaker A: Hey, mister timber man. [00:01:30] Speaker B: Play song for me in that jingle. [00:01:35] Speaker A: Jingle morning I come by with you take me on a trip upon your. [00:01:51] Speaker B: Magic sword and ship my senses have been stripped my hands can't be wait. [00:02:03] Speaker A: Only for my good years to be wandering I'm ready to go anywhere I am ready for defeat into my own. [00:02:20] Speaker B: Way kissed a dance and spell away. [00:02:25] Speaker A: I promise to go on me hey. [00:02:33] Speaker B: Mister temporary Memphis all for me. [00:02:41] Speaker A: And. [00:02:41] Speaker B: There is no place I am going. [00:02:44] Speaker A: To hey, mister Tambourine man care so. [00:02:53] Speaker B: For me and that jingle tangle morning. [00:02:58] Speaker A: I come following me oh, you might hear a laughing, spinning swinging at me. [00:03:10] Speaker B: Across the sun starting with anyone it's just escaping on the road before the. [00:03:21] Speaker A: Sky there are no fences facing and if you hear the vague traces I. [00:03:40] Speaker B: Wouldn'T pay anywhere it's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing. [00:03:53] Speaker A: Hey, mister tempering man pray so for me I'm. [00:04:00] Speaker B: Not sleeping and there is no place. [00:04:03] Speaker A: I am going to hey, mister Temburry man pray so for me morning when I come back leaving you take me disappearing through the swirlings of my mind. [00:04:39] Speaker B: Down the foggy burns of time far from the frozen leaves I give the. [00:04:49] Speaker A: Wonder which far on the twisted reach. [00:04:54] Speaker B: For crazy sorrow. [00:04:59] Speaker A: Yes, it danced beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving. [00:05:05] Speaker B: Free still awaiting by the sea circle. [00:05:11] Speaker A: By the circle sand forget about today. [00:05:18] Speaker B: Until tomorrow. [00:05:24] Speaker A: Hey, mister Tamari man who does something? [00:05:30] Speaker B: I'm not sleeping and there is no. [00:05:34] Speaker A: Place that I'm going to hey, mister Tuckery man, play song for me hotel.

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