Bob Dylan - It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding) - Reaction (First Time Listening) 

"He not busy being born is busy dying" That's truly A-line to live by, My teacher my English teacher in high school had it written above his door. It means that every day you should be trying to change yourself Is the reborn in that constant evolution allow yourself to die and love yourself to be born, But if you're wasting your life not doing anything you're just kind of marching towards death

I'm 72 - old enough to remember all the milestones in pop music. This song and this album reset all the rules that were being followed in the mid-60s. It's just historic!

Probably the best lyrics of any song ever written.

It's the kind of song you could listen to a thousand times and still discover new meaning with each listen

This kid's reaction is the same as mine---55 years ago: goose bumps and incredulity that have never diminished.

The creativity that Bob displayed in that short span between 1965 and 1967 is probably the most astonishing output of any artist in any field. Not only did he create 4 amazing albums (Bringing it all Back Home, Hwy 61 Revisited, Blonde on Blonde, and John Wesley Harding) but he also recorded all the Basement Tapes material with the Band. Incredible! To me, the most amazing song of the period is Sad-eyed Lady of the Lowlands. Yet he continued to produce masterworks in all the decades since. Some of his lesser known songs that are definitely worth a good listen: Blind WIllie McTell, Dark Eyes, Abandoned Love, Things Have Changed. But trying to make a short concise list is impossible. The number of absolutely incredible songs in his catalog is mind-blowing. He simply has no equal.

One of my favourite songs ever. It's embedded in my brain for decades. An early rap. It's perfect.

God, I was almost in tears watching you react with so much 'wonder' (?) to the lyrics. It was like watching myself in 1965...being absolutely smitten by the TRUTH of the words, the rhythm of the guitar, the breath control and the enunciation. I felt you were recognising all that...but possibly with less wonder (since I think young people know far more than my generation did about the 'wicked' world) but more with affirmation and recognition...hope I'm not second guessing you there. For me, some of those lines were seared into my brain...start any verse even now and I could carry it oto the end, though I'm not sure I could carry off the entire song without cues haha! "Old lady Judges"; 'Money doesn't talk it swears"; "Bent out of shape from societies pliers..." etc. They still stand up strong; forever young! Cheers, Ace!

Keep reacting to Bob Dylan! His lyrics consistently give me goosebumps and have many times brought me to tears.

This album came out in March 1965, followed by “Highway 61 Revisited” in August 1965. Both of these albums are mandatory for any Dylan fan, not one bad song on either. On “Highway 61 Revisited” is the 11 minute poem set to music “Desolation Row”. In 1966 he released what most Dylan fans consider to be his best work, the double album “Blonde On Blonde” which also doesn’t have one bad song.

It's the best rap song that anyone will ever write. Nobody could produce a rhyme scheme like that, keep to the point, and keep it coherent, except Bob Dylan. It's an architectural achievement among other things. Also, something not enough noted about Dylan, is that he has been exploring the ground between singing and talking from his very first songs. It's not just his expressive song creations, it's his constant commitment to types of performance that have never before been tried.

Your reaction reminded me how lucky I feel to be a lifelong Dylan fan

Pleasure to watch you react with awe and wonder upon hearing this song for the first time. Dylan is a bottomless pit of creativity that just keeps on giving. You've got a lifetime of listening ahead of you, but still won't scrape the bottom of this great artists deep well of limitless creativity.

IMO Dylan's best song lyrically is "Desolation Row". He should have won the Nobel prize for that poem alone.

Thank god for showing me Bob Dylan at 13, what would my life have been? 😇

Dude, I love how much you dig Bob's voice given how often we hear people talk down his voice. Just goes to show you how clueless people can be. And isn't it crazy that, his lyrics aside, even his voice alone communicates the same message of his lyrics. Coherence between his message AND voice. Wow!

This is one of many Dylan masterpieces. He's at the top of his game with the rhyme scheme, and the guitar and harmonica are extraordinary, but that all takes a back seat to the lyrics... You asked at the end of the video to name a favorite Dylan song, well, that's an impossible question to answer. Ask me on Tuesday at 4:14 in the afternoon, and it will be "Buckets of Rain", ask me Sunday evening, and it will be "New Pony", they're all my favorites, depending on my mood.

When this album came out on vinyl I was 12. This song was on the second side one of the four acoustic songs on the album. Listening to that second side over and over again just blew my young mind to pieces as apparently happened with millions of others.

It's amazing how his long songs never seem long... His voice is amazing too...

A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall has exquisite lyrics. You might also like Idiot Wind.

I had the same reactions as you to this song back in 1965, when I was 17 years old. It was just stunning. It's a genius level song. That whole album is amazing. I suggest you also check out "Gates of Eden", "Jokerman", "Mr Tambourine Man", "Changing of the Guards", "One More Cup of Coffee", "Tangled Up in Blue", "Visions of Johanna", and well...a couple hundred other extraordinary Bob Dylan songs. There is no one else like Bob Dylan. He communicates so powerfully on every level...lyrics, voice, and music. Just nothing else like it.

March 1965 we were all lit from hearing the proper Dylan, he deserves that Nobel Prize and at 80+ he's still making amazing music, the voice is also put on, Dylan's voices changes all the time

Every line is absolutely genius. Been a fan for at least 55 years, listen to his music everyday still. Happy to be working from home and just being able to ask Alexa to play Dylan. ❤

'Love Minus Zero' and 'Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands' are two favorites. Best album: 'Blonde on Blonde'. God works through this man.

I have been a Dylan fan since I first heard him so many years back in my youth as I am only a year or two younger than he is. He had so many incredible songs with brilliant, brilliant lyrics, but this one has to rate as the best lyrics I have ever heard in a song. So deep and so many aspects to it that allow the listener so many different variations on its meaning and just what he is saying or who this song represents. I have been a blues and rock vocalist my entire life, but Dylan remains an icon and a legend to me. Nobody has ever attained the levels he did with his lyrics and I seriously doubt anyone ever will. Bob Dylan is a once in a lifetime phenomenon.

the way so many of bob dylans song still hold up today and stand out as great just as well say the did decades ago.. amazing

Bob Dylan…….. The True Master……… Greatest of All Time. Long live the great Bob Dylan.

I grew up in central Pennsylvania in a small farm town and somehow got into Dylan in about 1963. i remember playing this song for my Mom ❤ I left my town in 1965 to go find him in NYC but no luck. I'm now a 76 year old woman and love him and respect him more than ever. I finally saw him in San Francisco in 2013 2 nights in a row (right in front of the stage) at the Bill Graham Center. ❤❤❤ greatest storyteller of our time. Thank you for your appreciation of him.

There’s a live version of this song from his 1974 tour which is really energetic and powerful! You have to listen to it, it’s on the album Before the Flood!

You've just listened to the tip of the iceberg of Bob's song. You sound like your ready for a deep dive into his music. I'm a child of the '60s and Bob is definitely the poet of my generation.

So much fun to watch you listening to these great Dylan songs .. reminds me of me -- hearing these for the first time 60 years ago .. I'm old now .. but when I watch you hearing this, I feel what I felt in the 1960s. "Oh, my god!" This was the voice that exploded pop music, changed radio music forever, and created what we think of now as "the sixties." Dylan nailed it, as you clearly hear. thanks for doing this ..

You might want to listen to Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands".

Thanks for the honest reaction. Check his age when he did his first albums up to Blonde on Blonde. We’ve been very privileged to witness this comet.

I saw Dylan live twice back in the 60s. No “costume” no chat beyond maybe “This song is called…..” We fell completely silent; no one talked, no one moved. Dylan alone on the stage, single Mike, guitar, harmonica in a harmonica holder. A rather elfin figure. I can remember being mesmerised. In fact I think I still am.

Part of the citation for Dylan's Nobel Prize reads "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". And this album is from 1965 and he's rappin' better than any current or past "rapper".

The most powerful rock'n roll song ever made.

Perfect reaction! I've loved him since 1963.... it's always his words ❤️ so right on! And his voice...OMG.... I left my little PA. town the first time in 1963 to go to NYC to find him, didn't find him but he was my catalyst through most of my life.....I still adore him. I saw him for the first time in 2013 at the Bill Graham center in San Francisco. Love everything he does but Masters of War is deep. I'm a 76 year old female flower child ❤🎶🌹

My favorite is still Mr Tambourine Man the lyrics are in the Norton anthology of literature in the Poetry section. Been listening to him since 1966. And it never gets old

Hi Ewan, Greetings from England. I have just watched your review of It's alright Ma, and love it. I heard this when I was 16. It had the same impact on me as you show. I will check out more of your reviews. Keep it up mate. Great work.

A thoughtful, active and insightful listener. Subscribed.

I listened to Blonde on Blonde when it first came out, and began to understand what he was saying. It was like a revelation. I was so excited that I went to a friend's place at midnight and banged on his door. He was a big Dylan fan. We spent the next three hours going over the lyrics of several of the songs. Music was so important to us back then. It was a centerpiece of our lives. I was at Antioch College when Magical Mystery Tour came out. Someone was walking down the road and held the album up and yelled "The new Beatles album!!" A whole crowd of strangers began following him, like the Pied Piper. We ended up in a totally darkened room and listened to the whole album in complete silence.

The poet ! Aw Bob.. 💗 wish this song went on forever.

i do feel this was his best , "desolation row " is very close , and the sentiment in " its a hard rain" is just fantastic

The greatest songwriter of all time.

Mesmerising. 1965. I would recommend this album to anyone who wants to find out about Dylan as around this time he was considered to be the hippest guy on the planet. Thanks for sharing.

Thank you Ewan....for your perfect reaction, you get him. I love him so much.

In these divisive times it gives me great joy to to see YOUR joy. 🥰😍🤩

one of Dylan's most extraordinary pieces. the acoustic version of tour 86 with Tom Petty my favorite. powerful electric versions in the latest live performances of this masterpiece. a phrasing and a rhythmic cadence of the words and verses that is almost hypnotic. bob dylan, a giant. thanks for the reaction

I can not tell you when I first heard this song. But I can tell you that all these years later the line 'Money doesn't talk it swears' has stuck with me. It's burned deep down into my soul.

Impossible to pick a favourite Bob Dylan song. They're all so brilliant and special to me. Bob has a unique singing and talking voice that communicates and connects with us. I write songs and just about everything I go to write about I think, oh no Bob's wrote about that too. Not only that, he's still doing it. There's been a million wows here. 😎 💛🎶

I see myself reaction to Bob 50+ years ago. Good on you. It's good to see young people listening to Bob's spoken word poetry, grasping the meaning and understanding the continuing relevance. I suggest you dive deeper with Desolation Row, The Times They are A Changing, Masters Of War............ Another master wordsmith of similar style and skill level I would recommend listening to is Gil-Scott Heron; The Revolution Will Not Be Televised, Gun, The Bottle........ The Bloods I hung out with in the Corps in the 60s turned me on to him and I turned them on to Bob. Fair Exchange.

My absolutely favorite jaw-dropping song of his is "With God on Our Side" from 'The Times They Are A-Changin' album 1964. I'm still hoping someone will react to it. Mind blowing and still relevant, another masterpiece!

So glad you decided to react to this (just subscribed), and to see your reaction matching mine from ages ago. I was a young teenager when I discovered Dylan - it was somewhat life-changing. No exaggeration. I'd encourage you to go down the rabbit hole - it's deep! Favorite lyric? That's a million dollar question. For pure poetry, I might go with Mr. Tambourine Man; He's got a few visceral put-down tunes (dis-tracks?) that are classic, Positively 4th Street and Idiot Wind (don't cross Bob unless you want the whole world to know about it); and some absolute epics like Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts (listen dozens of times, and you'll still be piecing it together), and perhaps my favorite, Desolation Row.

Bob Dylan is the man the greatest songwriter of all time 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 ❤️

I was in HS when I first discovered Dylan. I loved his lyrics because I was busy writing my own poetry. I've never stopped listening over the following 50+ years of Dylan songs.

I love his old testament stuff, Jokerman is one of these. I also adore Tangled up in Blue and Not Dark Yet (and so many more)

It is so fascinating to watch someone so at your age delving into Dylan. It also is comforting in some ways. I remember listening to this album over and over while tripping my ass off on acid in 1968. Really intense night it was too. Dylan’s music has been so much a part of my life and I am very grateful. It is kind of like watching a tree grow as it gets bigger and bigger as time passes. An older song you may enjoy is “ Masters of War”. The final verse never fails to bring tears to my eyes. It is a “must listen”

There are so many greats to choose from. Try One More Cup Of Coffee, live from the Rolling Thunder Review, Like a Rolling Stone of course, Forever Young, Brownsville Girl, Subterranean Homesick Blues, Ballad of a Thin Man, Highway 61 Revisited, Leopard Skin Pill-Box Hat, Just Like a Woman, Visions of Johanna - the list goes on and on, hundreds of brilliant songs. You could just react to Dylan and never run out!

One thing that always amazes me is realizing he wrote this when he was 23 yrs old! For a lighter side of Bob, for tremendous story telling, try Lilly, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts. Great story song. (also from Blood on the Tracks album.)

Very interesting video. I thank the editor mr. Ewan the diffusion of that jewel of this song of the 20th century. It is to be expected that the younger generations can appreciate this work of a true artist (not a singer like Elvis, or an elite guitarist, not a defender, against the history of an immovable style). This jewel has turned more than half a century and shines like the first day. (I apologize for my poor English).

Hi great reaction to a fantastic song. My favorite line is "for them that think death's honesty won't fall upon them naturally life sometimes must get lonely".✌

*Ewan* Putting the ENORMOUS influence & contribution Bob has made to music, everyone from The Beatles to Jay Z and everyone on between, one COULD argue Bob was the first rapper.! I wrote this before watching your reaction.... I did so because *THIS SONG* might be his closest to a modern artist such as Eminem... David .....

I've been listening to this song and even memorized a couple of verses for over 50 years and just starting to understand the lyrics.

I only just found you , this is one of the greatest , most influential songs of all time. Bob played it himself at his 30th anniversary concert. nobody else was allowed to touch it lol

Amazing song... I remember thinking there is something very uniquely powerful about this poetry and performance, so I listened to it over and over and memorized it as well as I could. And it amazes me that this was written in 1965, the original rapper Bob. Check out John Taylor Gatto - showed me how our systems are set up to oppress creativity and individuality through Prussian oppression military industrial complex style schooling... Great video reaction man, very cool to see you really groove and feel the reality of this bold honesty. Rock on SOULfully!!

It is a masterpiece young man, your spot on. Seen him play this around 3 times, last time was a tour with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers. Dylan played this solo, and yes , its him on guitar. The lady in red on the cover of "Bringinging it all Back Home" is the wife of Dylans manager at the time, Albert Grossman.

Dear God ~ thank you for Bob Dylan

Check out NOT DARK YET . This is a more contempory masterpeice. This will also blow you're mind. Love your review. - Yes--- Bob can make you speechless.

React to MASTERS OF WAR.

You’re right, a great song! There’s a video on RU-vid of Dylan singing it live, just him and his guitar and harmonica. A powerful performance.

The music of the 60's and 70's was groundbreaking. So much talent

WOW!!!! A young man listening to Dylan for the 1st time!!!!!!

Bob Dylan walks out to center stage.... Doubleday Field- Cooperstown N.Y. Crowd of around 7,000. He sits down with his guitar and sang the first verse of this masterpiece and the crowd went crazy screaming their approval that Bob stopped playing to say Thank You, then started the song over again. I was about 25 feet away and will never forget the way I felt and the crowds reaction. A Standing Ovation lasted for many minutes before Bob started doing...."Like A Rolling Stone" and that song was beyond description how everyone was blown away. A life changing event for me and my family.

One of my favourite Bob Dylan songs is "Most of the Time". The song, i thing about loss, is beautiful and the Lyrics are amazing. I"m tearing up just think about this work of art.

His phrasing delivery, and the imagery is insane. When you get into Dylan and start looking into the meaning of his lyrics trying to figure him out you go deep, anyway enjoy BIABH. My first BOB DYLAN album I bought and my best with BLONDE ON BLONDE

Try Visions of Johanna from the Blonde on Blonde album

In some universe Bob never stopped and is still spitting bars out to this song!

I was a huge Dylan fan and remember well when this came out. I can honestly tell you that few understood what Dylan was trying to say. It took years of listening for me to finally get the point. Still relevant 60 years later.

What a genius a GENIUS!

My honest opinion is if you have a favorite Bob Dylan song you need to listen to more Bob Dylan, for me Dylan is mood music, a diffrent favorite for every mood you're in, Masters of War, Hurricane, are special, when Dylan went electric Tangled up in blue is a masterpiece...

As incredible as this song is, it’s just one out of dozens of masterpieces that Dylan has written, and he’s not done yet. Most artists don’t have even one song that comes close to this, but for him it’s just a drop in the bucket.

Great reaction.. Tyr Lily, Rosemary and Jack of Hearts.. Black Diamond Baby...

It's so fun to watch you young people discover the genius of Bob Dylan. You think his songs are "shocking", well you should have seen how shocking they were 57 years ago when this album was released. In an era when songs like, "What's new pussycat" and "I'm Henry the Vlll I am" were topping the pop music charts, BOB comes out with THIS SHIT! It was like a chain saw ripping through cotton candy. I first saw him playing at the Wilson High School Gym in 1964. The show wasn't sold out because most people in Long Beach, California had never heard of him. My life changed that night Forever. My eyes were opened wide, to a new and deeper reality. After that, I hung out at the local record shop itching to buy his next release. When this album you're discovering came out, I had it back at my house on the first day of release. By the next morning I had every song on the album memorized. No other musical artist in American history has had such a profound and lasting influence on our culture. So next time you see some geezers shuffling down the sidewalk, ponder the fact that they were hip to this stuff before your parents were even born. Keep discovering... there's no end to his genius. I'm so happy for you.

You put it well at the end. Most of my favorite films and music I can't even bring myself to watch/listen to most of the time. It's like that line from American Beauty; "Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it." This song is almost too good. Almost 8 minutes of super dense poetry with each line being more profound than the sum of most musician's careers. Some of the other music that is probably too good to listen to too often - Ys (album by Joanna Newsom), I'm Wide Awake It's Morning (album by Bright Eyes), In The Aeroplane Over the Sea (album by Neutral Milk Hotel). If I had to pick particular songs from them; Emily, Monkey & Bear, Only Skin Land Locked Blues, Lua, First Day of My Life, We Are Nowhere and It's Now Oh Comely, King of Carrot Flowers Pt. 1, Two-Headed Boy I would also put a lot of Eminem songs in this same lyrical category as strange as that might sound. Songs like Sing For the Moment, Lose Yourself, Rock Bottom, Stan, The Way I Am, White America, Criminal. So many truly beautiful songs that are conveying very profound ideas. Would love to hear if you are familiar with any of that stuff, and if not, would love to see your reaction. Cool channel bro! Thanks for the reaction.

I remember the first time I heard this record. I was just as mind blown. Bringing it all back home is my favorite album by him, but I don't think that it's his best. Try out a record from rough and rowdy ways his latest album. Then you can see how much he's changed but how well he still carries over his poetry some 50 years later. The longevity!!! I recommend false prophet, key west, I've made up my mind to give myself to you, or any other one lol

My first Dylan album I ever bought, his phrasing and delivery is insane

Pure Poetry 🤩

This song -- and the album -- hit us the same way back then. There wasn't anything like it -- or like Dylan -- and there never has been. he defined and enlarged a generation's experience of life and the world around us.

The word you are looking for is heavy. Great lyrical tune for when you are in the right mood for a heavy one, maybe not every day.

Try Things have changed. I LOVE It!

Cool that you get Dylan👍

So hard to pick a favorite! I was just listening to "You Gotta Serve Somebody" earlier today, and it is terrific (in words and delivery). I happen to like "Ramona", and of course, "Visions of Johanna". I mean, "Don't think twice it's alright " is a masterpiece, for its genre. Who can't relate to "Dear Landlord"? "The times they are a changing" is a cliche at this point, but when it was written, this was what was really happening. "Masters of War" - I used to hum this on my way to my job at a defense contractor. "I Dont' Believe You" ("she acts like we never had met...") is hilariously funny, and depressing at the same time. "It ain't me babe" - great song, despite Sonny and Cher. I could go on. Nobel or not, Bob Dylan has changed the world. He is a True Original, and marches to his own beat, for sure. Brian Wilson may not be made for these times, but Bob Dylan helped create them.

The greatest of all time and ever

Another Dylan song with a fantastical lyrical journey is A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall. It came out in 1962 after the Cuban missile crisis, where the world stood on the brink of nuclear war for a few days. That was supposed to be the event that inspired A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall for Dylan. The album Bringing it all Back Home, which contains the song you just reacted to here, has some other great tracks. Two of Dylan‘s more well-known songs, Subterranean Homesick Blues and Maggie’s Farm are from this album. But my favorite track is Love Minus Zero/No Limit. I think it is a beautiful love song, if you can consider any Dylyn song of that as merely a love song.

Greatest surrealist lyric ever written & recorded in modern music... with the exception of his other self-penned classic also on same album, 'Tamborine Man'

Super cool song. A lot of times with me when I'd buy a new Bob Dylan record I would have a couple songs I like best. But then, over time, I would start thinking other songs on the album were the best. You have a good ear, and spirit. Go get every Bob Dylan, second hand CD shop, and start listening. You will be totally blown away. Every song will start to grow on you.

I was 13 smoking pot with my best friend when he exposed me to Bob Dylan. This album just came out. His college aged brother had the album I've been a Dylan fan Since .

This song !

Great review, I would suggest "Baby Blue"

This is his best.