First Listen - "Ring Them Bells" by Bob Dylan (Hip Hop Fan Reacts) 

This album, dude, is killer .. produced by Daniel Lanois (brilliant producer, musician) and EVERY song is breathtaking in sound, imagery & Dylan's incredible vocals .. absolute masterpiece. #theMaster

Keep up the Dylan, you can’t go wrong with him!

A lot of his early stuff was something called the Talking Blues. Rhythmic speech.

I just finished watching the 3 hour Rick Beato Daniel Lanois interview, and this was first up. Amazing timing.

The sacred cow doesn't represent Hinduism but the biblical golden calf worshiped by the Israelites - they broke the first commandment of not worshiping graven images. (that's what I always thought) I think it's about judging righteously in a fallen world rather than any particular message of salvation. The emotions and sincerity in this performance convey his belief and knowledge of the Word. His mother said he always kept a huge open Bible in his living room...

This is a consistently great album. You should be listening to the entire LP.

`Oh Mercy` is one of my favorite Bob Dylan albums but his catalog is so big that the choice is really difficult - I wished you would address more of this masterpiece album. Thanks for sharing and best regards @all from Hamburg (Germany)

Syed, I applaud your decision to experience Dylan chronologically. Really, to get the most out your deep dive into rock music, the 3 biggest artists of the revolutionary decade of the sixties: the Beatles, the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan would be the most rewarding for you. Their music is the most important and the most influential on the music of their time and the music that came after them. All 3 of them showed tremendous growth as they evolved. The sixties work of Bob Dylan can be chronologically summarized to a degree by 3 albums: Bringing It All Back Home Highway 61 Revisited Blonde on Blonde These are Dylan's peak early works, and along with the essential songs "Like a Rolling Stone" and "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall", you'll experience a solid understanding of the best of Dylan's sixties music. It's quite a ride.

Solid reaction. There's a _killer_ live rendition of this from Tell Tale Signs.

I love the way you went deep. Sometimes Bobby D is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma:)

His early stuff is like “pre-rap.” But comes from the tradition of Talking Blues thst has been around for a few decades. On Oh Mercu - the unreleased (at that time) track Dignity is incredible. The best track in tems of such power in one some line repeated throughout shifting and reversing the context of everything In the verse - Most of the Time is really great. For spare, evocative storytelling, the track Man in the Long Black Cost is really well done. And the soundscape in that track, the engineering, is great.

Most Of The Time, Man In The Long Black Coat songs from Oh Mercy. The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan for early Dylan is probably best, start with what is his really his first album.

"Ring Them Bells" is one of the great spiritual songs of this age. It is full of reverence, and it does summon up a feeling of the Last Days...which is something Dylan been writing about all through his career, even from when he was very young. The accompaniment fits perfectly.

When you put all of Bob's work together to date and you may see he is one of the ALL TIME GREATS in poetry, literature, folk ish music.. I'm talking bigger and better than ANY of them.

Wonderful. Ring them Bells always makes me cry.

You should definately do "the man in the long black coat" from Oh Mercy!

If anyone only had Dylan songs to listen to, it would be more than enough. This is one of his best albums. Along with Time Out Of Mind from this period. He’s just so far in front of any other artist.

Loving all the dylan songs, cheers

Thanks for all great reactions! But there's one track you absolutely must take on, even if it's the last thing you do. It's the favourite Dylan tune among a minority of hardcore fans, which ecstatically finished his concerts on the world tour in 1978 (and since then he hasn't played it one single time live). As far as I know, no person on RU-vid has reacted to it so far, but it's a masterpiece with a mesmerizing melody and an almost an insane lyrical juggling on tightropes between poetry, romance, politics and religion - right before his "religious period". It's a tall order, but you can do it! "Changing of the Guards" from the album Street Legal. Here's a link to it illustrated with lyrics: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8FRAqpDExyE.html

I've listened to this song over and over and it just opens up and get's better over Time. All of his albums are masterpieces. Bob is a national treasure.

You're reactions are the best. Very well done

Man, what I wouldn't give for a song-by-song listening to Bob's Slow Train Coming.

The live version on Tell-tale Signs is even better. I hear this song as a lament for the way things are now (in the 80s) and what that might mean at the end of days. Some beautiful lines, especially the one about the lost sheep. Good reaction!

Can't wait for you to do that Dylan run through. Been thinking there's so much great stuff in his 60's era that you haven't heard yet.

Wonderful piano playing by Bob

yeah, "Oh Mercy" was an excellent return to form and Dylan seemed to find his muse again after some middling albums in the 80's. There is a great live performance of this song from Narita Japan you might be able to find here on YT. I think it was from the mid-90's. Audio and video quality are not the greatest, so maybe not suitable for a reaction, but still a cool version of this song. As with one of the best tracks from "Infidels" being left off of that album ("Blind Willie McTell"), one of Oh Mercy's best songs also were cut from the album, but was released officially later (on a greatest hits album). That song is "Series of Dreams"... a reaction worthy song for sure.

Syed, I'd love to hear your thoughts on Leonard Cohen's songs: Story of Isaac, Joan of Arc, The Stranger Song, Famous Blue Raincoat (there are of course many more)

It's a song about proselytizing, “ring them bells” alert the people to come to mass. Priests are shepherds to their flocks of people. Saint Catherine levitated, thus the top of the room.

Bob is a treasure!

My Back Pages is a great song with powerful lyrics, you should check that one out!

do it!!

It was called "talking blues". He got it from Woody Guthrie, and Guthrie got it from Black blues singers.

Superb album

So hard to pick "my" favorite album. The big 3, Bringing It All Back Home, Highway 61 Revisited, and Blonde On Blonde, are all tops, and I always loved Desire. However, the record I wore out and had to buy another was Blood On The Tracks. These albums spanned 10 years of amazing lyricism, and storytelling. His earliest albums and latest albums have some great songs but this decade of amazing albums are his core. Not a weak track on any of these, "my" top 5.

Great song ! Early Dylan albums Freewheeling and Another Side of. Both best of early stuff. Great reaction.

🔥!!!

Have you done Gotta Serve Somebody? That's his most famous religious song. He never really recovered when he became born again, But this and Love and Theft really was a bump up. That comes after blood in the tracks,the most famous hit being Tangled up in blue. Although Hurricane comes before that and is actually a bit more popular. Have you done Lay, Lady Lay? Really popular. His voice is even better. Before that I want to say Knocking on Heaven's door. And then you get to Like Rolling Stone which I'm sure you've done.

You can listen some songs from first album. Like House of the Rising Sun

Love Dylan. Thank you! Btw, St Catherine counseled the Pope

"Most of the Time". "Dignity".

This is his most underrated record in my opinion.

You gotta listen to "Lover, You Should've Come Over" by Jeff Buckley

You should check out “God” by John Lennon, very interesting lyrics.

"Freewheelin'" is the true starting point of his song writing. Except for "Song to Woody" which should be done first. Later ---"Changing of the Guard is exceptional.

Excellent reaction. It's a great song and album, although - being an 80s Bob Dylan album - it also falls a bit short of what it could have been. Oh Mercy has such a wonderful sound and my appreciation of the album, if anything, grows as time passes but there are four songs recorded for but left off Oh Mercy: Series of Dreams, Dignity, Born In Time and God Knows. The last two were rerecorded for his next album but I far prefer the original versions, while the first two are probably my favourite songs from the album sessions.

Geez you're an interesting man - so good at capturing lyrics and imagery, probably due to your genuine interest in music and lyrics. This is such a good song, and with all due respect to Dylan fans, I think Gordon Lightfoot's version is better. For a great song of imagery - would love to see you do Alan Parson's "Can't Take It with You".

👍🏼

Do the bootleg albums. So good

Great song ❤

Pleeease do the albums❤️

Listen also to "Chimes of Freedom"

Bob Dylan Albums The Freewheelin all great powerful lyrics by a young man(The Beatles love the album and inspire they are songwriting and lyrics) The Times They Are a-Changin all great lyrics top of he's game Bringing It All Back Home 50/50 acoustic/electric top Highway 61 Revisited all electric Blonde on Blonde Electric Nashville style you got to react to Bob Dylan - Pretty Saro (Unreleased from "Self Portrait) Dylan greatest Vocal ever recorded

It would be great to see your reaction to Desolation Row from the album 1965 - Highway 61 revisited... Greetings from Europe in Spain.

I think you maybe ought to go ahead and listen to Dylan's albums in order. Starting with the first one called Bob Dylan. It only has 2 original songs and the rest are covers, but you can hear him when he was starting out. then listen to each album in order. Just a suggestion.

Not as great as his 60s stuff, but his best 80s album cause all the songs are good. I have a real weak spot for his 1988 album Down in the groove even though many don’t like it.

We can judge, but god is judge. Man created in gods image.

The reference of "Who will judge the many when the game is through" is referring to the final judgement. All those who are saved believers in Christ will be with Him in the final judgement of the people who did not choose the Christ as their Savior.

not sure about him being "not melodic" in earlier times. there is a lot of beat poet talking, but e.g. Love Minus Zero, To Ramona are brilliant songs that seem melodic to me. on the other hand, i don't think, this song (that i always liked a lot) ist in itself sung very melodic in the common sense. but dylan sure has strong melodies, maybe in an odd way - as becomes clear when hearing more conventional singers covering his songs.

"The sun is going down upon the sacred cow" is a reference to how the UK is now a shithole with alien mediocrity Sunak with his hand on the flusher

THE very 'early Dylan' at its best album is 'The Times They Are A-Changin' if you ask me. You should probably use that album as a starting point for your upcoming historical Dylan journey. 'Folk Dylan' does not get better than that.

One of the Dylan songs that I like a cover better... check out the Sarah Jarosz version... she does it great.

What happened to you

Dylan is an impressionist. You can't read or understand his lyrics literally, and the closer you get, the less sense they make, just as with an impressionist painting. You need to pull back, take in the whole thing, and realize that he is sculpting emotion, not crafting a linear narrative.

The real question is: did he say "fighting" or "farting"?

God says his people will stand in judgment with Christ over the unbelievers at the end of time. But if you don't read the scriptures you're just guessing.

Dylan doesn't necessarily know what his lyrics mean. Often it's about images and rhymes.