Hip Hop Fan Reacts To Tangled Up In Blue by Bob Dylan 

Dylan wrote over 50 verses for this song before he settled on the final edit for the track. He’ll slip them into live performances though. You’ll never hear the same version of this song twice at a live performance.

I swear, I just listen to Dylan for the poetry. I think this one reflects the nomadic life that many had at the time, eventually some getting jobs and starting families, some still on the road searching. But still all tangled up in blue.

Shelter From The Storm is another gem from this album.Good job discussing this one.the story is very confusing but with Dylan it just sounds good even when you can't always crack the lyrics,

Yo..you gotta do.. the first music video.. Bob doing.. Subterranean homesick blues.. rappin in 60's

The entire _Blood On The Tracks_ is essential listening. It'll break your heart & make a man of you.

This is Dylan at his absolute quotable best, and there's plenty more where that came from on the Blood on the Tracks album. Other MUST HEAR tracks include "Simple Twist of Fate," "Shelter from the Storm," "Buckets of Rain," and the amazing Western-themed ballad, "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts," which feels like you're watching a movie.

You just listened to the first track on what is arguably Dylan's best album, Blood on the Tracks. You could, if you wanted to, make this the first installment of a full album reaction. This really is Bob Dylan at his very best. His earlier albums were more influential, perhaps, but his songwriting on this album in particular is the among the most powerful and heartbreaking work he's recorded. If you don't believe me, just listen to track 2, Simple Twist of Fate.

You should give A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall from his 2nd album A Freewheelin Bob Dylan a listen, personally one of my favourite Dylan tracks.

Time may jump around a little in this song, like in a Tarantino movie. I think he meets her for the first time in the topless bar. It may be about several women. Depending on whom you listen to, the 13th century poet may be Dante, Plutarch, or Petrarch. I've always assumed the "dealing with slaves" line referenced drug dealing to addicts or becoming an addict, but I could be wrong.

Not a story about a single women. A combination of woman he knew, his relationshis, others too, but probably born out of his broken up marriage. The line "he started in to dealing with slaves' is an allusion to one of his favorites French poet Arthur Rimbaud. You must understand how educated and well read Dylan is, as are most true artists.

He was studying painting - and in this song was attempting to apply the cubist idea of varied points of view to the lyric - thus it shifts. 1st person, 3rd person

This was great, Syed. John Prine writes with nearly superfluous detail that drags one into his stories. Sadly, after beating cancer twice, we lost him to Covid early in the pandemic. Anything from his first album will be popular.

I saw a great Halloween costume once, a girl wore blue strips of fabric all over her body; when asked what she was, she said "Tangled up in blue."

You’re the best at these kinds of videos… Blood on the Tracks is a key part of the puzzle! Idiot Wind has the strongest “bars” on this album in my opinion, but this one is a masterpiece of musical storytelling and sets the tone for what I feel is his best album, sonically.

One of the top 5 Dylan songs. He has rarely sounded as confident and assured as he does here. Which is a good thing, because a monster melody like this needs a bit of oomph, 10 out of 10 from me. It's a masterpiece.

I think this is seriously one of the most beautiful, melancholy, wistful, regretful poem set to music ever written. So evocative and brilliant.

You’re not alone in trying to keep track of what is happening when in the song.Dylan intentionally scrambled - - tangled? - - up the verses as an experiment in Time, space, perception, memory, reality, imagination… The story is impossible to follow and after 1000 listenings you still can’t wait to find out what happens next.

Please listen to "Idiot Wind," "Simple Twist of Fate," and "Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts." The entire album is fantastic.

This is the greatest “breakup” album ever written (Sorry Rumors, you’re number 2). So many great cuts, so much emotion, such vivid imagery. Dylan at his best. I just listened to the LP earlier today. “Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts” is another cut you’d love. ✌️❤️🎶

If you haven’t already, you MUST listen to Dylan’s “Subterranean Homesick Blues” 🔥

One of my favorite Dylan songs. Thanks for listening to it. He put out a live version of this many years later and changed the lyrics a lot. From an older man’s perspective. Amazing lyrics. The album is called Real Live.

Great reaction again.. Keep em coming.. he is my G.O.A.T.. 'Hollis Brown ' 'Lily, Rosemary, and the Jack of Hearts '.. Hard Rain It's alright, ma... Hurricane

Hello . Nobel prize for literature!!!

Would love to see some John Prine reaction videos too! He was a great story teller, though Dylan is in a league of his own. Great videos man!

The only album I'd need on a desert island. Every song like a movie playing. His best in a very great catalogue imo

For anyone who loves Blood on the Tracks (or even just this song) but has never strayed into his outtakes/bootlegs, do yourself a favor and listen to Up to Me (Take 2, Remake 3). It's an outtake from BOTT, and it's incredible.

Bob Dylan - It's Alright Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" best Lyrics or "Bob Dylan - Pretty Saro" best dylan voice performance ever

One of the few artists I have seen multiple times --- including getting drenched at the Rolling Thunder -- hard rain concert. Other muliples .. Dead (at the Glen and Redrocks) NRPS, Allman Bothers, Kristofferson.

OMG. Do the whole album!!! Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts..

I learned from this song and others like Visions of Johanna that Dylan sometimes makes himself multiple characters in a story, and speaks of himself in both the 1st and 3rd persons. I love this song.

Simply, one of my Favorite Dylan's tunes.... what a great storyteller.

Hope you do It’s Alright Ma by Dylan someday. Talk about bars, that song is basically “folk rap”

Bought the cassette for my company LTD at a Truckstop in West Texas. My second album after leaving "Positively.." at Mom's a decade earlier. You are correct. our whole generation had done a slump. #Aloha

Positively 4th Street is another great track by Bob.

The thing about Dylan in the Early 70s was although in disfavour with the critics he was still chalking up big hits like Lay Lady Lay ,: Knocking on Heavens Door : Forever Young and If f not for Tou etc etc. Go figure

Tangled up in blue, Simple Twist of fate, You're a big girl now, & Shelter from the Storm. I think this was one of his best albums but maybe it was more that it hit me at the right time of my life. At least two guitars, probably three or four at different points. I love his story telling in songs but I think he weaves more than one story in this one and time travels at different points. As if you were in a bar and as you walked down the bar you passed guys talking about their big relationship. They cover the same feelings and some of the same experiences but their different stories. If you want to hear Dylan really rock you gotta take a listen to his double live album he did with The Band. Totally excellent. powerful.

The guy won a Nobel Prize in Literature for his lyrics. How many musicians have done that?

Mr Tambourinte Man is amazing. You should check it out, just some of the greatest lines ever written imo.

Ps..This might be greatest album ever.. Blood on the tracks

Back in the day ( said the old lady) as young adults, we would quote those one-liners from Dylan to one another. And if someone quoted Dylan, you figured they were “Ok”. They were part of the tribe. Do hip-hop fans quote favorite “bars” to one another?

I think the best story song from this album is Lily,Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts. Check out Black Diamond bay too from Desire. And then listen to all of Desire lol.

Sometimes with Dylan, what you first think the song is about isn’t actually what the song is about….

Try the haunting song one more cup of coffee. Backing vocals by Emy Lou Harris. Very cool

Dear SyedRewinds: I think in Verse 6, "I lived with them on Montague Street, in a basement down the stairs" Dylan is recalling when he lived with a couple, a man and woman in New York, in his early time there. And the He and She are those people, getting into trouble. And he has to leave them. So it is not about himself and the girl from the rest of the song. It is a real situation, that he is remembering, around that time. His book, "Chronicles" talks about living with an interesting couple in NY when he first was getting started. Thanks for the review, it is a great song, isn't it?

Great choice. Do the whole album if you want, all the songs are really good.

Story is not told chronilogically: The 13th century poet verse is followed by the montigue street verse, which is actually about 13th century Italy. The first verses about their split, is actually told prior to the verse about when they ment in the topless place . . . .song skips timeline. You need to study it a little.

Dylan is the greatest storyteller ever Springsteen 2nd Tom waits 3rd

Idiot wind is another amazing song from this album. Especially if you like hip hop, its almost like a diss track

Dylan's "Positively 4th Street" has amazing lyrics.

I love your reactions and how you appreciate and break down lyrics. Dude, you have to react to some Joni Mitchell. Some songs I recommend are: A Case Of You, River, Both Sides Now, California, Big Yellow Taxi.

Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts.. they could easily make a movie out of this!! Shakespeare with a guitar!!!!!!!!!

Great reaction.. Try ...Black Diamond Bay

Montage street is located in Brooklyn Heights where I once worked in my early twenties.

You got to do "It's Alright, Ma". It's incredible, I'd like to see you try to dissect it.

I have been a Dylan fan since the 60's (I'm old). I stumbled across one of your other videos- fist time- Dylan. I enjoy your critiques of Dylan songs. I was even going to suggest Tangled up in Blue. Now you have to do Idiot Wind on the same PL. Keep up the good work.

P.p.s. the Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll...

Diamonds and Rust. Joan Baez. About Dillion.

A pure genius of genius’s when comes to storytelling. He is especially good on this one because you can follow the lyrics so easily. Dylan could make several movies or television shows from his lyrics.

Bob's best bars blast since Sub. Home. Blues

Dylan has like 9,000 versus. who needs a chorus? 😉

Some of the prettiest love songs ever on this album..."You're a big girl now..." Just beautiful!!!

Have a listen to Jack of hearts if you want to hear a story

'I must admit, I felt a little uneasy, when she bent down to tie the laces...of my shoe. Tangled up in blue'. That short line is like a haiku, that uses a minimal number of words to convey a whole lot of information...really good. Thanks for the great reaction

amazing song. Dylan is fn amazing.

I love Dylan. I've listened to some of his albums over and over again. One tape of his was in my car stereo for 3 months straight.

Dylan loves to play with time in his writing.

You don’t get a Nobel Poetry Prize for free!

Only songwriter to win the Nobel Prize for Literature...let that sink in a minute.

His harmonica was verse eight.

I've been listening to this for 40 years and don't understand exactly what he means but it always means something to me - and that has changed over time as I have changed. Have fun over your next 40, 50, 70 years!

its a pointless exercise trying to read into his lyrics literally...metaphysical baby...

I absolutely love Dylan's wit...when he meets the woman again in the topless bar and she recognizes him, you think she is going to "Go down" on him...which she does...to tie his shoes...

The reviews were not all uniformly bad. On.the strength of a good review I bought Blood on the Tracks as a new relese and loved it and played it to death. I became a big fan of Dylan after buying this song and others on the album like Idiot Wind etc etc One of my best ever record purchases.

It was not only a great comeback album, but Blood on the Tracks and Desire, which came out right after Blood, are my two favorite Dylan albums. Love every song on both albums. I think his most underrated albums is the 1981 Infidels, great album on themes and problems that are still relevant today and the band had a rhythm section of reggae legends Sly and Robbie and Mark Knopfler of Dire Straits and Mick Taylor, the great Rolling Stones guitarist from their classic early 70's heyday, on guitars.

“Later on when the crowd thinned out and I was just about to do the same.” One of the best lines in the whole world. Funny!

It’s alright ma, I’m only bleeding. The live version in RU-vid. Perhaps best song ever written. Hope you sometime get around to it. A song where even Dylan went above and beyond all his accomplishments. Would love to see your reaction to that treasure of a song. One of the reasons he won the Nobel prize with the lyrics in that song alone from his masterpiece album ‘Bringing it all back home’. I started buying Dylan albums back in 95. ‘Shot of love’ from 81 was my first Dylan cd. A decent album, but it wasn’t til I heard his 60s and 70s albums I fully understood and was blown away by his immense talent. Ten astonishing albums between 64-76. Later on great ones from time ti time. His 89 album Oh mercy a great comeback to form that was greatly appreciated by so many.

Have you introduced any of your friends who love hip-hop to Dylan?

God I love this song. Your reactions are second to none. Thank you

There’s a reason they handed him a Nobel prize for literature… He’s easily one of the greatest lyricists to have ever lived. He can say more in a single line than some artists can with an entire album. Robert Hunter is the only other person who comes close to Dylan in modern times (again, my opinion). Amazing to see his work being carried into the future.

Try HURRICANE..

You said he lost his way for a time after the 60s. Dylan never lost his way. He changed his way. As always with him it was up to the audience to keep up, catch up or get left behind. If not, too bad. Dylan refuses to be put in a box. In the 60s they tried to make him into a folk/topical hero. Dylan said, "Mmmm, nope. Lets rock. Make it loud!". It was like slapping the face of some hysterical person to bring him back to reality. "I'm not your hero. I'm just a musician.". What performer is braver and more humble than that. He has continued this pattern for decades. Dylan doesn't go to the audience. The audience goes with Dylan. I just saw a video where Madonna embarrassed herself by asking an audience member why she wasn't standing up before her. Turns out the woman was in a wheelchair. Now that's a performer who has lost her way. Artistically and spiritually. Shameful.

The woman from the topless place is not the first woman. Note how the poems words were "from me to you" not the woman who gave him the book. The "them" he lived with did not include the first woman either. A song of longing for a lost love.

Even Late In His Career,, He Still Has It,, Bob Dylan "Things Have Changed"

Bob Dylan has bars, man.

I will throw a vote in for a whole LP listen to this one. An essential in my book.

My boyfriend used to sing this to me when we were students at UCLA. Love Dylan. Great memories!

I believe this was Dylan’s answer to Joni Mitchell’s album (or song) Blue

As always, a great reaction. Each verse is a gem but hard to fit them all into a storyline about one man and one woman. Simple Twist of Fate is another great story/relationship song. It is the track that follows Tangled Up in Blue. The whole album is great. For something gospel-bluesy from Dylan try Slow Train Coming or Serve Somebody. These may have his best singing and musicality (imo).

The live version showing only his face with harmonica is brilliant. The flash of his blue eyes when the spotlight hits them makes the delivery even more intense.

He's produced some amazing songs, think you may enjoy "Gates of Eden" - album version is great, especially for the clarity of the lyrics, but I also love the live 1992/3 versions where his vocals sound weary and sad.. just fabulous

King of the Invisable Empire...Then and now....Long Live The King!!!!!

“split up on a dark sad night”…… for decades I’ve always heard “split up on the docks that night!” Amazing lyrics.

Check out "Idiot Wind" on same album.

Why is everyone, it seems, so enamored with Dylan playing harmonica ? He's played it since his very first album. Oh well, thx. Good reaction.

Great review. You can't analyze Dylan's lyrics (except from some very early stuff) in a linear fashion. That's why his work is timeless and can listened to over and over again. Every time you think you know what the song is about, he throws in a verse that blows everything up, and most of the time any given verse can mean different things depending on your mindstate while listening. The songs are more like shimmering things that are always just out of reach, but they're not meaningless. My theory about why Dylan's songs stand out is that even though you don't fully understand, it's apparent that he himself has a vast and coherent worldview and vocabulary and symbology underlying every line, … like an iceberg and you only get a glimpse of the tip, or like Tolkien's vast world creation underlying the LofRings narrative. But unlike other lyricists who write empty nonsense, there's weight to Dylan's lyrics because none of it is nonsense, you can sense he's just not letting you in on the full picture. You can tell I'm a huge Dylan fan. I don't know what your channel's goal is, to do typical Dylan hits that everybody knows or to do lesser known, but absolutely brilliant deep tracks, but I'll let you in on some of the latter in case you're interested. In no clear order: 1) Mama you've been on my mind (never released on an album, only bootleg, but brilliant), 2) I Believe in You (you can tell a real Dylan fan from posers by whether they appreciate his "crazy Christian" years, now considered his gospel period; this was the song Sinaed was going to perform before she was booed off stage at the DylanFest in 94), 3) It's Alright Ma I'm Only Bleeding (not a super deep track, but lyrically, possibly unsurpassed and quintissential, and apparently Dylan's own favorite), 4) Brownsville Girl (shows how Dylan's phrasing is so good he could sing a novel and make it work), 5) The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar (baddass from gospel period), 6) What Was It You Wanted (Positively 4th Street reworked by a mature artist IMO). Two bonus tracks: Just Like Tom Thumb Blues and Sweetheart Like You. What the hell, just an opinion about Dylan's singing, terrible voice, fantastic vocalist. He's not a great "singer", but he gets a huge palette of emotions across, and manages to keep things interesting with his unpredictable phrasing and pacing through long songs with no traditional verses that very few vocalists could pull off. Not only that, somehow you can listen over and over again and always get new things out of it. Good luck with you channel bro!

Great reaction for a first time listen. I think the reason you and many people are confused by the 6th verse is that the lyrics you were working from are wrong. "It should be "I lived with him on Monteque Street," not "them." That is because this verse is the lady recounting her past to the man and telling him what happened to her in the interim since they last met. Then further down it should be "Something inside of "her" died." Not "him." If you read it that way it makes a lot more sense!

One of my favorite Dylan songs

I like how you really get Bob Dylan.. He's not for everyone. Another fantastic song of Dylan's with a lot of verses of wonderful imagery is A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall. I think you'd really enjoy that one, too.

2 other songs to check out from that same album: "Shelter From the Storm" (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--gsDBuHwqbM.html) and "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" (ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-agdoeRpTfHg.html). "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts" is a great, and _very_ quirky ballad.

I just discovered your interpretations of Dylan and I can't stop. This song is one of my favorite Dylan pieces. I especially love the paronomasia, the dual meaning, in the line "Like a bird that flew/Tangled up in blue." I try not to get to balled up in the literal meaning of the story, but accept it impressionistically. I find it highly satisfying.