Sunday, January 11, 2015

All I Really Want to Do

Bob will befriend you.
But there are 46 things
He won’t do to you.

This song opens the 1964 album "Another Side of Bob Dylan" and sounds to me like a clear statement of intent. It's either:
1. Baby, you can trust me. I just want to be your friend. Maybe with benefits, but just maybe (he doesn't want to knock us up).
2. My adoring fans, you must have me confused with someone else. I am here to be your friend, not your protest leader. This is, after all, "another side" of Bob Dylan in more ways than one. Writings about that period and his public statements indicate that he was quickly getting sick of the "spokesman of a generation" label, and it was time to move the songs in a different direction.

Meanwhile, here are the 46 things that Bob mentions in this song that he is not trying to do to you:



Compete
Beat
Cheat
Mistreat
Simplify
Classify
Deny
Defy
Crucify
Fight
Frighten
Tighten
Drag down
Drain down
Chain down
Bring down
Block up
Shock up
Knock up
Lock up
Analyze
Categorize
Finalize
Advertise
Straight-face
Race
Chase
Track
Trace
Disgrace
Displace
Define
Confine
Meet kin
Spin
Do in
Select
Dissect
Inspect
Reject
Fake out
Shake out
Forsake out (?)
Feel like me
See like me
Be like me




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