Not Dark Yet (1997) – Bob Dylan

It is befitting Not Dark Yet is the first song to appear from Bob Dylan’s 3-time grammy award winning Time Out of Mind since for me it is the highlight of the record and in my top 20 all – time from him. When I looked at the album listing to doublecheck I hadn’t overlooked a song I noticed Make You Feel My Love should have already been included in the music library project. So, I will need to backtrack and add that later. Others coming from the record are Standing in the Doorway and Trying to Get to Heaven.

I remember distinctly where I was when I first heard Not Dark Yet for the first time. I was flat mates with with an old Academy buddy Kevin in a run-down house in Canberra’s suburb called Dickson. One day I was just ‘lamping’ as Leon referred to on Curb Your Enthusiasm and as soon as I heard this song, I knew it would be the soundtrack for me during my time there. I ended up leaving it in there on repeat. No young person could have written this song . . . not even a young Bob Dylan . . . There are years of hard living in this amazing song.

Dylan’s version will always reign supreme, but I like Eric Clapton’s version a lot and I have presented it at the bottom of this post.

[Verse 1]
Shadows are fallin’ and I’ve been here all day
It’s too hot to sleep and time is runnin’ away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal

[Chorus]
There’s not even room enough to be anywhere
It’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there

[Verse 2]
Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writin’ what was in her mind

[Chorus]
I just don’t see why I should even care
It’s not dark yet, but it’s gettin’ there

[Verse 3]
Well, I’ve been to London and I’ve been to gay Paris
I’ve followed the river and I got to the sea
I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies
I ain’t lookin’ for nothin’ in anyone’s eyes

After producer Daniel Lanois success’ with Dylan’s 1989 Oh Mercy album he rejoined Bob again on Time Out of Mind.

From Wikipedia:

“Not Dark Yet” was recorded in the early sessions for Time Out of Mind in a version that featured “a radically different feel”, according to Daniel Lanois. “[The demo of ‘Not Dark Yet’] was quicker and more stripped-down and [later during the formal studio sessions], he changed it into a civil war ballad”.

In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon describe the album version, recorded at Criteria Studios in Miami in early 1997, as one where Lanois “uses multiple instruments to fuel a sonic vision that he alone has the talent and skill to create. All the musicians contribute to this sound: Augie Meyers’s organ is scored; the two drummers provide a heavy, haunting tempo; and Tony Garnier on bass moves in the depths of the sound spectrum. The guitars confer a rock-music atmosphere on the piece, but also contribute to its dreamlike ambience. Dylan delivers one of his best vocal performances on the album, touched with sincerity and resignation”.

“Not Dark Yet” has been prominently featured on the soundtracks of many films and television shows, including Wonder Boys, The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired by The Passion of the Christ.

Reference:
1. Not Dark Yet – Wikipedia
2. Time Out of Mind – Wikipedia