Political World (1989) – Bob Dylan

“One night when everyone was asleep and I was sitting at the kitchen table, nothing on the hillside but a shiny bed of lights – all that changed. I wrote about twenty verses for a song called ‘Political World’ and this was about the first of twenty songs I would write in the next month or so…With the song I thought I might have broken through to something. It was like you wake up from a deep and drugged slumber and somebody strikes a little silver gong and you come to your senses”.

– Bob Dylan from Chronicles: Volume One

It was written in the eighties but it explains what we are living in right now. The images in the video below could be mistaken for an Epstein Island. Political World is the second song to be presented from Bob Dylan’s Oh Mercy record after the previous entry Most of the Time. It is an uptempo folk rock song which was released as the opening track on his 1989 album. 

Oh Mercy which was produced by Daniel Lanois and seen by critics as a comeback to form for Dylan after disappointing sales with Knocked Out Loaded and Down in the Groove. Daniel Lanois would produce Dylan’s Time Out of Mind 8 years later which won three Grammy awards. Here is Daniel Lanois speaking about the making of Oh Mercy.

[Verse 1]
We live in a political world
Love don’t have any place
We’re living in times where men commit crimes
And crime don’t have a face

[Verse 2]
We live in a political world
Icicles hanging down
Wedding bells ring and angels sing
Clouds cover up the ground

[Verse 3]
We live in a political world
Wisdom is thrown into jail
It rots in a cell, is misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up a trail

[Verse 4]
We live in a political world
Where mercy walks the plank
Life is in mirrors, death disappears
Up the steps into the nearest bank

[Verse 5]
We live in a political world
Where courage is a thing of the past
Houses are haunted, children are unwanted
The next day could be your last

[Verse 6]
We live in a political world
The one we can see and can feel
But there’s no one to check, it’s all a stacked deck
We all know for sure that it’s real

[Verse 7]
We live in a political world
In the cities of lonesome fear
Little by little you turn in the middle
But you’re never sure why you’re here

[Verse 8]
We live in a political world
Under the microscope
You can travel anywhere and hang yourself there
You always got more than enough rope

[Verse 9]
We live in a political world
Turning and a-thrashing about
As soon as you’re awake, you’re trained to take
What looks like the easy way out

[Verse 10]
We live in a political world
Where peace is not welcome at all
It’s turned away from the door to wander some more
Or put up against the wall

[Verse 11]
We live in a political world
Everything is hers or his
Climb into the frame and shout God’s name
But you’re never sure what it is

In their book Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track, authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon note how Daniel Lanois’ atmospheric production plunges listeners “into a dreamy, heavy, menacing but definitely original vibe. The fade-in subtly introduces the drum part, supported by an excellent bassline by Tony Hall. He puts an irresistible pulse to the piece on his four string. Dylan has finally found his producer“.

The phrase “You climb into the frame” from the final verse is taken from the 1970 song “Love Calls You By Your Name” by Dylan’s friend Leonard Cohen.

References:
1. Political World – Wikipedia
2. Oh Mercy – Wikipedia