Selling the Drama (1994) – Live

Posted on August 24, 2024 by observationblogger — Leave a comment

Four geeky looking boys from Amish country in Pennsylvania and they created one of the finest alternative rock albums ever recorded.
-Anon

Selling the Drama is the fourth song to appear here from alternative rock band’s Live 1994 album Throwing Copper (see image inset) after their previous entry Hold Me Up. I remember when Live‘s outstanding third studio record came out. It was the bee’s knees and played everywhere. I didn’t hear any other music by them except from this album. Throwing Copper sold over 8 million copies and certified 8× platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. It achieved number one position on the Billboard after its 52nd week on the chart being the third longest gap between an album first charting and reaching number one.

This music transports me to where I lived at the time Mornington, Southeast Melbourne and relive my young adulthood and enjoy the golden age ‘alt-rock’ scene. It seems to me ‘The Nineties‘ was a good decade in many respects and the music particularly from the early 90’s reflected it. Selling the Drama was the first single from the album and reached number one on the US Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart, becoming their first of three singles to reach the top of this chart. Live’s performance of Selling the Drama at Woodstock ’94 was their featured song on the Woodstock 94 double album.

[Verse 1]
And to love, the God
And to fear, the flame
And to burn, the crowd that has a name

[Verse 2]
And to right or wrong
And to meek or strong
It is known, just scream it from the wall

[Pre-Chorus]
I’ve willed, I’ve walked
I’ve read, I’ve talked
I know, I know
I’ve been here before

[Chorus]
Hey, now we won’t be raped
Hey, now we won’t be scarred like that
Hey, now we won’t be raped
Hey, now we won’t be scarred like that

[Verse 3]
It’s the sun that burns
It’s the wheel that turns
It’s the way we sing that makes ’em dream

[Verse 4]
And to Christ, a cross
And to me, a chair
I will sit and earn the ransom from up here

[Pre-Chorus]

[Chorus]

[Repeat Verse 1]
And to love, a God
And to fear, a flame
And to burn, a love that has a name

References:
1. Selling Drama – Wikipedia

Tagged with: live, selling the drama, throwing copper
Posted in Music

Gotta Serve Somebody (1979) – Bob Dylan

Posted on August 23, 2024 by observationblogger — 5 Comments

Bob Dylan singing *Gotta Serve Somebody* February 27, 1980 at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles

Only yesterday Christian and I were discussing where the weight of emphasis of ‘voice’, ‘melody’ and ‘lyric’ lies in a song. Sometimes it’s melody that draws us in, then the voice is considered and often times lyrics remain the last aspect. Christian went on to add: ‘…the order also depends on the type of song, especially since I’ve become fluent in English. If it’s a political song, lyrics become front and center‘. I would consider today’s Grammy award winning track Gotta Serve Somebody one such song where the lyrics are preeminent being both a political and religious song although one could argue the religious dimension is the most evident.
The lyrics emphasize the idea that regardless of one’s status in life, the refrain, “But you’re gonna have to serve somebody,” highlights the inevitability of choosing a side in the spiritual battle between good and evil.

Gotta Serve Somebody can also be viewed as political in a broader sense. The song critiques the social structures and hierarchies of society, pointing out that even those in positions of power—be they rulers, wealthy business people, or influential cultural figures—are not truly autonomous. In this way, the song touches on political themes by questioning the nature of power and authority, suggesting that no one is exempt from accountability or moral duty. See ‘The Rule of Law‘.

Gotta Serve Somebody was released as the opening track on his 1979 studio album Slow Train Coming and is the third song to be presented from that record after his previous entry Precious Angel. It won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Male in 1980. Despite being from Dylan’s maligned ‘Christian’ phase including last week’s Saving Grace, Gotta Serve Somebody is in my estimation an upper-tier Dylan release. But not everyone thought that way: John Lennon famously criticized the song and wrote a parody titled “Serve Yourself” in response.
The effort is still Dylan’s latest top 40 hit on the Hot 100, peaking at No. 24 and remaining on the chart for 12 weeks. Dylan has performed the song over 500 times in concert between 1979 and 2024. The live versions he has performed in more recent years feature almost entirely new lyrics.

[Verse 1]
You may be an ambassador to England or France
You may like to gamble, you might like to dance
You may be the heavyweight champion of the world
You may be a socialite with a long string of pearls

[Chorus]
But you’re going to have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re going to have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re going to have to serve somebody

[Verse 2]
You might be a rock ’n’ roll addict prancing on the stage
You might have drugs at your command, women in a cage
You may be a business man or some high-degree thief
They may call you Doctor or they may call you Chief

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
You may be a state trooper, you might be a young Turk
You may be the head of some big TV network
You may be rich or poor, you may be blind or lame
You may be living in another country under another name

[Chorus]

[Verse 4]
You may be a construction worker working on a home
You may be living in a mansion or you might live in a dome
You might own guns and you might even own tanks
You might be somebody’s landlord, you might even own banks

[Chorus]

[Verse 5]
You may be a preacher with your spiritual pride
You may be a city councilman taking bribes on the side
You may be working in a barbershop
You may know how to cut hair
You may be somebody’s mistress, may be somebody’s heir

[Chorus]

[Verse 6]
Might like to wear cotton, might like to wear silk
Might like to drink whiskey, might like to drink milk
You might like to eat caviar, you might like to eat bread
You may be sleeping on the floor, sleeping in a king-sized bed

[Chorus]

[Verse 7]
You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say

[Chorus]

References:
1. Gotta Serve Somebody – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Gotta Serve Somebody, KN72, slow train coming
Posted in Music

Secret Garden (1995) – Bruce Springsteen

Posted on August 22, 2024 by observationblogger — 9 Comments

I think Secret Garden is one of Bruce’s finest love ballads. As time has passed, I associate it more with Cameron Crowe’s sport drama Jerry Maguire (currently sitting at No 38 on my Favourite Movies List). This popular mainstream movie gave the song immediate traction and launched it to a wider audience than otherwise; extending Bruce’s appeal and legacy. For that reason, I have sent the viral fan video below (of the movie spliced with the song) which far exceeds the views of Bruce’s official video. I hope Bruce purists are not left too much in a pickle.
Apart from the fabulous usage of the song in the movie, what really floors me upon each listen is the song’s ‘bridge’. As I wrote in another song by Bruce called Countin’ on a Miracle and I could say the same of Secret Garden:

Countin’ on a Miracle contains about the best ‘bridge’ in any song I have heard. Normally I loathe these fillers as they seem to labour the song, but in Countin’ the bridge is the part of the song I like the most.

There are so many similarities in the themes, significance and role of the ‘woman’ as presented in Secret Garden and Bob Dylan’s masterpiece Shelter From the Storm. In both songs the woman is a symbol of safety and comfort. In Secret Garden: The woman’s garden represents a space of emotional safety, where the protagonist can find solace. In Shelter from the Storm: The woman is a literal shelter, providing the narrator with protection from the chaos outside. It’s no coincidence then that director Cameron Crowe chose the latter song to close out the movie when we had earlier been serenaded today’s featured track – Secret Garden. The two songs are a couplet as it were, as presented in the Jerry Maguire movie.

[Verse 1]
She’ll let you in her house
If you come knockin’ late at night
She’ll let you in her mouth
If the words you say are right
If you pay the price
She’ll let you deep inside
But there’s a secret garden she hides

[Verse 2]
She’ll let you in her car
To go driving ’round
She’ll let you into the parts of herself
That’ll bring you down
She’ll let you in her heart
If you got a hammer and a vise
But into her secret garden, don’t think twice

[Bridge]
You’ve gone a million miles
How far’d you get
To that place where you can’t remember
And you can’t forget?

[Verse 3]
She’ll lead you down the path
There’ll be tenderness in the air
She’ll let you come just far enough
So you know she’s really there
Then she’ll look at you and smile
And her eyes’ll say
She’s got a secret garden
Where everything you want
Where everything you need
Will always stay
A million miles away

The following are extracts from the Wikipedia reference below:

Secret Garden was originally released as a single from his Greatest Hits album and peaked at a meagre No 63 in the US, but No 9 in Australia, 7 in Canada and 17 in the UK.

The song has been performed only a handful of times live. It was performed three times in 1995 in New York, and one time on the Reunion Tour in 2000. The song returned to the setlist once in 2013 when Springsteen performed it in the United Kingdom. After a three-year hiatus, Springsteen performed it twice in 2016 in New Jersey and Washington, D.C., and once in 2017 in Brisbane, Australia.

Steve Baltin from Cash Box praised the song, noting that it is a ballad that follows in the footsteps of the softer material from his Human Touch and Lucky Town albums.” He added that featuring the reunited E Street Band, “it is one of the prettier melodics Springsteen has ever come up with”.

Reference:
1. Secret Garden (Bruce Springsteen song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, jerry maguire, secret garden, shelter from the storm
Posted in Music

Sea of Lovers (2014) – Christina Perri

Posted on August 21, 2024 by observationblogger — 6 Comments

It wouldn’t be a month in my blogger space without a heart-wrenching and soaring Christina Perri ballad. Sea of Lovers delves into themes of longing, loss, and vulnerability by painting a picture of someone adrift in a vast emotional ocean, searching for connection and understanding. It highlights the idea that love is not about quantity or superficial connections (where romantic options seem endless) but the irreplaceable connection with a specific individual or the divine.

Sea of Lovers is the fifth song to be presented here from Christina Perri’s second studio album Head or Heart (see image inset). She wrote a total of 49 songs that she had to choose from for the album by May 2013. Perri says that these 13 songs that she has chosen for the album “were what I think are pure songs, where I wasn’t trying.” Her first single from the album, was Human which featured here almost 2 years ago to the day. The single has sold over a million digital copies in the US. Sea of Lovers was also presented in Chapter 6 of the telenovela Jane the Virgin.

Perri confessed during an interview with Radio.com that she felt burnt out after promoting her last album, Lovestrong (2011). She revealed, “I didn’t want to do anything that wasn’t genuine, and I was afraid of phoning it in or forcing anything“. She recorded nine of the album’s songs with producer Jake Gosling near London over an eight-week period before returning to Los Angeles to record the remaining four tracks. Head or Heart debuted at number four on the US Billboard 200, selling 40,000 copies in its first week.

[Verse 1]
A certain type of wind has swept me up
A chill has found each bone
I am overcome
There is an icy breath that escapes my lips
And I am lost again

[Verse 2]
A certain type of darkness has stolen me
Under a quiet mask of uncertainty
I wait for light like water from the sky
And I am lost again

[Chorus]
In the sea of lovers without ships
And lovers without sight
You’re the only way out of this sea
Lovers losing time
And lovers losing hope
Will you let me follow you
Wherever you go
Bring me home

[Verse 3]
A certain type of silence has filled my voice
I scream beneath the water and make no noise
All my prayers go quiet, they’re never heard
And I am lost again

[Repeat V1]
A certain type of wind has swept me up
A chill has found each bone
I am overcome
There is an icy breath that escapes my lips
And I am lost again

[Chorus]

References:
1. Head or Heart – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Christina perri, head or heart, sea of love
Posted in Music

Kinderszenen (Scenes From a Childhood Op 15) 1838 – Robert Schumann

Posted on August 20, 2024 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

There are two pieces from Robert Schumann’s Scenes From a Childhood Op 15 I want to present here today namely:

No 1. Of Foreign Lands and Peoples
No 7. Dreaming

Kinderszenen Scenes from Childhood is a set of thirteen pieces of music for piano written in 1838. Schumann wrote 30 movements for this work but chose 13 for the final version. He told his wife Clara that the “thirty small, droll things“, most of them less than a page in length, were inspired by her comment that he sometimes seemed “like a child“. He described them in 1840 as “more cheerful, gentler, more melodic” than his earlier works. Movement No 1 and 7 are two of Schumann’s best known pieces.

Robert Schumann was a German composer, pianist, and music critic of the early Romantic era and his works typify the spirit of this era. Schumann was born to an affluent middle-class family with no musical connections, and was initially unsure whether to pursue a career as a lawyer or to make a living as a pianist-composer. During the 1840s, between bouts of mental and physical ill health, he composed a variety of piano and other pieces. Schumann and his family moved to Düsseldorf in 1850 in the hope that his appointment as the city’s director of music would provide financial security, but his shyness and mental instability made it difficult for him to work with his orchestra and he had to resign after three years. The following year Schumann’s always-precarious mental health deteriorated gravely. He threw himself into the River Rhine but was rescued and taken to a private sanatorium near Bonn, where he lived for more than two years, dying there at the age of 46.

References:
1. Kinderszenen – Wikipedia
2. Robert Schumann – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Dreaming, Kinderszenen, Of Foreign Lands and Peoples, Robert Schumann, Scenes From a Childhood Op 15
Posted in Music

Scar (2004) – Missy Higgins

Posted on August 19, 2024 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Scar immediately grabbed the attention of listeners and critics alike becoming a huge hit in Australia entering the Australian ARIA Singles Chart at number one and going platinum. The song was released as the debut single from Missy Higgins’ first studio album, The Sound of White. It was refreshing to hear this wildly successful Melbourne pop artist sing in a heavy Australian accent which many of her peer music artists were reluctant to do for fear of alienating international audiences and jeopardising wider commercial success.

Appearances can be deceiving since Scar seems just a sprightly ‘indie’ sounding pop song on the surface but there is a lot going on beneath where its waves overlap. It is a thought provoking song about influences and particularly about two people attempting to influence and shape the narrator (we’ll assume its ‘Missy’) to their own selfish end. Missy finds she has been manipulated almost beyond her past self, and that she was ‘not herself’ all this time. She fixes this, but is still changed by the Scars that are now part of her as she learns from past experiences.

Higgins wrote Scar during a tumultuous period in her life after returning to Australia after a year in Europe, where she was grappling with feelings of dislocation, identity, and heartbreak. The song has been rumoured to give a hint to Higgins’s bisexuality, although she has not openly commented on the song’s meaning.

[Verse 1]
He left a card, a bar of soap
And a scrubbing brush next to a note
That said, “Use these down to your bones”
And before I knew I had shiny skin
And it felt easy being clean like him
I thought “This one knows better than I do”

[Pre-Chorus]
A triangle
Tryna squeeze through a circle
He tried to cut me so I’d fit

[Chorus]
And doesn’t that sound familiar?
Doesn’t that hit too close to home?
Doesn’t that make you shiver;
The way things coulda gone?
And doesn’t it feel peculiar
When everyone wants a little more?
And so that I do remember
To never go that far
Could you leave me with a scar?

[Verse 2]
So the next one came with a bag of treats
She smelled like sugar and spoke like the sea
And she told me, “Don’t trust them, trust me”
Then she pulled at my stitches one by one
Looked at my insides, clicking her tongue
And said, “This will all have to come undone”

[Pre-Chorus]
A triangle
Tryna squeeze through a circle
She tried to blunt me so I’d fit

[Chorus]

[Bridge]
I think I realised just in time
Although my old self was hard to find
You can bathe me in your finest wine
But I’ll never give you mine
‘Cause I’m a little bit tired of fearing that I’ll be
The bad fruit nobody buys
Tell me, did you think we’d all dream the same?

[Chorus]

[Post-Chorus]

Melissa Morrison Higgins was born in Melbourne on 19 August 1983. Higgins learned to play classical piano from age six, following in the footsteps of Christopher and her older David, but realised she wanted to be a singer at about 12, when she appeared in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. Introverted by nature, Higgins found that piano practice helped her cope with living at boarding school. In 2001, Missy’s sister Nicola entered “All for Believing” on her behalf in Unearthed, radio station Triple J’s competition for unsigned artists. The song won the competition and was added to the station’s play list. Two record companies showed an interest in her.

References:
1. Scar (song) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: missy higgins, scar, the sound of white
Posted in Music

Saviour (2022) – Art Block

Posted on August 18, 2024 by observationblogger — 7 Comments

Saviour is the second song to feature here from London, England-based singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Art Block. I learnt about Art Block and his White Horses EP at Jeff’s blog: Eclectic Music Lover. His blog is dedicated to mostly new music releases and on occasion has personal connections with the artists he features. I agree with Jeff that Art Block has deeply affecting vocals and his music is a ‘haunting brand of alternative folk, characterized by stirring melodies, captivating arrangements and gorgeous instrumentation built around his poetic, deeply moving lyrics‘. Today’s featured track Saviour is no exception. Over to Jeff:

….The first track “Saviour” speaks of a relationship that saved him at first, but ultimately ended because of the hurt and pain they inflicted on each other: “It was a travesty. Unjust unliberty. Hurting those around you. Building walls between ourselves. We knocked our brains out cold. Drank from the cup untold. Floored by passion and the drink. Makes us do what we don’t think. You were a precious stone. Now I am all alone. I’m fading, yeah I’m fading. We dug our grave too soon.” It’s a melancholy but lovely song, highlighted by Art Block’s stunning piano and Sandra Brus’ mournful violin.

Jeff has reviewed Art Block‘s music at least four times, so I point y’all to his outstanding blog if you would like to learn and hear more by Art Block including his breathtaking single The Basement which Jeff recalls is his most successful single having streamed over 350,000 times on Spotify alone. Rest assured that song will feature here when we get to the ‘T”s in the music library project.

Reference:
1. ART BLOCK – “White Horses EP” – Eclectic Music Lover

Tagged with: art block, eclectic music lover, saviour, white horses
Posted in Music

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye (1998) – David Gray

Posted on August 17, 2024 by observationblogger — 13 Comments

Say Hello, Wave Goodbye is the sixth song to feature here so far from British singer – songwriter David Gray. It also happens to be my Desert Island song from him, despite it being a ‘world’s-apart’ haunting rendition of Soft Cell‘s 1982 big hit which reached No 3 on the UK charts. Gray’s version was released on his successful 1998 album White Ladder and was the album’s fifth proper and final single and reached No 26 on the UK Singles Chart. His version, like his live performances, features additional lines at the end from the Van Morrison songs Madame George and Into the Mystic.

I can’t blame Gray milking the heartbreaking beautiful melody for all its worth with a runtime of 9 minutes which is just under four minutes longer than the original; as such, the single featured a shorter radio edit (below the studio version). To me the song just wooshes by. I often find myself setting this song on repeat after first-listen such is my infatuation with it. Gray seems to have stripped the song down to its emotional core, transforming the upbeat synthpop number into a slow-burning, piano-driven ballad. The production is intimate, with Gray’s gravelly voice carrying the weight of the song’s sorrow.

Gray’s cover was recorded during the White Ladder sessions, a self-financed project that Gray undertook after years of limited commercial success. The album was produced in his London apartment, where he utilized minimal equipment, a four-track recorder, and his signature blend of folk, electronica, and alternative rock. White Ladder spent almost three full years on the UK top 100, consistently charting between May 2000 and March 2003. Its total charting time as of 2020 was 176 weeks, making it one of the longest-charting albums in UK chart history.

Gray believes that the success of White Ladder paved the way for “soul-baring” artists such as James Blunt, Ed Sheeran, George Ezra, James Bay, and Tom Walker. In an interview with the Daily Star, he said: “When I started out, a man with a guitar baring his soul wasn’t in vogue at all. Suddenly, it’s everywhere! [The album’s] success came from nowhere, and it changed how the business thought about what music should be. Since then, there have been lots of artists who’ve taken it on and done their own thing.”

[Verse 1]
Standin’ at the door of the pink Flamingo cryin’ in the rain
It was a kind of so-so love and I’m gonna make sure it doesn’t happen again
You and I had to be the standing joke of the year
You were a run-around, a lost and found, and not for me I feel

[Chorus]
Take your hands off me, hey
I don’t belong to you, you see
And take a look in my face for the last time
I never knew you, you never knew me, say hello, goodbye
Say hello and wave goodbye

[Verse 2]
We tried to make it work, you in a cocktail skirt and me in a suit,
but it just wasn’t me
You’re used to wearing less and now your life’s a mess,
so insecure, you see
Well, I put up with all the scenes and this is one scene that’s goin’ to be
played my way

[Chorus]

[Verse 3]
Under the deep red light I can see the make-up slidin’ down
Well hey, little girl, you will always make up, so take off that unbecoming frown
As for me, well, I’ll find someone who’s not goin’ cheap in the sales
A nice little housewife, who’ll give me a steady life and not keep going off the rails

[Chorus]

[Bridge]

[Instrumental Break]

[Outro]
We were born before the wind
Who are we to understand?
We were born before the wind
Say goodbye
Through the rain, hail, sleet and snow
Say goodbye
Get on the train, train, train
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
Say goodbye
In the wind and the rain now, darling
Say goodbye
In the wind and the rain now, darling

References:
1. Say Hello, Wave Goodbye – Wikipedia
2. White Ladder – David Gray

Tagged with: david grey, say hello wave goodbye, soft cell
Posted in Music

Murmullo (1997) – Electo Rosell (Ft. Ibrahim Ferrer – Buena Vista Social Club)

Posted on August 16, 2024 by observationblogger — 2 Comments

Hay un suave murmullo – There is a gentle whisper
En el silencio de una noche azul – In the silence of a blue night
Son dos enamorados – There are two lovers
Que, encantados, gozan del amor – Who enchanted, enjoy love

Y ríe la vida y que dice así – And life laughs and says: Ahh, ahh, ahh…
Y ríe la luna y que dice así – And the moon laughs and says: Uhmm, uhmm , ummm…

The above Spanish lyrics of the song Murmullo meaning “whispers” or “gentle murmurs” are the only words you are going to find in this soothing and blissful romantic song. It paints a vivid picture of a serene night, where two lovers bask in the beauty of their relationship, surrounded by the gentle whispers of love.
Murmullo is part of the traditional music of Cuba called ‘Bolero‘ which possesses a romantic cadence and lyrics dealing with love. Bolero music was born as a form of romantic folk poetry cultivated by a new breed of troubadour from Santiago de Cuba, the trovadores. Pepe Sánchez is considered the father of this movement and the author of the first bolero, Tristezas (sadnesses), written in 1883.

All this heritage music which celebrates Cuba’s “musical golden age” between the 1930s and 1950s was renewed by Director Wim Wenders and guitarist Ry Cooder who teamed up again after their ‘indie’ movie masterpiece Paris, Texas. Murmullo comes from their music documentary Buena Vista Social Club named after a group formed in 1996 dedicated to the the members’ club of the same name in the Buenavista quarter of Havana; a popular music venue in the 1940s. They recruited a dozen veteran musicians, some of whom had been retired for many years to showcase the popular styles of the time.

Murmullo was born from the compositor Electo Rosell (see image inset). He was a Cuban composer, violinist, and conductor (1907-1984) and Murmullo is one of his notable compositions. On the Buena Vista soundtrack it was sung by Ibrahim Ferrer (image at the top of this post), who used to be the lead vocalist in Rosell’s ensemble Orquesta Chepín-Chovén.

References:
1. Buena Vista Social Club (album) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Buena Vista Social Club, Electo Rosell, Ibrahim Ferrer, Murmullo
Posted in Music

Saving Grace (1980) – Bob Dylan

Posted on August 15, 2024 by observationblogger — 8 Comments

‘Saving Grace’ from Toronto- 1980-04-20 – Bob Dylan (see video below)

To begin this article; in case you haven’t seen it already, I would like to present the new trailer for the Dylan biopic due out this Christmas called A Complete Unknown. It stars the magnificent Timothée Chalamet from the Dune movies and Edward Norton. Speaking of the latter, it was fascinating to watch Norton give his perspective on the young Bob Dylan from his interview with Joe Rogan in October, 2019. Now onto today’s song….

I’ve escaped death so many times, I know I’m only living
By the saving grace that’s over me

By this time I’d-a thought I would be sleeping
In a pine box for all eternity

Saving Grace by Bob Dylan is a christian song of praise for the redemption bestowed on him by the redeemer. I can relate a lot to Dylan’s testimony here, since I have also written in various ‘reflection’ articles about my infinite gratitude for this Saving Grace including here: The Last Words – “Every Passing Minute is Another Chance to Turn it all Around.”

In 2015 I initiated a project on the Bob Dylan Expecting Rain forum called Dylan’s Desert Island Revue compiling Bob Dylan’s greatest live recordings, which were felt by members as superseding their original studio release. One live version I nominated is today’s featured track Saving Grace from Bob Dylan’s 1980 Toronto show seen at the end of this post. Don’t let the poor video quality turn you off. You can also find the original studio version below that.

Dylan released Saving Grace on his second album Saved (see image inset) from his Christian Trilogy and his twentieth studio album overall. Saved expanded on themes explored on its predecessor Slow Train Coming, with gospel arrangements and lyrics extolling the importance of a strong personal faith. The album was not well received by critics and fans alike, but it does include other stand-outs like Covenant Woman and Pressing On. Dylan obviously liked Saving Grace a lot since he performed it 103 times from 1 November 79 to 29 August 2012.

[Verse 1]
If you find it in Your heart, can I be forgiven?
Guess I owe You some kind of apology
I’ve escaped death so many times, I know I’m only living
By the saving grace that’s over me

[Verse 2]
By this time I’d-a thought I would be sleeping
In a pine box for all eternity
My faith keeps me alive, but I still be weeping
For the saving grace that’s over me

[Verse 3]
Well, the death of life, then come the resurrection
Wherever I am welcome is where I’ll be
I put all my confidence in Him, my sole protection
Is the saving grace that’s over me

[Verse 4]
Well, the devil’s shining light, it can be most blinding
But to search for love, that ain’t no more than vanity
As I look around this world all that I’m finding
Is the saving grace that’s over me

[Verse 5]
The wicked know no peace and you just can’t fake it
There’s only one road and it leads to Calvary
It gets discouraging at times, but I know I’ll make it
By the saving grace that’s over me

References:
1. Saving Grace: the origins and meanings within Bob Dylan’s song – Untold Dylan
2. Saved (Bob Dylan album) – Wikipedia

Tagged with: Bob Dylan, Saved, saving grace
Posted in Music

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