Bob Dylan Changed My Life.

I’ve been listening to “Tell Tale Signs” by Bob Dylan a lot over the last few days.
Is 5 times in one day too much?
I don’t think it is.
Y’see, This man changed my life:

Listening to the latest Bob album got me thinking about when I first heard him…

..I was 16 and the girl I was going out with at the time bought the album “Blonde On Blonde”.
“Have you heard this fucking guy Alan?”
I hadn’t.
Y’see, I was deeply into John Lennons’ music at that point.
He’s another one who completely changed me and my approach to life in general but we’ll save that for another time folks.

Anyway, Back to Dylan: It was instant love as soon as I heard that album and it still is to this day.
Back then, I remember permanently borrowing “Blonde On Blonde” and exploring Dylans’ discography.
It was a great time for me back then.
I was about to leave school, I had my guitar, An idea to become an illustrator or a sculptor, And Bob Dylan!
What more could a 16 year old need in life!

I remember going into a Record shop the next day and telling the guy behind the counter that I’d just discovered Bob Dylan and I “NEED” some of his records.

The guy asked me what took me so long and sold me “Another Side Of Bob Dylan”:

I can’t tell you how much that album affected me.
It changed me.
Somehow…it really changed me.
I suddenly had no interest in my girlfriend, Friends, School, The future…..Nothing mattered to me except that record.

It still does to this day!
The song “My Back Pages” knocks me for 6 in exactly the same way it did when I was 16.
“To Ramona” absolutely breaks my heart like it always did.

I set to work straight away and by the time I turned 17, I had every single Bob Dylan album that you could buy and a few that you couldn’t. Heh heh
It’s funny, I’m now 27 and still talking about how much Bob Dylan does it for me.

I remember my life coming to a halt again when I bought “Bringing It All Back Home”:

I’m actually listening to that album as I type this and my jaw is dropping like it always does.
The song “It’s alright Ma, I’m Only Bleeding” – That could only come from Bob Dylan and it holds up more than ever.
It’s hard to believe that Bob Dylan was a lot younger than I am now when he penned that masterpiece.

2 lines from that song hit me like bullets:
“Money doesn’t talk, It Swears.”
&
“Bent out of shape from society’s pliers”.

How can you write lines like that at age 24?
It’s crazy.

I have lots and lots of Bob albums these days and it’s not possible to mention them all here.
I do have favourites though and they include:
“The Basement Tapes”,
“Nashville Skyline”,
“Desire”,
“Time Out Of Mind”,
“Self Portrait” and, of course,
“Blonde On Blonde”.

So kids, Bob Dylan.
Get yourself some Bob Dylan records!

Start anywhere you like, No 2 albums are the same.