Having written in computer forums for years, I don't know why it's taken me this long to write an OP on all the really great music that gets swept aside (and often unnoticed), in deference to what could well be called Junk Music, simply because the lesser quality stuff sells better. What sells gets popular, well-known and recognized. But behind this system run by the might money motor, are thousands of superb works of art lying in obscurity, due to their lesser ability for $ale$. Oh, if something is good, it will sell, you say ? History proves that wrong. Today, just poking through websites, I came upon one with lists of songs. One of the songs listed was Mr. Tambourine Man by the 1965 rock group, the Byrds. It was a song with a pleasant sound, and notable for reaching # 1 on the charts and being the first Folk Rock song of that then new genre. A bit startling to me though was the absence of that song's parent song namely the original Mr. Tambourine Man, written and recorded by Bob Dylan, also in 1965, and released also by Columbia Records. Fact is, this treasure of poetry made into song, was done by Dylan as a folk song, played on an acoustic guitar and a harmonica. Apparently, that didn't sell as well as the flashy, rock sound of the Byrds, so Columbia rounded up a bunch of musicians and got the Byrds version of the song (missing 3 of the 4 priceless Dylan verses an + 2 harmonica parts) made, and out on the streets. It's amazing to me that people as old as I am (66) who remember the Byrd's song, have no idea there is another Mr Tambourine Man, which is one of the great art pieces of the time period (if not the whole 20th century). Well, if they don't, they can go out and buy the Bob Dylan LP Bringing It All Back Home (a very worthwhile investment) or just to get this song, they can Google it up, and listen to it (preferably a few times since the words are metaphorically poetic). One last thing. Despite a lot of different ideas floating about regarding the meaning of the words and the title, "Mr. Tambourine Man" refers the powerful hallucinogenic drug, LSD. It is the only meaning of the term "Mr. Tambourine Man". While I don't condone the use of illegal drugs (I don't even like the legal ones), nevertheless, one can't take away that the song itself is a masterpiece of poetry, put into a song format, and well able to be respected for that. The link here is a video of a young Bob Dylan playing and singing the song in concert, however one of the 4 recorded verses is missing. To compensate for that (and the 3 missing verses of the Byrds hit version), I've included all 4 verses here in this OP, which one can read while watching/listening to the video. Never too late to make amends for over-commercialization of our American music. http://www.timsah.com/Bob-Dylan-Mr-Tambourine-Man/eTMQrP81n27 Mr. Tambourine Man by Bob Dylan (1965) Chorus: Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to. Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me, In the jingle jangle morning I'll come following you. Verse 1: Though I know that evenings empire has returned into sand, Vanished from my hand, Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping, My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet, I have no one to meet, And that ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming. Verse 2: Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship. My senses have been stripped, May hands can't feel to grip, My toes too numb to step, Wait only for my bootheels to be wandering, I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade, Into my own parade. Cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it. Verse 3: Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly across the sun, It's not aimed at anyone, It's just escaping on the run, And but for the sky there are no fences facing, And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme, To your tambourine in time. It's just a ragged clown behind, I wouldn't pay it any mind, It's just a shadow you're seeing that he's chasing. Verse 4: Then, take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind. Down the foggy ruins of time, Far past the frozen leaves, The haunted frightened trees, Out to the windy bench, Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow, Yes to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, Circled by the circus sands With all memory and fate Driven deep beneath the waves, Let me forget about today until tomorrow.
