129 – "I'm Not There"

Sign on the Window isn't the Bob Dylan podcast you need, but it's definitely the one that you want! Each week we select a Dylan song at random, live with the song for a week (or two) and then get together to discuss. This week we dive into one of Dylan's most mysterious and enduring songs, 1967's "I'm Not There."

In this episode...

• Context (5:00)


• Versions (11:45) — including talk of Sonic Youth, Pearl Jam, and if Dylan wrote or ad-libbed the song


• Kelly plays "I'm Not There" (18:00)


• Lyrics, in brief (21:00)


• The Feel of the Song (25:00) — including the importance of "1956" in the title, the difficulty getting into the song (especially without context), and the ache of the song


• The Artistry of the Song (35:00) — including talk of our relationship with Dylan's creative process (post-Cutting Edge) and Dylan's ability to not be precious about things (Kelly: "it's frustrating and cool that he doesn't care a lot of the time")


• Does this work in 2021? (41:00)


• We're A Real Podcast and Playlist (46:00)


• Recommendations (51:30)


• Endings (1:05:00)

As always, full show notes at our website. You can also follow along with our weekly real-time Spotify playlist – See That My Playlist is Kept Clean – or listen to our dedicated playlist for this episode – and join the conversation on the usual suspects: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

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Next episode: But it would not make me tremble to see ten thousand fall.

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