I swear i could write a book about blood on the tracks. Yeah, that album. As much as i want to write about Bob Dylan's other albums ( he has a lot of brilliant albums, by the way), blood on the tracks is that one Dylan album that left a wound and healed that wound. A wound that heals itself. HAHAHAHA
Saying that blood on the tracks is a wound that heals itself reminds me of our body's ability to heal wounds. Sometimes, it's unimaginable to think that our bodies have that power. I tend to forget that our bodies have powers like that. But our bodies can really do that, and in a way, blood on the tracks explores the same. Ok, so I'm really comparing blood on the tracks with a wound. Not the healing of physical wounds, but the emotional wounds.
I discovered Blood on the Tracks 2 years ago, when I first heard Bob Dylan through his electrical albums. Unlike his electrical albums, which perfectly narrated the story of my life as a young adult, I saw blood on the tracks as an album that's waayy out of my league. It's nice, but my 20- year old self did not understand what the songs meant. I found it too mature for me to explore and to think about.
The intimidation i felt with Blood on the tracks lasted until 3 months ago, when I read a forum about the album. The people were talking about it, considering it as dylan's best. Being the "I love electric bob dylan albums" fan, I tried to look for a Blood on the tracks song that I can easily associate with his electric songs in terms of its theme, lyrics or sound. The power of associating songs led me to the album's 4th track- Idiot Wind- and 9th track- Shelter from the Storm. "Oh! this man surely loves the wind", I told myself.
When I was applying for a job and was doing my research for the job interview, I read an article on dailymail about songs and weather. Bob Dylan, according to the article, wrote and sang about weather more than any other artists. (You know, i find it cool that there are people who really study about these kinds of topics. I wish i'm one of them.) Even the first Bob Dylan song I discovered- Make You feel my love- sang about the weather. So Idiot Wind and Shelter from the Storm were the obvious choice for my " let's explore blood on the tracks"-self.
Idiot Wind, similar to Love Minus Zero from his 1965 album, twists things and changes perspective. Aside from the use of wind on its title,it's plot twist is what i like about this song. I can't count the number of times I spent singing this song as if I know what it feels to be in the narrator's shoe. Iiiiiidiot Wind.
Shelter from the storm, on the other hand, takes me back to those days when bob's electric songs were the only songs that made sense. The song explores vulnerability and human connection. Although the song went romantic in exploring these themes, Shelter from the Storm made it easier for me to connect to the album. It's as if the album is a continuation of his electric album, at least for me. But to say that Blood on the Tracks is just a continuation of his electric albums is wrong. Blood on the Tracks has a life of its own. It's a bloody brilliant album that you can appreciate whatever you are feeling or experiencing.
To provide context, let me describe my situation 3 months ago. I was perfectly well in the romantic department- shipping my favourite love team as if the knowledge that they will not end up together is something I didn't know. I was working on papers for my job. It was pretty stressful but i was working on papers, and i'd rather work on papers than work on other stuff. So you can say that my personal well-being is waayy far from the mood of the album. But i still took the risk of giving the album a try because of my curiosity.
It's always the curiosity, you know. To be more specific, my fangirl- shipper self was so curious about the complexities of human emotions. Every time I read metas and fanfiction ( some are good, some aren't), i always wonder how people can write about human emotions and describe it in a way that makes it easier for readers like me to understand and to relate to. I know my weaknesses, writing about human emotions is one of those. And i discovered that i can work on that weakness by looking at the works of other people. That way, I can learn how to express myself in a way that people will understand. (One of the things I learned after university is that people aren't mind readers. Took me years, but still grateful for it)
Now back to the album, like most first-time listeners who read a thing or two about it on wikipedia, you'll probably look at the album as a break-up album. At the time the album was made, the singer was going through a rough period in his personal life. I was one of those people who saw the songs as the story of the artist's personal dilemmas. I mean, it's easy to look at the album that way. It saves you the time to think. No wonder why people recommend this as the album to listen to when going through a break-up- it's relatable that way.
But because i wasn't going through a break-up when I first heard the album and i was curious, I wasn't satisfied to just call the album a break-up album.To me, there's more to this album than a blow-by-blow account of a crumbling relationship. I want to understand the album from a perspective of someone outside the "break-up bubble". I want to look at the album and see it as something that I can enjoy even though i'm not going through something rough like a crumbling marriage or relationship.
To better understand the album and to relate it to my life, I've decided to take down notes. It goes like this, every time I discover something new about the album, I'll write my observations and reflections. Then every once in a while, I'll read my observations and make conclusions about my changing perspectives toward the album. It was fun. Sometimes, it was more fun than working on papers for work.
I can still remember the first time i wrote about blood on the tracks, it was on the 7th of June. I wrote that it was a break-up album, like most people. I wrote about the emotions manifested in Idiot Wind- regret, resentment, pain, enlightenment, acceptance and understanding. (is understanding an emotion? i don't know) But what i learned the first time i wrote about the album is that it explores human emotions associated with break-up beyond the realm of sadness, and that's cool.
What i mean is, it's cool to listen to songs and albums that explore break-ups outside the sadness bubble. I grew up listening to songs that only associate break-up with sadness and i find it frustrating. I know that there are tons of emotions a person feel during a break-up- I learned that from reading fanfiction and watching Sherlock- but it's frustrating that people only illustrate the situation by simply calling it "sad".
Over time, as i abandoned the break-up album idea, I started to look at the album, not as an individual account about relationship, but as a pastiche of stories that explores the complexities of relationships. By separating the album from the artist ( which is helpful because not everything that the artist makes is about himself), I saw the album as a story of everyone. Just because the artist was going through something when he wrote this doesn't mean that the songs are about him. The same way that just because i wrote a poem about an unrequited love doesn't mean that I've experienced it. Inspirations are everywhere and human stories are perfect examples of inspiration. That's what makes art powerful, it connects people together, whether you re conscious of it or not.
The song that reflects the "album as a pastiche" idea is Tangled Up in Blue. It's the opening track of the album, and I say that it's the PERFECT OPENING TRACK EVER. I can't think of any better song to open the album. In a way, Tangled Up in Blue is a summary of what's to come. It sets the mood of the album- what to expect and what to look forward to.
You can read Tangled Up In Blue in 2 ways:
1. You can read it as a tangled up story of a guy's relationship with a mystery girl. That the song tells of the long and winding story of his relationship with someone; or
2. You can read it as a tangled up stories of different people. That the song is a collection of love stories, of people who felt love and saw things from different point of views. What connects the tangled up stories is, BLUE.
Ok, I'll probably stop here. Things are getting out of hand already. Sorry.
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