Angelina (Bob Dylan song)
"Angelina" | |
---|---|
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961-1991 | |
Released | March 26, 1991 |
Recorded | March 26, 1981 |
Studio | Rundown Studios (Santa Monica, California) |
Length | 6:58[1] |
Label | Columbia |
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
Producer(s) | Jimmy Iovine |
"Angelina" is a song by American singer-songwriter
Background and recording
"Angelina" was written by
Although "Angelina" had originally been chosen by Dylan to be the closing track of Shot of Love, it was cut from the album.
Composition and lyrical interpretation
Several commentators have expressed their inability to conclusively determine the mood or subject of the song. Scholar Nicholas Birns suggests that "one cannot quite know whether its mode is rapture, tribute, elegy, or rage."[9] Author Michael Gray calls it "a difficult song to comprehend ... because of the disconnectedness, the impossible images, the general air of smudging that clings to it and the collision of the narrative into different genres as it passes." [10] In 2004, Gray felt that the opening couplet:
Well, it's always been my nature to take chances
My right hand drawin' back while my left hand advances
was different from any of Dylan's other works, as it "appears candidly self-defining".
The lyrics reference various biblical verses,
The second verse opens with "Blood dryin' in my yellow hair as I go from shore to shore", which Gray proposes shows that the narrator is not Dylan.[10] In one version, Angelina is described as having eyes that "were two slits, make any snake proud", and "With a face any painter would paint", and "well endowed".[17] In a 1981 interview, Dylan compared the musical feel of the song to his own "Visions of Johanna", and said that "it seems to be very sensitive and gentle on one level, then on another level the lyrics aren't sensitive or gentle at all."[18] Williams argued that "the lyrics are brilliant, but they only take on meaning as [Dylan] sings them",[16] and that "to know the most private secrets of Dylan's relationship with God, with Woman, with his art and his audience, listen to the sound of his voice during this performance."[19]
According to Dylan's official website, he has never played the song in concert.[20]
Critical reception
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (1991)
Trager wrote that Dylan's performance "is striking as he combines the passion and intrigue of his best work of the mid-1960s."[11] Gray opined that it was one of five 1980s tracks on the album that "it was "madness to have left unissued",[21] although he suggested that the song's impenetrability made it a "compelling, grand failure".[22] In The Guardian, Adam Sweeting wrote that "the phantasmagoric 'Angelina' could only have improved several of [Dylan's] dire eighties records."[23] Beviglia included the track in 71st place in his ranking of Dylan's 100 best songs.[13]
The Bootleg Series Vol. 16 (2021)
Allen Jones wrote for Uncut that the first take "feels already like something shaping up to be astonishing".[8] Birns refers to the track as a "great Dylan song".[9] For Record Collector, Nick Hasted called it a "wild saga of Revelations surrealism, Reaganite portents and symbolist visions, held together by simmering organ and Dylan's vocal spell".[24] Williams describes the track as one of Dylan's "most disturbing and rewarding performances".[25]
Personnel
Personnel for the March 26, 1981, versions were as follows:[4][5]
Musicians Both takes:
- Bob Dylan – vocals, piano
- Steve Ripley – guitar
- Carl Pickhardt – keyboards
- Tim Drummond – bass guitar
- drums
- Carolyn Dennis – backing vocals
- Regina McCrary– backing vocals
- Clydie King – backing vocals
Second take only:
- Danny Kortchmar – guitar
Technical
- Jimmy Iovine – producer
References
Books
- Bell, Ian (2013). Time Out of Mind : the Lives of Bob Dylan. Edinburgh: Mainstream. ISBN 9781780575773.
- Beviglia, Jim (2013). Counting Down Bob Dylan: His 100 Finest Songs. Plymouth: Scarecrow Press. ISBN 978-0-8108-8824-1.
- Gray, Michael (2004). Song and Dance Man III: The Art of Bob Dylan. London: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8264-6382-1.
- Heylin, Clinton (2011). Still on the Road: The Songs of Bob Dylan Vol. 2 1974–2008. London: Constable. ISBN 978-1-84901-598-1.
- Heylin, Clinton (2011a). Behind the Shades: The 20th Anniversary Edition. London: Faber and Faber. ISBN 978-0-571-27240-2.
- Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2022). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track (Expanded ed.). New York: Black Dog & Leventhal. ISBN 978-0-7624-7573-5.
- Trager, Oliver (2004). Keys to the Rain: the Definitive Bob Dylan Encyclopedia. New York: Billboard Books. ISBN 978-0-8230-7974-2.
- Williams, Paul (2004) [1994]. Bob Dylan: Performing Artist. 1974–1986 The Middle Years. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 978-1-84449-096-7.
Citations
- ^ a b Margotin & Guesdon 2022, p. 505.
- ^ Heylin 2011, p. 221.
- ^ Björner, Olof. "Still on the road: 1980 Fall rehearsals". bjorner.com. Archived from the original on December 11, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c Björner, Olof. "Still on the road: 1981 Shot of Love Sessions". bjorner.com. Archived from the original on October 19, 2021. Retrieved August 18, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Springtime in New York: The Bootleg Series, Vol. 16 (1980–1985) (2021)". Bob Dylan's official website. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ Heylin 2011a, p. 536-538.
- ^ Bell 2013, p. 260.
- ^ a b Jones, Allen (October 8, 2021). "Bob Dylan – The Bootleg Series Vol. 16: Springtime in New York 1980–1985". Uncut. Archived from the original on October 9, 2021. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ a b c Birns, Nicholas (January 15, 2022). "Review of Springtime in New York". The Dylan Review. Archived from the original on August 17, 2022. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ a b c Gray 2004, p. 432.
- ^ a b c d Trager 2004, p. 13.
- ^ a b Heylin 2011a, p. 536.
- ^ a b c Beviglia 2013, pp. 56–57.
- ^ Gray 2004, p. 433.
- ^ Heylin 2011, p. 258.
- ^ a b Williams 2004, p. 199.
- ^ Heylin 2011, p. 256.
- ^ Heylin 2011, p. 255.
- ^ Williams 2004, p. 199-200.
- ^ "Angelina". Bob Dylan's official website. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved August 31, 2022.
- ^ Gray 2004, p. 14.
- ^ Gray 2004, p. 444.
- ^ Sweeting, Adam (April 11, 1991). "Music: Bob on the track". The Guardian. p. 27.
- ^ Hasted, Nick (October 2021). "Blooming Marvellous: Another mesmerising glimpse into the archives". Record Collector. p. 110.
- ^ Williams 2004, p. 197.