The Man in Me

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"The Man in Me"
Song by Bob Dylan
from the album New Morning
ReleasedOctober 19, 1970
RecordedJune 5, 1970
StudioColumbia, New York City
GenreRoots rock
Length3:10
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)Bob Dylan
Producer(s)Bob Johnston

"The Man in Me" is a song written by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan and released as the 10th track on his 1970 album New Morning.

Reception and legacy

Rolling Stone placed the song 84th on a list of the "100 Greatest Bob Dylan Songs of All Time". An article accompanying the list noted that it possesses a "raggedly euphoric power" and that "Dylan has rarely sounded as joyful as he does during the 'la la la' intro" while "gospel-tinged backup vocals add to the lyrics’ sense of unguarded intimacy and deliverance in hard times".[1]

Nation of Language's Ian Devaney cited it as his favorite Dylan song in a 2021 Stereogum article, writing, "The main reason this song sticks with me is the three-note descension on the line 'nearly any task' and how endlessly satisfying it is. In a song about finally allowing someone into the part of yourself that you keep from the world, these simple steps feel like an exhalation. The instruments spend most of the song playfully dancing and weaving but these three big notes feel like crashing into a chair and taking a moment to appreciate that you’re capable of being vulnerable and happy".[2]

In other media

The song is most notably featured in the soundtrack to the 1998

Coen Brothers film The Big Lebowski. It plays during the stylized opening title sequence and during the hallucination sequence after the Dude is punched and his rug stolen. More recently it has been performed live by the film's star, Jeff Bridges, at Lebowski Fest
, an audience-participation oriented event commemorating the film.

The song was featured in The Simpsons episode "The Town" during a bowling montage (likely in reference to The Big Lebowski).

The song was featured in the soundtrack to the 2013 documentary The Smash Brothers, highlighting the career of Ken Hoang and paying homage to The Big Lebowski.

The song was also used in S04E17 of How I Met Your Mother.

The song was used in a lighthearted ad series from

Quicken Loans
.

The song is featured in the 2020 movie The Mauritanian.

The song appears in season 3, episode 3 of Sex Education when Eric, Adam, Otis and Ruby go bowling.[3]

Notable covers

In 1971, the song was covered by

The Vanilla Tapes. More recently, it was covered by alternative rock group Say Anything; a demo version of the cover features Chris Conley (of Saves the Day) on vocals. The song was sampled heavily in the closing track of Blarf's 2019 album Cease & Desist, "The Me in Me." It has also been covered by Al Kooper, David Bazan (who regularly plays it live), Jenoah, Vandaveer, Buffalo Tom, and My Morning Jacket. The song was covered by Emma Swift on her 2020 album Blonde on the Tracks
.

Live performances

Dylan played the song 155 times in concert between 1978 and 2011. It is the most frequently performed live song from New Morning.[4]

References

  1. ^ ""The Man in Me" (1970)". Rolling Stone Australia. 3 July 2020. Retrieved 2021-05-13.
  2. ^ "80 Artists Pick Their Favorite Bob Dylan Song". Stereogum. 2021-05-24. Retrieved 2021-05-30.
  3. ^ Hunt, James (September 17, 2021). "Every Song In Sex Education Season 3". Screen Rant. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  4. ^ "The Man in Me | The Official Bob Dylan Site". www.bobdylan.com. Retrieved 2021-05-04.

External links

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