Not Showing any Lights Tonight: Essential Dylan # 15

1985

Tight Connection to My Heart (Someone’s Got a Hold of My Heart)

Infidels Sessions & Empire Burlesque

Alright, Bob. He said there's something he's gotta do tonight, so we might as load the backup singers, bass player, hair gel, gold earrings, leopard suits, powder blue wigs, and tacky synths into the van and hit the humid streets. Bob takes the wheel and'll give you on a tour of the 1980's and all its burned out decadence, misery, and heart. Bob tells the story of the heat in the streets at night, from wise words overheard at a barstool to the rhetorical questions the universe asks of us after a long night. There are three incarnations of this song, and they’re all excellent in their own right. There’s a Infidels-sounding cut, a crystallized acoustic version, and the final 80’s synth-based cut that most have heard off the mostly garbage album Empire Burlesque, which is indeed the version I am referencing here. The lyrics tell a story of a man on a quest, who’s looking for answer, looking for a sign, and is finding many closed doors. Dylan pours on verse after verse. . .the synthed out music isn’t the best. . .but Bob writes a powerful enough song here to cut through the 80s grease and deliver to hearts and minds.