Every Conceivable Point of View: Essential Dylan # 20

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If "From a Buck 6" was a train going off the rails, and "Where are You Tonight? (Journey Through Dark Heat)" was a train surprised it didn’t, then "Mississippi" is a beautiful and honest tally of the aftermath.

In a song strikes me as absolutely something a younger person could not write, as Bob Dylan fully admits that there is no escaping human nature. Since there is no escape, Dylan figures that human nature is worth embracing for its fullness, busted up-love, and self-consciousness to boot.

Here, Bob’s steady work on the rhythm guitar chugs the song along while the lead guitar paints a light picture on the edges. In other words, the playful, vibrant, and warm guitar riff that greets the song and also fills again following the refrain- “stayed in Mississippi a day too long”- contrasts sharply with the steady, plain-spoken, and matter-of-fact chug of the guitar featured during the verses. This light/dark dynamic perfectly captures the bittersweetness of "Mississippi", as the music mirrors the words. It is here where Bob Dylan puts it all together, acknowledging failures, affirming beauty, and remaining a skeptic trapped by hope. It may well be the singer's masterpiece, his magnum opus, his painting that ties it all together.



Bob Dylan's sense of cynicism ultimately renders him a pessimist of distinction- a pessimist who is imprisoned by hope and goodwill: “Well my ship's been split to splinters", he sings, "and its sinking fast". Still, his heart is "not weary/ its light and its free" and he's "got nothing but affection/ for all those who've sailed with me". Forever and ever. Amen.

"Mississippi" is featured on the 2001 album Love and Theft. It's one of Bob Dylan’s best.


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