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About the Song Alright, alright, we all know that "Tangled Up in Blue" is Bob Dylan's magnum opus. It tells a hell of a story, it's in the third person, first person, and zooms through the past, present, and future. It's a life simultaneously observed from the ground floor and from above, and perhaps, stands as the ultimate statement about Bob Dylan's romantic life. True to it's never ending and kaleidoscopic nature, there are dozens of versions of this tune available for listening. The genesis of this evolving song is the first cut off of 1975's Blood on the Tracks . It's not the best version of the song, but it does set a baseline standard of excellence in which all subsequent versions of this song are judged. Time to rank 'em: 1. "Tangled Up In Blue": Real Live , 1984 Somehow, burned out 1980's Bob pulled more emotion out of this song than ever before during his 1984 tour of Europe. Lucky for us, this version saw the li...

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Monday Poem: "The Book of Hours: I, 59" by Rainer Maria Rilke

- December 18, 2017

The Book of Hours: I, 59 God speaks to each of us as we are made then walks with us silently out of the night. These are the words, the numinous words, we hear before we begin: You, called forth by your senses, Reach to the edge of your Longing; Become my body. Grow like a fire behind things so their shadows spread and cover me completely Let everything into you: Beauty and Terror. Keep going: remember, no feeling is forever. Don't lose touch with me. Nearby is the land they call Life. You will recognize it by its intensity. Give me your hand.

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Context: On Kendick Lamar's "How much a Dollar Cost"

- October 31, 2017

"How Much a Dollar Cost" is perhaps the emotional exclamation point to Kendrick Lamar's 2015 magnum opus To Pimp A Butterfly . This gem of a track encapsulates nicely Kendrick's strengths as an artist. Something about Kendrick's cadence is moving- the pitch of his voice and his phrasing carry a certain intensity. Here, that intensity is paired with Kendrick's masterful flow (and poetic phrasing) -"deep water-powder blue skies that split open"- and narrative structure. It is also worth noting that Kendrick has always had a sharply tuned ear for great samples. It's these samples that effectively set the mood and tone of the song as if it was an interactive short story. First, few notes on the samples: "How Much a Dollar Cost" makes heavy use of a Sweedish Jazz trio's song "Seven Days of Falling", where sharp, simple drums meet a reflective piano that has a flair for the dramatic at all the right moment...

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