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“Desolation Row” is the closing track of Bob Dylan’s sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited. It is noted for its length (11:21) and surreal lyrics. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, in Columbia’s Studio A in New York City. The two takes spliced for the album were the second and third time Dylan had sung the song. Charlie McCoy played acoustic guitar for the record, making it the album’s only track not to feature an electric guitar. An alternate version was also recorded with electric guitar and a prominent bass that was eventually released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack. Rolling Stone ranked the song as number 185 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time[1] Joe Strummer makes a reference to Desolation Row in his song “Coma Girl” released on Streetcore. It’s also referenced in Laura Branigan’s “Spanish Eddie” (David Palmer/Chuck Cochran), Atlantic, 1985.
In the New Oxford Companion to Music, Gammond described “Desolation Row” as an example of Dylan’s work that achieved a “high level of poetical lyricism.”
In an interview with USA Today on September 10, 2001, the day before the release of his album Love and Theft, Dylan claimed that the song “is a minstrel song through and through. I saw some ragtag minstrel show in blackface at the carnivals when I was growing up, and it had an effect on me, just as much as seeing the lady with four legs.”[2]
It has been suggested that the title is a reference to Jack Kerouac’s novel Desolation Angels and John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row.
In the New Oxford Companion to Music, Gammond described “Desolation Row” as an example of Dylan’s work that achieved a “high level of poetical lyricism.”
In an interview with USA Today on September 10, 2001, the day before the release of his album Love and Theft, Dylan claimed that the song “is a minstrel song through and through. I saw some ragtag minstrel show in blackface at the carnivals when I was growing up, and it had an effect on me, just as much as seeing the lady with four legs.”[2]
It has been suggested that the title is a reference to Jack Kerouac’s novel Desolation Angels and John Steinbeck’s Cannery Row.
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Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, 20 November 2003
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Shouts
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arsenalwa wrote:
I firmly believe that this is the most beautiful song in the history of music...
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bryantee wrote:
spacefaceinfurs, you're absolutely right. There's something incredibly jaring and honest about a Dylan harmonica solo.
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doqtor wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [8]
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st0neface wrote:
My favorite song ever? Perhaps...
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JoshCIVM wrote:
I also have a riff on the meaning of this song that I will put in a note soon.
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Hefpiot wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [7]
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IAmTheDoorway wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [6]
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Brunanalyzed wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [5]
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Miradel wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [4]
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Shauni51 wrote:
Incredible!
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Rancido wrote:
Beautiful when stoned.Stunning doesn't even come close to describe it
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LasherHN wrote:
This is the song that got me into listening to Dylan.
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arsenalwa wrote:
how can something be so beautiful...?
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cbpride wrote:
"Devastating" is indeed the most perfect word I can think of to describe this.
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Hetfield55 wrote:
incredible. incredible. incredible.
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zimmerman6290 wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [3]
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lv_simo wrote:
i actually kind of liked the MCR version. but the concept was so awful that i just pretend i hated it. dylan is still the best of course
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mrzigge wrote:
11 minutes and 19 seconds and I wish it was longer [2]
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piper111 wrote:
betty davis style
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Nv5 wrote:
Not long enough.
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