Poll: Best Song on Dylan's "Blood on the Tracks"

There isn't a track on this I dislike. There are the ones that jump straight out: Idiot Wind, Tangled Up in Blue, Lily, Rosemary etc, but its the quieter ones that you don't notice first play that seem to hold the album together in some way - the likes of "if you see her, say hello" and (especially) "meet me in the morning". Pauses for breath, in between the rants, maybe, and its in those quite, bittersweet moments that the rest of the emotions seem more poignant, because they're contained, perhaps.

That said, I've gone for You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go. Because sometimes you can't beat a good cynicism vs. hope face-off. I hope someone votes for Meet Me In The Morning.

the one-two of Idiot Wind and You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome – the first song brimming over with vitriol and disingenuous callousness and the second song gill-stuffed with blame and hurt, manifest as passive-agressive vim – play to me like an opera. the phrasings and vocalizations: the eponymous 'eeey-dyot' and 'blood on your saaaaaddle' and later the glibly beautiful beast 'dragon clouds so high above' and its fuck-you-honey stinger 'i've only known careless love' are as inflected and nuanced as anything dylan ever sang.

You're A Big Girl Now has been my favourite Dylan song for the longest time.

I voted "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome" narrowly over "Tangled Up in Blue."

dont let it die! easy, "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is my favorite Dylan song so that it is.

Pretty damn easy: Tangled Up In Blue

(I don't like this album.)

xpost Yeah, I was gonna say, until the last few posts, there was NO LOVE for "You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," but I see towards the bottom here that I'm not alone in loving a good Dylan pop tune. That's my vote. But, yeah, of course every song is wonderful.

Also, Madeliene Peyroux's version of this song is heartbreaking.

Simple Twist Of Fate edges out You're A Big Girl Now and Tangled...

Would be Idiot Wind, but as stated above the live versions better this one.

I wonder if I'll be the only vote for Meet Me In The Morning. This album really grates on me for some reason, and that's one of the few bright spots.

This is completely impossible. For a long time, 'If You See Her, Say Hello' used to be my favorite. Now, it sounds maybe a bit too obvious. I'll probably go with 'Big Girl Now'.

Me, I'm still on the road heading for another joint
We always did feel the same
we just saw it from a different point

of view

I've always been a bit dismayed at the hatred for Lily, Rosemary, et al. I think it's a great throwback to '65, the shaggy-dog days of convoluted widescreen epics like "Tombstone Blues" and "115th Dream" and the like. Not every song needs to be a confessional about a relationship gone wrong - I don't feel that it compromises the album's purity or whatever.

Nevertheless, "Tangled Up In Blue" (which kinda has it both ways) gets my vote.

That song feels like it goes on forever.

Seek the version on Blood On The Tapes - it's better. No 'oompah' drums

Real Live is worth owning for the version of "Tangled Up in Blue" – it does sound like it go on forever. I always saw New Order's "Temptation" in the same light: a song of infinite malleability, thematically and sonically, adjusting to age and experience.

That song-goes-on-forever monotony was one of the things I liked about Dylan when I first began to listen. But I can understand the objection. (I was big on the Minutemen in those days too.)

I also never liked the production on *B* on the *T*.

if we're gonna talk covers, perhaps one or two people might check out the Jerry Garcia Band's Simple Twist on their live 1991 self-titled. a sensitive vocal performance (i'm tempted to call it the best song on BOTT, but it's far from the best performance) and some jazzy, expressive soloing (caution, punk rockers - a 12-minute track). the album also has a jolly but less memorable Tangled Up.

I'm also partial to Shawn Colvin's neo-Joni version of YGMMLWYG on her Cover Girl

"shelter from the storm" because it's the first dylan song i can remember really liking as a kid. who wouldn't want shelter from the storm?

(i also loved "lily rosemary," and i remember trying to follow the story and always getting lost.)

"meet me in the morning" is the only one i can listen to without urge to kill rising..

Eventually I voted for "Tangled", after enjoying it most on a playthrough. "Lonesome", "Meet Me" and "Simple Twist" narrow runners-up. "Idiot Wind" great grand guignol stuff but it didn't touch me like I was expecting it to, this time.

No one's voting for Big Girl :(
Is anyone gonna stand up for 'Buckets of Rain'? That's the one I liked most when I first got the album.

The Blood-on-the-Tapes-version of Idiot Wind

Hmm, based on poor's comment, I wonder if Meet Me In The Morning is generally the favorite of people who otherwise don't like the album that much.

It does seem like it's the only song, or one of the only ones, where he doesn't sing a constant stream of long, breathless lines.

yeah, the key to lily, rosemary is actually listening to the lyrics

or, just submitting to it, basically

I must say that out of the super-lengthy Dylan tracks, I like "Rosemary..." better than "Sad-Eyed Lady..." or "Highlands".

Meet Me In The Morning is generally the favorite of people who otherwise don't like the album that much.

it's got the best beat! it sounds like dusty springfield.. i don't generally like dylan, but this is my favorite of his albums after John Wesley Harding.. "buckets of rain" sounds like devendra banhart.

I voted for "Tangled Up In Blue" but "You're a Big Girl Now" gets high marks from me...a very coy lyric: on the one hand Dylan is promising that he can change, but on the other hand he tells us that his lover can be found in someone else's room. Has he driven her away and now regrets it? Or is he trying to convince himself to stay with her? But Bob implies it's her fault, now that's she's a big girl.

meet me in the morning is probably the most contemporary-sounding song on the record (and/but possibly the most akin to the old-timey-ish stuff on his recent discs). it appeals some to my tourhead (pace xgau) side, tho tangled up is the real festival song.

"buckets of rain" sounds like devendra banhart

aieee

Meet Me In The Morning is generally the favorite of people who otherwise don't like the album that much.

it's got the best beat! it sounds like dusty springfield..

Hm! Never thought about that!

"You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go" is an unbelievably good song--it's like everything I like about Hank Williams plus everything I like about Dylan. And it's a hell of a lot of fun to play on an open-tuned guitar. (All of the BOTT songs were written in the same open tuning: E B E G# B E.)

I thought you played these on the uke!

"Tangled Up in Blue" takes it by a fair distance.

i like that everything got at least 2 votes.

Guess I'll have to listen to "Idiot Wind" some more...that's always been my least favorite from that album.

it's a deep, deep mystery for me how <i>you're a big girl now</i> finished last. the intro before he starts singing features about the best guitar play on any dylan track. apparently there were three guitarists (none of them being dylan who plays mouth harp) involved.

Yeah, "You're a Big Girl Now" is one of my favorites on this one. Lyrics are great, too.

hey, my two favorites tied for third.

at least "simple twist of fate" didn't win. the "but he'd gone streeaaaAAAGIIGHHTHTT" part and its sisters are the kinds of moments that put me off dylan almost entirely.

i can't believe Tangled up in blue won this...its obviously Idiot wind or you're a big girl now

Maybe so, but not 'obviously'

.. or "Shelter"