My Back Pages (Bob Dylan Cover)

My Back Pages

words and music: Bob Dylan

Crimson flames tied through my ears

Rollin’ high and mighty traps

Countless fire on flaming roads

Using ideas as my maps

“We’ll meet on edges, soon,” said I

Proud ‘neath heated brow

Chorus

Ah, but I was so much older then

I’m younger than that now

Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth

“Rip down all hate,” I screamed

Lies that life is black and white

Spoke from my skull, I dreamed

Romantic facts of musketeers,

Foundationed deep, somehow

Chorus

In a soldiers stance, I aimed my hand

At the mongrel dogs who teach

Fearing not that I’d become my enemy

At the instant that I preach

My pathway led by confusion boats,

Mutiny from stern to bow

Chorus

Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats,

Too noble to neglect

Deceived me into thinking

I had something to protect

Good and bad, I define these terms,

Quite clear, no doubt, somehow

Chorus

guitars and vocals: T.S. Taylor

percussion: Andrew Taylor

note:

Yeah, I know. I posted on Patreon recently that I was going to get back to recording some of your requests. I still intend to do so. I promise. The problem is that I committed to the request thing before I realized that I had already promised my wife and kids (my big kids!) that I would record “My Back Pages” as soon as I was done recording the “Short, Sweet, and Stupid” collection. You see, a couple of months back my son Andrew was listening to various songs on his iPhone and when “My Back Pages” came up. Andrew, along with me, my wife, and my daughter, got all enthusiastic about how much we all love this classic tune. This isn’t the first time this has happened. In the past, all four of us have made it known that this is arguably our favorite Byrds cover of a Bob Dylan song, (If you’ve lived under a rock and don’t know who “The Byrds” are, please do a Google search). The Byrds have covered over a dozen Dylan songs, (if you include live versions not found on their albums). Among the band’s most popular album cuts are “Mr. Tamborine Man,” “The Times They Are a-Changin,’” and “All I Really Want To Do.”

Another reason I wanted to record “My Back Pages” is that Dylan and I share a birthday; May 24th. Invariably, every year on Facebook, a few people make mention of this and some of them make favorable comparisons between the two of us, which is sweet and humbling, but a little embarrassing too. Even if this could be proven to be objectively true (which, being an opinion and therefore subjective, is impossible), I could never believe it myself. Then again, maybe I’m just saying this to appear humble in your eyes and the reality is that I think I’m every bit as good as Dylan, maybe even better. Or maybe, in reality, I think that he’s written some songs that are better than mine, and vice-versa, I’ve written some that are better than his. Lastly, maybe I never make the comparison at all. I figure people will always make such comparisons like this about all kinds of artists, which is fine, but in the end, who really cares? OR, it’s possible I really am better than Bob Dylan. Then again, maybe I’m better than Bob Dylan. And yet again, it could be that I’m better than Bob Dylan.

Dinner's on, so I don’t have time to fully go into the history of “My Back Pages.” If you want to know more, there’s this thing called the….uh….the…..the inner….THE INTERNET! Ask somebody, someone younger, about it and maybe they can show you how to go on there. I think it has all kinds of stuff you want to know about, like stuff about The Byrds, Bob Dylan, "My Back Pages," how to make a sandwich, where to go to get your pus-filled gum boil lanced, who died today, what state has more pants, and so forth. It’s pretty cool. Anyway, what I do want to talk about are the lyrics to “My Back Pages,” which, in a way, kind of goes to what I was talking about earlier; is Dylan a brilliant songwriter, or is he overrated and maybe just average, or is it possible, at times, that he’s a bad, self-indulgent, lazy, and incredibly pretentious songwriter (like me at times). Well, here are two lines from “My Back Pages” for your consideration. Then you tell me if he’s brilliant, good, mediocre, or bad; one of these, two of these, or all of these? The first line for your consideration is this: “Fearing not that I’d become my enemy, at the instant that I preached.” Now let’s compare this to another line in the same song. It goes like this: “Romantic facts of musketeers.” Okay, what do you think? Are you unsure as to which line is good/brilliant and which line is…well…. stink-o? Do I need to give you a hint? What I can tell you is this: the song was written by an older and wiser Bob Dylan who is lamenting his realization at this point in his life just how arrogant and overly “preachy” he was in his earlier music. Strangely, this is exactly the same regret I have in regard to some of my non-musical interactions with unbelievers early in the days following my conversion. I chalk this “boldness” up to youthful excitement, earnestness, and zeal which, though absolutely understandable, could have been tempered by a good deal more humility, nuance, sensitivity, and empathy toward those who I wished, in all sincerity, to “bring to Christ.”

Anyway, thanks Bob for all the great music, even though I’m better than you. Oh, and a “happy birthday” to one of my favorite songwriters of all time….me!