Bob Dylan's "Lay Lady Lay" is a wonderful song.
The sixth track on Nashville Skyline opens with acoustic guitar, pedal steel, bass, organ, and simple percussion. Dylan enters after the four bar intro, his vocals clearer and more pronounced than ever before (the whole collection features Dylan's "new" voice), and repeats a two line phrase that sets the lyrical tone for the rest of the song.
I hear the track as a plea to a lover who is on her way out. The narrator sure that she is making a mistake, begs for another night, while at the same time trying to convince her that everything that she thinks she needs she already has.
The track is beautifully simplistic. The music, slow, melodic and slightly uplifting compliments the vocal perfectly, presenting a sonically pleasing bed while never distracting from Dylan's words.
In addition to Nashville Skyline the track is also available on a few hits packages, including the most recent collection Essentials. But in my opinion, all of Dylan's work is essential. Nashville Skyline might not be his most groundbreaking release, but with the inclusion of a duet with the mighty Johnny Cash, there are worse ways that you could spent 12 bucks and 32 minutes.
2 comments:
Nashville Skyline is my personal favorite Bob Dylan album.
It is important to note that it was a groundbreaking and controversial album.
Being a country music album, it was not what fans or critics expected and most complained that even Dylan's voice sounded like someone else.
It is also interesting to note that Johnny Cash won a Grammy for his work on Nashville Skyline.
It's true, Sweetie that from a historical perspective Nashville Skyline is an important and groundbreaking release. Not only was Dylan returning after a two year break, but his choice of content on the eve of the summer of love was also questionable. The protest songs were gone (although more of those would come later), replaced by simple songs that seemingly aspired to do nothing more than entertain.
If you're a fan of Nashville Skyline, be sure to check out the current re-issue. The remastered CD contains restored artwork, as well as the linear notes by Cash that won him the Grammy.
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