Bob Dylan mourns John Lennon on new album
And the master songwriter remembers the Titanic too...
The Hot Press Newsdesk, 17 Aug 2012
Bob Dylan's new album Tempest – due for release in September – contains a remarkable tribute to the late Beatle, John Lennon. The song, entitled 'Roll On John', is doubtless the one that will be talked about most on what is a stunning album.
But as Hot Press reveals in a special preview by Anne Margaret Daniel, Tempest is a stunning record which finds Dylan in fine and feisty form throughout.
"'Roll On John' will be the most talked-about track on Tempest, and with good reason," Anne Margeret Daniel writes. "There’s so much going on in it, and it’s truly beautiful.
"The images in this song go through Lennon’s musical life as a young man, from the Liverpool docks to the Hamburg streets, to the Quarrymen in the cellar – but there are also powerful images of silencing and captivity, things John never, ever put up with."
Of immense interest to Irish people also will be Dylan's epic on the sinking of the Titanic – described in magnificent gothic detail in the title track 'Tempest'.
"Tempest' is a mesmerising ballad," Anne Margaret Daniels states. "It feels like someone’s dangling a watch in front of your face, swinging it back and forth as what’s going to happen inexorably comes to pass. You know the history of Titanic, you know the stories made of it from novels to recent movies, and you can’t stop it, you just have to sit there and respect it...
"As I listened to this song, though, I thought about Noah and Katrina as much as I did about Titanic," she adds. "Maybe more. To call it epic isn’t too strong."
For the full rundown on the Dylan album, click here.
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