Graley, this is fantastic, such a wonderful piece! I haven't read Just Kids in a few years, so the parallels to Patti Smith completely took me by surprise. I also love the idea that Dylan makes his way into the song. The footage from Gordon Lightfoot's party is captivating for so many reasons, but I'm also fascinated with watching Bob's face – so many emotions on his face that he's trying to keep under wraps as he's trying to learn the song, and listening to the performance. I keep wondering, is he jealous? Jealous of Joni, because everyone can tell this is a GREAT song, one for the ages, and it wasn't written by him (we know that Dylan has expressed admiration for Mitchell's ability to write so openly from a very personal place). But also, jealous of Sam? Not even (necessarily) of his affair with Joni, but because there's another man taking centre stage in what would clearly go down as maybe the greatest document of that tour. Maybe Joni wasn't the only one wrestling with her ego.
Another connection that I cannot work out whether it's a coincidence or deliberate is the verse in the diner in "Highlands" – it sounds to me like several years (decades) later, coyote, now fully embodied by Dylan, is on the prowl again. The eggs might now be hardboiled rather than scrambled, but he's still watching the waitress's legs because some things don't change.
What a great response, Laura! I'm glad the Patti Smith angle resonated with you. After re-reading Just Kids, I decided that I'm going to try teaching that book for the first time in the fall.
Your running commentary on the ticker tape of Dylan's mind during the Toronto performance feels spot on to me. And that connection to "Highlands" is brilliant! I'll never hear that section of the song the same way again--waitress, legs, huevos--it's all there. Of course, for proper deviled eggs you have to go to Dallas, right?
For what it's worth, I had prepared a final section for this piece that I ended up dropping because I thought it was running long. I already explored the Bob and Sam connections to Coyote, but for the Hejira recording I think there's a comparable musical dynamic being performed with the great bassist Jaco Pastorius. Different coyote and crow, but same dance. Mind you, I'm not the first person to make that connection. David Yaffe and Ann Powers both make similar points in their books.
Thanks for giving me extra shadows to chase Laura!
Thanks. Hejira is one of my favorite albums of all time and I know this song backwards and forwards. But I knew so little of the backstory and had never seen the songs evolution laid out. Funny to see where my own interpretations meet and where they differ from what you've presented here.
Graley, this is fantastic, such a wonderful piece! I haven't read Just Kids in a few years, so the parallels to Patti Smith completely took me by surprise. I also love the idea that Dylan makes his way into the song. The footage from Gordon Lightfoot's party is captivating for so many reasons, but I'm also fascinated with watching Bob's face – so many emotions on his face that he's trying to keep under wraps as he's trying to learn the song, and listening to the performance. I keep wondering, is he jealous? Jealous of Joni, because everyone can tell this is a GREAT song, one for the ages, and it wasn't written by him (we know that Dylan has expressed admiration for Mitchell's ability to write so openly from a very personal place). But also, jealous of Sam? Not even (necessarily) of his affair with Joni, but because there's another man taking centre stage in what would clearly go down as maybe the greatest document of that tour. Maybe Joni wasn't the only one wrestling with her ego.
Another connection that I cannot work out whether it's a coincidence or deliberate is the verse in the diner in "Highlands" – it sounds to me like several years (decades) later, coyote, now fully embodied by Dylan, is on the prowl again. The eggs might now be hardboiled rather than scrambled, but he's still watching the waitress's legs because some things don't change.
Thank you so much for this Graley!
What a great response, Laura! I'm glad the Patti Smith angle resonated with you. After re-reading Just Kids, I decided that I'm going to try teaching that book for the first time in the fall.
Your running commentary on the ticker tape of Dylan's mind during the Toronto performance feels spot on to me. And that connection to "Highlands" is brilliant! I'll never hear that section of the song the same way again--waitress, legs, huevos--it's all there. Of course, for proper deviled eggs you have to go to Dallas, right?
For what it's worth, I had prepared a final section for this piece that I ended up dropping because I thought it was running long. I already explored the Bob and Sam connections to Coyote, but for the Hejira recording I think there's a comparable musical dynamic being performed with the great bassist Jaco Pastorius. Different coyote and crow, but same dance. Mind you, I'm not the first person to make that connection. David Yaffe and Ann Powers both make similar points in their books.
Thanks for giving me extra shadows to chase Laura!
Brilliant, as always! Like all of your writing, this made me laugh and made me think. Thanks, Graley!
So glad you liked it, Matthew. A double-shot of Shepard from you and me!
Wonderful Graley! Back in the day, I always secretly wanted to be Sam Shepard. You have just reminded me why.
Thanks for this beautiful stuff of yours! Once I even heard Lou Reed singing the number live in Prague.
Thanks. Hejira is one of my favorite albums of all time and I know this song backwards and forwards. But I knew so little of the backstory and had never seen the songs evolution laid out. Funny to see where my own interpretations meet and where they differ from what you've presented here.
“Coyote” also features in The Last Waltz, does it not?
A lot of wonderful insights and memories here!
Fantastic account. I just spent a wonderful hour down all the paths of this time and this tale. Thanks.
These liberated souls always seem to have so little concerns for those their lives intersect with. No past, no future.
top! great work Graley