Bob Dylan's body of work is rightfully hailed as one of the most influential in music history.
However, while a lot of that acclaim is down to generational classics such as The Times They Are A-Changin', Tangled Up in Blue and Like a Rolling Stone, his 600-song catalogue, recently acquired by Universal Music Group, is also home to some wonderfully hilarious lyrics.
Simply put, Dylan was as good as discussing politics as delivering puns. His six-decade career and 39 albums are full of tracks that are fun, witty, surreal and outright bonkers.
In the grand scheme of things, some of these tracks are as important as his social justice anthems. They serve to both enhance and puncture the aura surrounding one of the world’s most enigmatic artists. They also show that beneath that taciturn demeanour lies a sometimes sly and ready smile.
Here are six songs that show off Dylan's lighter side.
1. ‘Talkin' Bear Mountain Picnic Massacre Blues’ (1961)
Initially recorded in 1961, this track found the light of day 30 years later as part of Dylan's The Bootleg Series Volumes 1-3, a release of rare recordings. Dylan-ologists view the track as one of his first original compositions and it shows, even then, his knack for lacing his work with humour.
Inspired by a real-life cruise ship riot during a voyage to US picnic spot Bear Mountain, Dylan drolly recalls some of the personalities on board and the vessel's precarious position.
Notable lyrics: "Well, we all got on and what do you think? / That big old boat started to sink / More people kept a-piling on / That old ship was a slowly going down / Funny way to start a picnic."
2. ‘Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues’ (1962)
Dripping with sarcasm, this track poked fun at the anti-communism hysteria consuming the US at the time.
Composed in the form of protest song, Dylan takes on the voice of a paranoid citizen who, upon joining anti-communism advocacy group The John Birch Society, scours the US in search for undercover communists.
During the track he rattles off a list of names of suspected "reds", including four former US presidents. Understandably, when invited to perform on The Ed Sullivan Show, producers insisted he didn't play the track due to fears of being sued by the The John Birch Society itself. Dylan refused and stormed off the set.
Notable lyrics: "Looked up my chimney hole / even deep down inside my toilet bowl / they got away."
3. ‘Talkin' World War III Blues’ (1963)
This is another track that captures the Cold War paranoia of the time. After a rash of apocalyptic nightmares, in which Dylan's character traverses a landscape scarred by war and gun-toting residents, he wakes up and hurries to a psychiatrist for advice. On the couch he learns the doctor has been experiencing the same dreams, too.
Notable lyrics: "The doctor interrupted me just about then / Saying, hey, I've been having the same old dreams / But mine was a little different, you see / I dreamt that the only person left after the war was me / I didn't see you around."
4. ‘I Shall Be Free No 10’ (1964)
Another one of Dylan's surrealistic romps. Each of the 11 verses are comedic vignettes featuring confused characters. There is a boxer who thinks he can beat Muhammad Ali, a Democrat suspicious of his party's leadership, the tennis player with dubious skills and a man stuck in a resentful friendship. This is all presented with Dylan’s lackadaisical and tongue-in-cheek vocal delivery.
Notable lyrics: "I got a friend who spends his life / Stabbing my picture with a bowie knife / Dreams of strangling me with a scarf / When my name comes up, he pretends to barf / I've got a million friends."
5. ‘Bob Dylan's 115th Dream’ (1965)
The carefree vibe of this recording is complimented by its off-the-wall lyrics. This is Dylan taking a break from the weight of being the poet of his generation. In this song, he takes immense pleasure in mouthing off random words, conjuring surrealistic images and characters. What we can tell from the lyrics is he is a passenger, or a sailor or a magazine editor, in a ship setting sail for America.
Notable lyrics: "I ran right through the front door like a hobo sailor does / But it was just a funeral parlour and the man asked me who I was? / I repeated that my friends were all in jail / with a sigh he gave me his card, he said, 'call me if they die."
6. ‘Tweeter and the Monkey Man’ (1988)
Meet Bob Dylan, the troll. In jest of the acclaim afforded to fellow singer-songwriter Bruce Springsteen, this track, recorded during Dylan's time with the Traveling Wilburys, is full of references to Springsteen songs, themes and Jersey City settings.
Some of the Springsteen tracks mentioned here are Thunder Road, Lion's Den and Mansion on The Hill.
On top of that, the track also tells a story of two criminals, Tweeter and Monkey Man, who are on the run from an "undercover cop”.
Notable lyrics: "Now the town of Jersey City is quieting down again / I'm sitting in a gambling club called the Lion's Den/ The TV set was blown up, every bit of it is gone / Ever since the nightly news showed that the Monkey Man was on."
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Cryopreservation: A timeline
- Keyhole surgery under general anaesthetic
- Ovarian tissue surgically removed
- Tissue processed in a high-tech facility
- Tissue re-implanted at a time of the patient’s choosing
- Full hormone production regained within 4-6 months
The Energy Research Centre
Founded 50 years ago as a nuclear research institute, scientists at the centre believed nuclear would be the “solution for everything”.
Although they still do, they discovered in 1955 that the Netherlands had a lot of natural gas. “We still had the idea that, by 2000, it would all be nuclear,” said Harm Jeeninga, director of business and programme development at the centre.
"In the 1990s, we found out about global warming so we focused on energy savings and tackling the greenhouse gas effect.”
The energy centre’s research focuses on biomass, energy efficiency, the environment, wind and solar, as well as energy engineering and socio-economic research.
What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
IF YOU GO
The flights
FlyDubai flies direct from Dubai to Skopje in five hours from Dh1,314 return including taxes. Hourly buses from Skopje to Ohrid take three hours.
The tours
English-speaking guided tours of Ohrid town and the surrounding area are organised by Cultura 365; these cost €90 (Dh386) for a one-day trip including driver and guide and €100 a day (Dh429) for two people.
The hotels
Villa St Sofija in the old town of Ohrid, twin room from $54 (Dh198) a night.
St Naum Monastery, on the lake 30km south of Ohrid town, has updated its pilgrims' quarters into a modern 3-star hotel, with rooms overlooking the monastery courtyard and lake. Double room from $60 (Dh 220) a night.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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ACC%20T20%20Women%E2%80%99s%20Championship
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PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
What is the Supreme Petroleum Council?
The Abu Dhabi Supreme Petroleum Council was established in 1988 and is the highest governing body in Abu Dhabi’s oil and gas industry. The council formulates, oversees and executes the emirate’s petroleum-related policies. It also approves the allocation of capital spending across state-owned Adnoc’s upstream, downstream and midstream operations and functions as the company’s board of directors. The SPC’s mandate is also required for auctioning oil and gas concessions in Abu Dhabi and for awarding blocks to international oil companies. The council is chaired by Sheikh Khalifa, the President and Ruler of Abu Dhabi while Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, is the vice chairman.
The Voice of Hind Rajab
Starring: Saja Kilani, Clara Khoury, Motaz Malhees
Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Rating: 4/5
Zayed Sustainability Prize
Electric scooters: some rules to remember
- Riders must be 14-years-old or over
- Wear a protective helmet
- Park the electric scooter in designated parking lots (if any)
- Do not leave electric scooter in locations that obstruct traffic or pedestrians
- Solo riders only, no passengers allowed
- Do not drive outside designated lanes
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Farage on Muslim Brotherhood
Nigel Farage told Reform's annual conference that the party will proscribe the Muslim Brotherhood if he becomes Prime Minister.
"We will stop dangerous organisations with links to terrorism operating in our country," he said. "Quite why we've been so gutless about this – both Labour and Conservative – I don't know.
“All across the Middle East, countries have banned and proscribed the Muslim Brotherhood as a dangerous organisation. We will do the very same.”
It is 10 years since a ground-breaking report into the Muslim Brotherhood by Sir John Jenkins.
Among the former diplomat's findings was an assessment that “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” has “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
The prime minister at the time, David Cameron, who commissioned the report, said membership or association with the Muslim Brotherhood was a "possible indicator of extremism" but it would not be banned.
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Uefa Nations League: How it Works
The Uefa Nations League, introduced last year, has reached its final stage, to be played over five days in northern Portugal. The format of its closing tournament is compact, spread over two semi-finals, with the first, Portugal versus Switzerland in Porto on Wednesday evening, and the second, England against the Netherlands, in Guimaraes, on Thursday.
The winners of each semi will then meet at Porto’s Dragao stadium on Sunday, with the losing semi-finalists contesting a third-place play-off in Guimaraes earlier that day.
Qualifying for the final stage was via League A of the inaugural Nations League, in which the top 12 European countries according to Uefa's co-efficient seeding system were divided into four groups, the teams playing each other twice between September and November. Portugal, who finished above Italy and Poland, successfully bid to host the finals.
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The biog
Age: 46
Number of Children: Four
Hobby: Reading history books
Loves: Sports
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Museum of the Future in numbers
- 78 metres is the height of the museum
- 30,000 square metres is its total area
- 17,000 square metres is the length of the stainless steel facade
- 14 kilometres is the length of LED lights used on the facade
- 1,024 individual pieces make up the exterior
- 7 floors in all, with one for administrative offices
- 2,400 diagonally intersecting steel members frame the torus shape
- 100 species of trees and plants dot the gardens
- Dh145 is the price of a ticket
Zayed Sustainability Prize
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TRAINING FOR TOKYO
A typical week's training for Sebastian, who is competing at the ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon on March 8-9:
- Four swim sessions (14km)
- Three bike sessions (200km)
- Four run sessions (45km)
- Two strength and conditioning session (two hours)
- One session therapy session at DISC Dubai
- Two-three hours of stretching and self-maintenance of the body
ITU Abu Dhabi World Triathlon
For more information go to www.abudhabi.triathlon.org.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
HIV on the rise in the region
A 2019 United Nations special analysis on Aids reveals 37 per cent of new HIV infections in the Mena region are from people injecting drugs.
New HIV infections have also risen by 29 per cent in western Europe and Asia, and by 7 per cent in Latin America, but declined elsewhere.
Egypt has shown the highest increase in recorded cases of HIV since 2010, up by 196 per cent.
Access to HIV testing, treatment and care in the region is well below the global average.
Few statistics have been published on the number of cases in the UAE, although a UNAIDS report said 1.5 per cent of the prison population has the virus.
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MATCH INFO
Manchester United 2
(Martial 30', McTominay 90 6')
Manchester City 0
War
Director: Siddharth Anand
Cast: Hrithik Roshan, Tiger Shroff, Ashutosh Rana, Vaani Kapoor
Rating: Two out of five stars
Company Profile
Name: Thndr
Started: 2019
Co-founders: Ahmad Hammouda and Seif Amr
Sector: FinTech
Headquarters: Egypt
UAE base: Hub71, Abu Dhabi
Current number of staff: More than 150
Funds raised: $22 million
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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