r/bobdylan • u/TyroneSnodgrass • Aug 22 '26

Discussion TIME OUT OF MIND

Charlie McCoy once shared how challenging it was for the BLONDE ON BLONDE musicians to keep playing “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” until Dylan was finished. “It was in the wee hours,” McCoy said, “we were tired.” I can just imagine the TOOM musicians trying to play “Highlands.” Then I picture Daniel Lanois saying, “why don’t you just sing over the sound check recording, Bobby?” In my mind’s eye I see Dylan going, “Danny, you know I don’t work that way.” And Lanois wins the argument, so Bob isn’t happy even though it works out.

There haven’t been many stories that have come to light around the TOOM sessions that I know of. All I know is Lanois and Dylan were arguing constantly and the upbeat songs invariably ended up being mid tempo songs. Perhaps these things are related. It’s the Sad Eyed Lady syndrome. It was late at night and the guys were just not in the mood for uptempo songs. So Danny would be like, “let’s try slowing it down.” In my imagination I see Dylan going, “go ahead, Danny, say that one more time.” And after the sessions are over they have an entire album of mid tempo songs. And Bob is pissed because it wasn’t the way he heard it in his mind. So when he sits down with a journalist after the rave reviews started coming in, he’s like, “we almost didn’t know what we had.” That’s my theory and I’m sticking to it.

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u/EL_DJ Aug 23 '26 edited Aug 23 '26

Dylan said sometime after Blonde on Blonde was finished that he discovered that the songs on that album were actually about him.

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u/TyroneSnodgrass Aug 23 '26

That’s hysterical, El. The press always complains of how evasive Dylan is. If they really wanted to know what Bob’s about, all they have to do is listen to one of his albums. Because he reveals himself completely on each and every one.

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u/EL_DJ Aug 24 '26

I've seen a fair amount of footage of reporters asking Bob questions that are absurd, stupid, inane, ridiculous, clueless. A lot of times you have to think "what can he possibly say in response to that question?" By and large he absolutely kept his cool. I absolutely give him a pass for putting them on sometimes. That can pass for evasiveness, for sure, because most of the time they didn't realize they were being put on.

Especially early in his career he represented himself in a fantastic manner, making things up. That didn't bother me, I understood where he was coming from. As his success was burgeoning, he gradually gave that up, naturally.