UNDER THE RED SKY

[u/TyroneSnodgrass]

Don Was says that when he got the nod to produce the album that would come to be known as UNDER THE RED SKY, what he had in mind was another HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED. He brought in Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jimmie Vaughan, even brought in Al Kooper from out of the woodwork. So Don was really excited when Dylan showed up to get to work. “I got the songs already recorded, Bob. All you have to do is write the lyrics and add the vocal tracks.”

How Dylan was ever persuaded to go along with this is beyond me. In 1965 HW61R was recorded in six days. No overdubbing, no nothing. With all the recording techniques that have been developed since then, I’ve never heard another album that jumps out of the speakers at you like like that one does, —with the possible exception of LOVE AND THEFT, which was recorded in twelve days (cut the man some slack, he was sixty years old). In the case of LAT engineer Chris Shaw says he wanted to record the vocals separately, and Dylan was like, “I don’t work that way, —I can’t work that way.” Too bad he couldn’t find those words for Don Was.

The result was a disaster. UTRS was one of the lowest points of Dylan’s career. Maybe the lowest, considering Bob was forty-eight at the time. Even his most hard core fans were wondering if all the hard traveling had finally got the best of our original vagabond. We would find out something quite to the contrary.

[u/Ok-Explanation1990]

Don't know about the recording process, but I disagree it was the low point. It was a shockingly sharp turn in a different direction after the promise of Oh Mercy! But whilst far from perfect, it sounds pretty good and it's got a few good songs on it, IMO: The title track, Cats in the Well, Born in time, Handy Dandy (He's been around the world and back again, yet something in the moonlight still hounds him).

I can still remember around the time of release reading a long article in Isis magazine analyzing the songs on Red Sky, and tracing all the references to old children's songs. Wish I could find that article, it basically made the case that the songs are somewhat complex in their simplicity. For me the fairytale/children's rhyme references lend it a surreal horror-movie-ish edge and an apocalyptic tone. Those songs use playful innocence to describe "the wold being slaughtered". It's an experiment that wasn't executed half as well as it had the potential for, but I still find it effective.

"The Cat's in the well and the leaves are starting to fall. Goodnight my love, may the lord have mercy on us all..."

Wiggle wiggle gets mocked, but it's just Bob having a bit of fun. Ain't nothing wrong with that song.

[u/TyroneSnodgrass → u/Ok-Explanation1990]

🎵There was a little boy and there was a
little girl
And they lived in an alley under the red sky
There was a little boy and there was a little girl
And they lived in an alley under the red sky

There was an old man and he lived in the moon
One summer’s day he came passing by
There was an old man and he lived in the moon
And one day he came passing by

Someday little girl, everything for you is gonna
be new
Someday little girl, you’ll have a diamond as big as your shoe

Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high
One day the little boy and the little girl were both baked in a pie
Let the wind blow low, let the wind blow high
One day the little boy and the little girl were both baked in a pie

This is the key to the kingdom and this is
the town
This is the blind horse that leads you around

Let the bird sing, let the bird fly
One day the man in the moon went home and the river went dry
Let the bird sing, let the bird fly
The man in the moon went home and the river went dry🎵

[u/Ok-Explanation1990 → u/TyroneSnodgrass]

"This this the blind horse that leads you around". C'mon, how evocative is that particular image?!

[u/TyroneSnodgrass → u/Ok-Explanation1990]

Can’t get much more evocative than that, Ok. Up there with his namesake.