Positively Fourth St B.D Challenge
Flickr x 100 2017 Challenge Bob Dylan Songs
Positively Fourth St 8/100
This song was recorded in 1965 and was released as a single, making it to the top 10 in the charts. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as No. 206 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Breaking all the Top 40 rules, the song's title is not mentioned once in the song and it does not have a chorus!
It is a pretty vitriolic song, almost written as an open letter:
You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin'
and ..
I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?
The title probably refers to one or many of the 4th Streets found in New York City where Dylan spent much of his early career.
There is a lot of speculation about who the song was written about but it seems likely it was aimed at the Greenwich Village crowd who criticized Dylan for betraying his roots in traditional folk styles and selling his soul to "pop" and rock and roll via the electric guitar.
To quote Paul Williams (1990) -Rather than selling out, Dylan saw this new direction as a "huge new playground to create and communicate and be perverse in". And he did.
I could only find one Fourth Street in Melbourne!
Positively Fourth St B.D Challenge
Flickr x 100 2017 Challenge Bob Dylan Songs
Positively Fourth St 8/100
This song was recorded in 1965 and was released as a single, making it to the top 10 in the charts. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the song as No. 206 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time list. Breaking all the Top 40 rules, the song's title is not mentioned once in the song and it does not have a chorus!
It is a pretty vitriolic song, almost written as an open letter:
You've got a lotta nerve to say you are my friend
When I was down you just stood there grinnin'
You've got a lotta nerve to say you got a helping hand to lend
You just want to be on the side that's winnin'
and ..
I know the reason, that you talked behind my back
I used to be among the crowd you're in with
Do you take me for such a fool, to think I'd make contact
With the one who tries to hide what he don't know to begin with?
The title probably refers to one or many of the 4th Streets found in New York City where Dylan spent much of his early career.
There is a lot of speculation about who the song was written about but it seems likely it was aimed at the Greenwich Village crowd who criticized Dylan for betraying his roots in traditional folk styles and selling his soul to "pop" and rock and roll via the electric guitar.
To quote Paul Williams (1990) -Rather than selling out, Dylan saw this new direction as a "huge new playground to create and communicate and be perverse in". And he did.
I could only find one Fourth Street in Melbourne!