tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post3893013634488691234..comments2024-03-21T00:34:35.359-07:00Comments on Every Bob Dylan Song: Bob Dylan Song #105: I Dreamed I Saw St. AugustineTonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12613923038816299394noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-84883251781501999332017-07-29T14:58:01.007-07:002017-07-29T14:58:01.007-07:00Hello there Tony, Thank you for your interesting a...Hello there Tony, Thank you for your interesting analysis of this classic Bob Dylan song. Come and join us inside his Music Box http://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/269/I-Dreamed-I-Saw-St-Augustine and listen to every version of every song composed or performed by Bob Dylan.Music of Bob Dylanhttp://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/269/I-Dreamed-I-Saw-St-Augustinenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-75175396817700202272009-06-07T06:42:05.556-07:002009-06-07T06:42:05.556-07:00Vic Chesnutt does an excellent cover of this song,...Vic Chesnutt does an excellent cover of this song, as does the fella on the I'm Not There soundtrack, & this is one of the few covers that Joan Baez does that I don't mind. My favorite version comes from Boston in 2005, though. I love the way he shouts "Arise! Arise!".andrew!https://www.blogger.com/profile/05821924786524802006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-13906130677136631772009-06-04T18:18:18.011-07:002009-06-04T18:18:18.011-07:00Very good post. I would like to point out that St....Very good post. I would like to point out that St. Augustine also wrote a treatise called, "On Free Choice of the Will." To me Dylan has always represented what each one of us could do if we were true to ourselves and our values, without wavering under the pressures of outside influences. The work explores freedom of choice and doing God's will. Take a look at it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-43373500145828560002009-06-04T08:39:54.853-07:002009-06-04T08:39:54.853-07:00Also, I must be one of the 5% of people who didn&#...Also, I must be one of the 5% of people who didn't first hear of Dylan via "Highway 61 Revisited."<br /><br />He first caught my attention in 1970 on the New Morning album, when I was 16.<br /><br />I worked my way backward from there.Kenneth Lobbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15639469903014481224noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-73710801356571685252009-06-03T21:16:51.790-07:002009-06-03T21:16:51.790-07:00Sir,
Thank you for your work here, a fine song on...Sir,<br /><br />Thank you for your work here, a fine song on a fine album.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-11020630147630672402009-06-03T19:41:50.826-07:002009-06-03T19:41:50.826-07:00Good post, thoughtful, but it must be added that t...Good post, thoughtful, but it must be added that the song was composed, polished, & then recorded during a terribly violent couple of years, 1967-68, when Vietnam was on fire, a number of American cities suffered race riots, and both Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy were in fact "put out to death." That is, it's not entirely a personal song, addressing Dylan's own changes & faith issues. It's a social commentary, using the dream of St. Augustine as a metaphor for shared social ills ("I was amongst the ones..."). <br /><br />With that in mind, *nota bene,* St. Augustine was black. He was born in North Africa, in what is now Tunisia. His family was native, having lived there for centuries. <br /><br />So Dylan addresses his times via a brave & prophetic black man, "in the utmost misery," crying for an end to hypocrisy, & for community. Brilliant.John Dominihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01989770687143388060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-31370345646307147072009-06-03T08:38:35.814-07:002009-06-03T08:38:35.814-07:00"Joe Hill" is the first reference that w..."Joe Hill" is the first reference that would come to any folkie's mind, and I'd say the whole song is a variant or commentary on that one. Joe said, "Don't waste any time in mourning. Organize." (the song lyric adjusts this for rhythm). In this one, Augustine tells the crowd not to rely on martyrs but to "go on your own way, but know you're not alone." I'd say a sub-text is Bob himself not wanting to be a leader (or a martyr) ... "Trust yourself," as he wrote less poetically later. Also: "Don't follow leaders." But people do, and Dylan can relate to that; hard advice is not easy to take. (It's more subtle than that, I'm trying to be brief!)<br /><br />At this point in his development, I'd say the religious reference speaks more to a love of the language of the King James Bible than to a specific yearning for Judeo-Christian belief. But the song is commenting on the need for a spiritual approach to politics, or more accurately life.<br /><br />Thanks again for the blog; it's fun to think about these things,Petehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03830774223073462725noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-62126044374628194022009-06-03T08:25:39.985-07:002009-06-03T08:25:39.985-07:00the music and the shape of the song was actually b...the music and the shape of the song was actually based on the 1930 ballad Joe Hill. Luke Kelly of the Dubliners does a great version of this songAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-40781456944968093622009-06-03T05:53:12.190-07:002009-06-03T05:53:12.190-07:00Hi. I always see your blog linked @ expectingrain....Hi. I always see your blog linked @ expectingrain.com, and I think it's terrific. A few comments:<br /><br />Augustine was famously almost poisoned by his followers, maybe that could be part of putting him out to death. Also the song is based on some folk song (I dreamed I saw joe hill?). Choosing Augustine over some other mayrtr doesn't make sense because in the song it is Augustine who says there are none amoung you now, nothing is said of Augustine himself. On that album, Allen Ginsberg said that Dylan was making every word count, not one wasted just for a ryhme. I like his Rolling Thunder version with Joan. They start off and Dylan says (ironically) that Joan has a habit of changing things, to which she responds "yeah, I remember rehearsing this song backstage in 1965." In that video Dylan's voice is so powerful, you can barely hear Joan; no small feat. At the end she says something like, "by far the craziest genius I collaborate with." I think much if the album were songs he had left over from the pre-rock days. And maybe this is way Baez has never covered, to my knowledge, any song from Highway 61 or Blonde, but seemed to love JWH.<br /><br />One more note. Dylan had a huge bible in his living room and constantly referenced it.Brandon Younghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18048159255206067764noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-8630466627661659312009-06-03T05:42:13.238-07:002009-06-03T05:42:13.238-07:00I think the mention of St. Augustine in this song ...I think the mention of St. Augustine in this song is much simplier than what you make it. Dylan was beginning to search in earnest for the ultimate, which culminated in his embrace of Jesus as the Messiah in 1979.<br /><br />But good commentary, man. I'm glad I found this website.Kenneth Lobbhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15639469903014481224noreply@blogger.com