tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post3935675352176984468..comments2024-03-21T00:34:35.359-07:00Comments on Every Bob Dylan Song: Bob Dylan Song #31: North Country BluesTonyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12613923038816299394noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-36519283524343825162017-01-02T22:13:28.790-08:002017-01-02T22:13:28.790-08:00Hello there, thank you for this interesting essay....Hello there, thank you for this interesting essay. When you have read enough join us inside Bob Dylan's Music Box http://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/454/North-Country-Blues and listen to every version of every song.David George Freemanhttp://thebobdylanproject.com/Song/id/454/North-Country-Bluesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-49803657114367596792008-09-14T16:41:00.000-07:002008-09-14T16:41:00.000-07:00andrew, the place I bought L&T from no longer ...andrew, the place I bought L&T from no longer exists - I want to say it was called Record and Tape Traders, but that doesn't really sound right. Schoolkids was great (and, sadly, no longer around), as is Wazoo. <BR/><BR/>Azor, that link really surprised me; $64,000/yr. does sound like quite a bit for mining work.<BR/><BR/>tim, I suppose it wouldn't be a shock if the song was about Hibbing; "North Country" and all that. I also like that little twist that you pointed out.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12613923038816299394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-29955327923177026742008-09-14T12:30:00.000-07:002008-09-14T12:30:00.000-07:00What record store did you buy Love & Theft fro...What record store did you buy Love & Theft from? I credit my insane desire to buy cd's from visiting downtown Ann Arbor in high school where there was at least four miles. My favorite was Schoolkids. <BR/><BR/>Love & Theft was also the first Dylan cd I bought on the day of the release, I sort of feel guilty about going out & buying a cd on a day like that. I got let out of my first day of my internship at a museum early & walked down to Vertigo records & bought it, but like many people I didn't hear it proper until a few days later. <BR/><BR/>I got nothing to say about North Country Blues, I've never paid much attention to it, to be honest.andrew!https://www.blogger.com/profile/05821924786524802006noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-81369105433977160332008-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:002008-09-12T21:17:00.000-07:00Actually, miners make pretty good money today. Ob...Actually, miners make pretty good money today. Obviously, that hasn't always been the case, and it is still dangerous, hard work, but it is much better than it used to be:<BR/><BR/>http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_much_is_a_miner%27s_salaryAzorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03696123926748809648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-19800607592808865082008-09-12T16:05:00.000-07:002008-09-12T16:05:00.000-07:00Isn't the thing about this song that it's the stor...Isn't the thing about this song that it's the story of Hibbing. and then there's the wonderful play that this is called a blues whenit's a ballad and Hollis Brown is called a ballad whenit's a bluesUnknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14262491841049759126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-40773197111797572512008-09-11T17:49:00.000-07:002008-09-11T17:49:00.000-07:00"as he sings "John Thomas, a miner", he actually g...<I>"as he sings "John Thomas, a miner", he actually goes into the A-minor chord."</I><BR/><BR/>Well that's just awesome.<BR/><BR/>I don't think I ever heard it as "I married John Thomas, a minor," although that would match Young But Daily Growin'.<BR/><BR/><BR/>God, even the rhyme scheme is a downer in this song -- aabccb where half the a's and the c's are unfulfilled and the b is always an unfailing two-syllable kick in the pants, especially since something terrible happens in every single verse. It makes me yearn for the sing-song racial hostility of Only A Pawn In Their Game.<BR/><BR/><BR/>Have you ever heard a girl sing a Dylan song and change the gender? Joan Baez singing Daddy You Been On My Mind is what it is, but the girl on the Masked And Anonymous soundtrack who switches all the pronouns in Most Of The Time is awkward, particularly when she rhymes "endure" and "sure" with ... "him." I'm pretty sure Joan has recorded North Country Blues, come to think.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-65242778292584565432008-09-11T16:38:00.000-07:002008-09-11T16:38:00.000-07:00The awesome part is that, according to Dylanchords...The awesome part is that, according to Dylanchords, A-minor is indeed one of the two chords in the song (the other being G), and as he sings "John Thomas, a miner", he <I>actually goes into the A-minor chord</I>. Either Bob's even more brilliant than we give him credit for, or it's the weirdest shout-out to the engineers and recorders next to "is it rolling, Bob?"<BR/><BR/>You could always assume, if you wish, that in the songs where he's not putting women down he's singing in a woman's voice - it'll make the listening experience funnier, I think. Like, "Hattie Carroll" could be sung from a woman's POV. Think of a woman singing "Subterranean Homesick Blues". Wouldn't that be CRAZY?<BR/><BR/>My L&T experience was that I bought it on that Tuesday, and I distinctly remember the local record shop I haunted in Ann Arbor, which usually played cool tunes over the stereo system, was instead playing NPR or a news radio station, talking about The News Of The Day. The whole campus had a creepy vibe - real quiet, kinda like a ghost town.<BR/><BR/>I hadn't heard the album in advance (I only download albums already out, Justin, you <B>Pittsburgh Pirate</B>), but I'd seen some strong advance reviews, and I was very excited. The advance reviews were all dead on - I listened to the whole album 3 straight times, then listened to "High Water" about 50 straight times. Lord willing, I'll get to that song someday, but that's one of the tracks I'm most excited to write about. It's a Top Fiver for me.Tonyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12613923038816299394noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2448601238585270507.post-54790721088080057162008-09-11T16:24:00.000-07:002008-09-11T16:24:00.000-07:00First time I heard the song, I thought her husband...First time I heard the song, I thought her husband's name was John Thomas A. Miner. Next time, I thought "John Thomas, A-minor" was an oddly-placed announcement of a chord change.<BR/><BR/>It's always kind of unusual when Bob Dylan, big time sexer of all women, sings as a distinctly female narrator. You got this, House Of The Rising Sun, Dink's Song, Searching For A Soldier's Grave, Young But Daily Growin' ... probably other stuff. what'm I missing?<BR/><BR/><BR/>Strangely, of the six (!) Bob Dylan songs included on the soundtrack to North Country, that Charlize Theron a movie about A FEMALE MINER, North Country Blues was not one of them. Girl From The North Country was, though -- they could've grabbed Something There Is About You and Went To See The Gypsy for the clean sweep of Minnesota-namechecking songs. Dylan, if you want to take him at his word, also told Don Was that Under The Red Sky was about his hometown. Going under that assumption, I might clumsily read "one day the man in the moon went home and the river went dry" as a loose metaphor for the mine closin' and the stores foldin'.<BR/><BR/><BR/><BR/><I>"Special note: this post was written on Thursday, but will be read by most people on Friday. Hopefully you all know what Thursday is the anniversary of, and have kept it in your thoughts, if only for a moment."</I><BR/><BR/>Indeed. It was the day that Love & Theft was released, so one of the greatest days in Bob Dylan history! Yayayayay.<BR/><BR/>'course, we'd already had the leaked mp3s for, I feel like, at least three weeks? This was my first new Bob Dylan album, as I'm guessing it was for most cool people around our cool age, and I felt kind of guilty that I didn't wait it out properly. In the years that followed, I swore that if I were ever so blessed with a new Bob Dylan album again, I would definitely not take the shine off the momentousness of its release by looking for my Christmas presents before the big day. I'd get to go to a store, come out with a Brand New CD of Brand New Bob Dylan Songs, and proceed to immerse myself in them.<BR/><BR/>Then Modern Times leaked about ten days before the day of its 'drop' (don't say drop) and I caved without hesitation. :(<BR/><BR/>I don't know if I'll have any more resolve if/when the next new album comes out -- or even how much the entire concept of 'buying a new album' will have changed by then. But I'm pretty certain that if the Tell Tale Signs tracks became available, I would fall over myself for a sneak peek.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com