Playlist Picks

For whatever reason, I only just understood Bob Dylan this year. In fact, I remember the exact moment when I suddenly identified with his music. I mean of course I'd heard of Bob Dylan, and as a freshman in college, I downloaded every Dylan song I could find on Limewire - it seemed the natural thing to do with my first personal computer at a liberal arts college - but I never appreciated it... I listened, but I didn't listen. I couldn't relate to the lyrics.. I didn't appreciate the melodies.. I was still looking for the sensational, the dumbed-down, the heavy bass, the easy-to-recognize beats, repetitive perfectly rhyming, senseless lyrics. I didn't know any better! Nobody pointed out the subtle nuances of a really good song. No one ever sat down and made me listen to a really good rock'n'roll song.

A month or two back, I was driving down to the beach with Taylor, Jackson and Natalie, and for the first time... I really got it. I was sitting in the backseat of Taylor's Jeep, on the driver's side, with the window down... we were flying down Route 3A past Wollaston Beach.. the salty wind was tangling my hair and I was drinking in the day - and the cold beer in my hand - and breathing in the sweet smell of the ocean... and Bob's smoky, oaky, sultry voice was dancing in my ears...

... And now I'm hooked. I want to listen to every Bob Dylan song there is. I want to listen to him when I'm cleaning, when I'm sleeping, when I'm kissing boys, when I'm tanning topless on the roofdeck, when I'm smoking pot on the floor of my living room with friends, when I'm painting dusty, dirty old furniture in splattery jean cutoffs on a Sunday afternoon... mmm, Bob Dylan.

Meet Me In The Morning
Everybody Must Get Stoned
Lay Lady Lay
It Aint Me Babe
Like A Rolling Stone
Knockin' on Heaven's Door
Tangled Up In Blue
Forever Young
I Shall Be Released