The Dylan-on-piano song... - Dont Look Back (1968) Discussion

[–] himynameis 19 years ago

you think it's that song just because it's in the same key...? I would say it's unlikely, if that's your only reason...I actually though it sounded like Bad Desire by Bruce Springsteen...obviously no real connection, but that came to mind.

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[–] elbereth13 19 years ago

yeah,right,sign on the window was released on new morning in 1971,and dont look back was in 1965...but,what song do you mean he plays on piano,i mean when,in the begginig or what

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[–] a_moral_imperative 19 years ago

I am referring to the song he plays on piano beginning to midway through the film, with his producer Tom Wilson in the background.

well
#1 I don't actually know or think I know what the song is, but it is a gospel-like song, as is Sign on a Window;
#2 It is in the same key and, as someone stated, it's not the only way to identify a song. However I think if Bob had written the song as early as 1965 until it is released he most likely would have kept it in the original key..

until he releases it and performs it live and edits the crap out of it (in a good way)

Ironically, I've been to many of his concerts and have never even heard of him playing Sign on a Window...anyone here?

"Would you classify that as a launch problem or a design problem?"

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[–] elbereth13 19 years ago

Yes I saw the movie again and I saw the song.I still don't know what song it is,and I asked my dad and he doesn't know either.I haven't seen any of his concerts Y E T but I have tickets for 3 of them in Oct and Nov.I saw reviews of his concerts,he doesn't play that song often...

"No man sees my face and lives"

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[–] nelliewilson 12 years ago

Bruce Springsteen's song is called 'I'm On Fire' not 'Bad Desire'.

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[–] Bunny68 19 years ago

It might be in the same key, both played on the piano, but I doubt they are the same song...they dont really sound the same.

It was just probably a song Dylan had in mind but eventually dropped.

Btw, don't you just love how it sounds like he's humming the lyrics to it? I love that. Tom Wilson, sitting in the background, getting into it while relaxing just adds to it. Good stuff.

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[–] himynameis 19 years ago

I saw the new documentary the other day at one of the few theatres it was showing in and it crossed my mind in one part that he was playing that same song...like the next year. I don't know if it was--i'll listen again when I tape it on PBS, but it was one of the parts of 1966 footage.

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[–] dentontrue2004 18 years ago

I have been puzzling about that song too!!! could it be Visions of Johanna?
it is absolutely not "sign in a window!"

denton

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[–] paloma12 18 years ago

woah i really dont think its visions of johanna

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[–] nobodys_friend 18 years ago

Im realtively sure its an early version of "It Takes A Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry" before he had all the lyrics down. You can tell hes just mumbling and humming at most of the parts. The first line almost sounds like Weeeeeeeeeeeel I ride a Mailtrain baby, then he starts starts humming/mumbleing something that definately doesn't like the album version.
Thats my best guess

Very good stuff

How bout when Dylan asks Alan Price about not playing with the Animals anymore and then he plays that awesome blues lick on the piano. Amazing

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[–] Katie105 18 years ago

I know the song has the word "bluebird" in it but that's the only word I could really decipher.

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[–] msb39 18 years ago

in the same vein.....what is the song dylan is playing/humming at the very beginning, just before he stops to look for his cain??

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[–] Bunny68 18 years ago

When Dylan is singing/humming at the very begining, I can make out Dylan saying, "...you will start out standing", probably showing that he's playing an acoustic version of "She Belongs To Me", which was released on the electric band half of Bringing It All Back Home.

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[–] edwin-shaw 18 years ago

Well when Bob starts his impros on the piano every time you get the upwards moving chords that come in the verses of Like A Rolling Stone. Most of the other songs mentioned in this thread are either entirely wrong, entirely implausible or simply too far in Bob's future for it to be them.

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[–] mch9 18 years ago

I, too, have always supposed myself to hear the nascent evolution of "Like a Rolling Stone" and furthermore have presumed that the editors put it there for that very reason.

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[–] mikeslant 18 years ago

Ive heard that he didn't even write the lyrics to "Like a Rolling Stone" until after he got back from this tour and went up to a cabin to rest, and that originally he was contemplating leaving the music scene for good until he wrote the lyrics while there and it was then he decided that he wanted to continue on.

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[–] pete_beck-1 18 years ago

There is a book by Greil Marcus called "Invisible Republic: Bob Dylan's Basement Tapes". In one section of that book, Marcus goes into great detail describing that scene in the movie and what was happening in Dylan's head at the time. He names the song (or at leat gives it his best guess). I, of course, can't remember it. The book is great for historical and informational perspective, however, it is rather cumbersome in parts and the flow is sometimes non-existent. Pick it up if you want to know where all those songs on "The Basement Tapes" come from.

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[–] new_gouda 18 years ago

The tracklist to the 14 disc bootleg "1965 Revisited" has this "song" listed as "Little Things."

http://bobsboots.com/CDs/cd-1_01.html

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[–] nelliewilson 12 years ago

Nope. Little Things was being sung mockingly by Bob Neuwirth to Bob Dylan. He was imitating someone in a joking manner.

The song being played on the piano isn't actually a song at all. You can tell Bob is just panning stuff out like any other songwriter does. He's trying to fit words into it. His style is very unique. As a child he took lessons but gave it up because it was to constricting for him to enjoy so he taught himself how to play. That's why it sounds like other songs of his, most notably, "It Takes a Lot to Laugh".

It sounds beautiful though. Tom Wilson is impressed and you can see that in his face. The song has no real structure because he is working things out. It's a musical stream of consciousness.

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[–] JoeBear15 11 years ago

The song is called 'My Ebony' and was unfortunately discarded by Dylan. He didn't feel it suited his voice and was not motivated to complete the song.

There are no complete recordings which makes the footage captured by Pennebaker all the more precious.

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[–] 11 years ago

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