Desolation Row
Encyclopedia
"Desolation Row" is a 1965
song written and sung by Bob Dylan
. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, and was released as the closing track of Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited
. During its length of 11 minutes, Dylan weaves together a number of characters lifted from history, fiction and the Bible, into a narrative which suggests entropy and urban chaos.
on electric bass and Al Kooper
on electric guitar. This version was eventually released in 2005 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
. On August 2, Dylan recorded five further takes of "Desolation Row".
The Highway 61 Revisited version of "Desolation Row" was recorded on August 4, 1965, in Columbia
's Studio A in New York City
. Nashville
-based guitarist Charlie McCoy
, who happened to be in New York, was invited by producer Bob Johnston to contribute an improvised acoustic guitar
part, with Russ Savakus
on bass. Polizzotti credits much of the success of the song to McCoy's contribution: "While Dylan's panoramic lyrics and hypnotic melody sketch out the vast canvas, it is McCoy's fills that give it their shading."
, "an area infested with whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets totally beyond renovation or redemption". Polizzotti suggests that both the inspiration and title of the song may have come from Desolation Angels
by Jack Kerouac
, and Cannery Row
by John Steinbeck
.
"Desolation Row" has been described as Dylan's most ambitious work to date. It has been noted for its length (11:21) and surreal lyrics. In the New Oxford Companion to Music, Gammond described "Desolation Row" as an example of Dylan's work that achieved a "high level of poetical lyricism." Clinton Heylin notes that Dylan is writing a song as long as traditional folk ballads, such as "Tam Lin
" and "Matty Groves
", and in that classic ballad metre, but without any linear narrative thread.
When he reviewed the Highway 61 Revisited album for The Daily Telegraph
in 1965, the English poet Philip Larkin
described the song as a "marathon", with an "enchanting tune and mysterious, possibly half-baked words".
For Andy Gill, the song is "an 11-minute epic of entropy, which takes the form of a Fellini-esque parade of grotesques and oddities featuring a huge cast of iconic characters, some historical (Einstein, Nero
), some biblical (Noah, Cain and Abel), some fictional (Ophelia, Romeo, Cinderella), some literary (T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound
), and some who fit into none of the above categories, notably Dr. Filth and his dubious nurse."
When Jann Wenner
asked Dylan in 1969 whether Allen Ginsberg
had influenced his songs, Dylan replied: "I think he did at a certain period. That period of... "Desolation Row", that kind of New York type period, when all the songs were just city songs. His poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city."
The south-western
flavored acoustic guitar backing and eclecticism of the imagery led Polizzotti to describe "Desolation Row" as the "ultimate cowboy song, the 'Home On The Range' of the frightening territory that was mid-sixties America". In the penultimate verse, the passengers on the Titanic are shouting "Which side are you on?". This was one of the most cherished slogans of the Left
, and, for Robert Shelton, one of the targets of this song is "simpleminded political commitment. What difference which side you're on if you're sailing on the Titanic?"
In an interview with USA Today
on September 10, 2001, the day before the release of his album Love and Theft, Dylan claimed that the song "is a minstrel song through and through. I saw some ragtag minstrel show in blackface at the carnivals when I was growing up, and it had an effect on me, just as much as seeing the lady with four legs."
The song opens with a report that "they're selling postcards of the hanging", and notes "the circus is in town". Polizzotti, and other critics, have connected this song with the lynching of three black men in Duluth. The men were employed by a travelling circus and had been accused of raping a white woman. On the night of June 15, 1920, they were removed from custody and hanged on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue East. Photos of the lynching were sold as postcards. Duluth
was Bob Dylan’s birthplace; at the time of the lynching, Dylan’s father, Abram Zimmerman, was eight years old, and lived two blocks from the scene of the lynchings. Abram Zimmerman passed the story on to his son.In The Bootleg Series Volume 7 recording, Dylan changes the lyric "On her 22nd birthday she already is an old maid" to "On her twentieth birthday she was already an old maid." Irene Tusken, the supposed victim of the alleged rape that was the catalyst for the Duluth Lynchings was 19 years old at the time. (Fedo, Michael (2000). The Lynchings in Duluth. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press)
Rolling Stone
ranked the song as number 187 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
. It was part of the acoustic set Dylan played before bringing on his electric band. The displaced images and Kafkaesque cavalcade of historical characters were at first greeted with laughter.
Live versions are included on Dylan's MTV Unplugged
, and Live 1966. The song is still featured in live performances as recent as August 2011.
performed a cover of "Desolation Row", for the 2009 soundtrack of Watchmen
. The song peaked at #20 on Billboard's
Modern Rock Tracks in March, 2009. The first chapter of Watchmen
("At Midnight All the Agents") takes its name from a line in the song. This line is also quoted at the end of the chapter.
According to the Grateful Dead
website, the Dead have performed a cover version of "Desolation Row" since the mid-1980s. The song is included on their 2002 release Postcards of the Hanging (which, in itself, is an allusion to the lyrics of "Desolation Row"), which features a recording from March 24, 1990, at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York
. The song was frequently included in Dead set lists and is often abbreviated as "D-Row."
Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André
wrote "Via della Povertà", an Italian translation of "Desolation Row", and included it in his 1974 album Canzoni. In Norway, Åge Aleksandersen
recorded his version called "Nederst på Karl Johan" (on Fredløs: Dylan på norsk, 1997). Dan Tillberg made a Swedish cover version called "Hopplöshetens gränd" on the "Kärlek minus noll" ("Love Minus Zero") cover album.
Chris Smither
recorded the song on his 2003 album Train Home
with Bonnie Raitt
providing backup on vocals and slide guitar. It has also been recorded by Robyn Hitchcock
on the album Robyn Sings
.
Old 97's
singer Rhett Miller
borrowed "Desolation Row"'s melody for a new song, "Champaign, Illinois". It was recorded with Dylan's blessing and appears on their 2010 album The Grande Theatre, Volume One, with Dylan and Miller sharing writing credit.
1965 in music
-Events:*January 4 – Fender Musical Instruments Corporation is sold to CBS for $13 million.*January 12 – Hullabaloo premieres on NBC. The first show included performances by The New Christy Minstrels, comedian Woody Allen, actress Joey Heatherton and a segment from London in which Brian Epstein...
song written and sung by Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. It was recorded on August 4, 1965, and was released as the closing track of Dylan's sixth studio album, Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
. During its length of 11 minutes, Dylan weaves together a number of characters lifted from history, fiction and the Bible, into a narrative which suggests entropy and urban chaos.
Recording
"Desolation Row" was first recorded July 29, 1965, during a late evening session with Harvey BrooksHarvey Brooks
Harvey Brooks is an American bassist. He has played in many styles of music...
on electric bass and Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
on electric guitar. This version was eventually released in 2005 on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings....
. On August 2, Dylan recorded five further takes of "Desolation Row".
The Highway 61 Revisited version of "Desolation Row" was recorded on August 4, 1965, in Columbia
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label, owned by Japan's Sony Music Entertainment, operating under the Columbia Music Group with Aware Records. It was founded in 1888, evolving from an earlier enterprise, the American Graphophone Company — successor to the Volta Graphophone Company...
's Studio A in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Nashville
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...
-based guitarist Charlie McCoy
Charlie McCoy
Charles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
, who happened to be in New York, was invited by producer Bob Johnston to contribute an improvised acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
part, with Russ Savakus
Russ Savakus
Russ Savakus is an American session bass player , violinist and singer. Savakus has recorded with numerous artists in and around the 1960s folk and folk-rock movement in New York...
on bass. Polizzotti credits much of the success of the song to McCoy's contribution: "While Dylan's panoramic lyrics and hypnotic melody sketch out the vast canvas, it is McCoy's fills that give it their shading."
Release and interpretation
When asked where "Desolation Row" was located, at a TV press conference in San Francisco on December 3, 1965, Dylan replied: "Oh, that's some place in Mexico, it's across the border. It's noted for its Coke factory." Al Kooper, who played electric guitar on the first recordings of "Desolation Row", suggested that it was located on a stretch of Eighth Avenue, ManhattanEighth Avenue (Manhattan)
Eighth Avenue is a north-south avenue on the West Side of Manhattan in New York City, carrying northbound traffic. Eighth Avenue begins in the West Village neighborhood at Abingdon Square and runs north for 44 blocks through Chelsea, the Garment District, Hell's Kitchen's east end, Midtown and the...
, "an area infested with whore houses, sleazy bars and porno supermarkets totally beyond renovation or redemption". Polizzotti suggests that both the inspiration and title of the song may have come from Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels (novel)
Desolation Angels, published in 1965, yet written years earlier around the time On the Road was in the process of publication, is a semi-autobiographical novel written by Beat Generation author Jack Kerouac, which makes up part of his Duluoz Legend...
by Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
, and Cannery Row
Cannery Row
Cannery Row is the waterfront street in the New Monterey section of Monterey, California. It is the site of a number of now-defunct sardine canning factories. The last cannery closed in 1973...
by John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
.
"Desolation Row" has been described as Dylan's most ambitious work to date. It has been noted for its length (11:21) and surreal lyrics. In the New Oxford Companion to Music, Gammond described "Desolation Row" as an example of Dylan's work that achieved a "high level of poetical lyricism." Clinton Heylin notes that Dylan is writing a song as long as traditional folk ballads, such as "Tam Lin
Tam Lin
Tam Lin is the hero of a legendary ballad originating from the Scottish Borders. The story revolves around the rescue of Tam Lin by his true love from the Queen of the Fairies...
" and "Matty Groves
Matty Groves
"Matty Groves" is an English folk ballad that describes an adulterous tryst between a man and a woman that is ended when the woman's husband discovers and kills them. It dates to at least the 17th century, and is one of the Child Ballads collected by 19th-century American scholar Francis James Child...
", and in that classic ballad metre, but without any linear narrative thread.
When he reviewed the Highway 61 Revisited album for The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph
The Daily Telegraph is a daily morning broadsheet newspaper distributed throughout the United Kingdom and internationally. The newspaper was founded by Arthur B...
in 1965, the English poet Philip Larkin
Philip Larkin
Philip Arthur Larkin, CH, CBE, FRSL is widely regarded as one of the great English poets of the latter half of the twentieth century...
described the song as a "marathon", with an "enchanting tune and mysterious, possibly half-baked words".
For Andy Gill, the song is "an 11-minute epic of entropy, which takes the form of a Fellini-esque parade of grotesques and oddities featuring a huge cast of iconic characters, some historical (Einstein, Nero
Nero
Nero , was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the last in the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great-uncle Claudius to become his heir and successor, and succeeded to the throne in 54 following Claudius' death....
), some biblical (Noah, Cain and Abel), some fictional (Ophelia, Romeo, Cinderella), some literary (T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound
Ezra Pound
Ezra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet and critic and a major figure in the early modernist movement in poetry...
), and some who fit into none of the above categories, notably Dr. Filth and his dubious nurse."
When Jann Wenner
Jann Wenner
Jann Simon Wenner is the co-founder and publisher of the music and politics biweekly Rolling Stone, as well as the owner of Men's Journal and Us Weekly magazines.-Childhood:...
asked Dylan in 1969 whether Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
had influenced his songs, Dylan replied: "I think he did at a certain period. That period of... "Desolation Row", that kind of New York type period, when all the songs were just city songs. His poetry is city poetry. Sounds like the city."
The south-western
Southwestern United States
The Southwestern United States is a region defined in different ways by different sources. Broad definitions include nearly a quarter of the United States, including Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas and Utah...
flavored acoustic guitar backing and eclecticism of the imagery led Polizzotti to describe "Desolation Row" as the "ultimate cowboy song, the 'Home On The Range' of the frightening territory that was mid-sixties America". In the penultimate verse, the passengers on the Titanic are shouting "Which side are you on?". This was one of the most cherished slogans of the Left
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, and, for Robert Shelton, one of the targets of this song is "simpleminded political commitment. What difference which side you're on if you're sailing on the Titanic?"
In an interview with USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
on September 10, 2001, the day before the release of his album Love and Theft, Dylan claimed that the song "is a minstrel song through and through. I saw some ragtag minstrel show in blackface at the carnivals when I was growing up, and it had an effect on me, just as much as seeing the lady with four legs."
The song opens with a report that "they're selling postcards of the hanging", and notes "the circus is in town". Polizzotti, and other critics, have connected this song with the lynching of three black men in Duluth. The men were employed by a travelling circus and had been accused of raping a white woman. On the night of June 15, 1920, they were removed from custody and hanged on the corner of First Street and Second Avenue East. Photos of the lynching were sold as postcards. Duluth
Duluth
Duluth may refer to:*Duluth, Minnesota*Duluth, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta*Duluth , an album by Trampled by Turtles*Duluth , by Gore Vidal...
was Bob Dylan’s birthplace; at the time of the lynching, Dylan’s father, Abram Zimmerman, was eight years old, and lived two blocks from the scene of the lynchings. Abram Zimmerman passed the story on to his son.In The Bootleg Series Volume 7 recording, Dylan changes the lyric "On her 22nd birthday she already is an old maid" to "On her twentieth birthday she was already an old maid." Irene Tusken, the supposed victim of the alleged rape that was the catalyst for the Duluth Lynchings was 19 years old at the time. (Fedo, Michael (2000). The Lynchings in Duluth. St. Paul, MN: Minnesota Historical Society Press)
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
ranked the song as number 187 in their 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Live performance
Dylan premiered "Desolation Row" at the Forest Hills Music Festival in Queens, New York on August 28, 1965, after he controversially "went electricElectric Dylan controversy
By 1965, Bob Dylan had achieved the status of leading songwriter of the American folk music revival.Paul Simon suggested that Dylan's early compositions virtually took over the folk genre: "[Dylan's] early songs were very rich ... with strong melodies. 'Blowin' in the Wind' has a really strong...
" at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
. It was part of the acoustic set Dylan played before bringing on his electric band. The displaced images and Kafkaesque cavalcade of historical characters were at first greeted with laughter.
Live versions are included on Dylan's MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged (Bob Dylan album)
MTV Unplugged is a live album by Bob Dylan, released in 1995 by Columbia Records . It documents Dylan's appearance on the then-highly popular MTV Unplugged television series, recorded at Sony Music Studios in New York on November 17, 1994 and November 18, 1994...
, and Live 1966. The song is still featured in live performances as recent as August 2011.
Cover versions
My Chemical RomanceMy Chemical Romance
My Chemical Romance is an American alternative rock band from New Jersey, formed in 2001. The band consists of lead vocalist Gerard Way, guitarists Ray Toro and Frank Iero, and bassist Mikey Way and have a diverse sound incorporating elements of punk, emo, glam metal, and progressive rock...
performed a cover of "Desolation Row", for the 2009 soundtrack of Watchmen
Watchmen (film)
Watchmen is a 2009 superhero film directed by Zack Snyder and starring Malin Åkerman, Billy Crudup, Matthew Goode, Jackie Earle Haley, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and Patrick Wilson. It is an adaptation of the comic book of the same name by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons...
. The song peaked at #20 on Billboard's
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
Modern Rock Tracks in March, 2009. The first chapter of Watchmen
Watchmen
Watchmen is a twelve-issue comic book limited series created by writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons, and colourist John Higgins. The series was published by DC Comics during 1986 and 1987, and has been subsequently reprinted in collected form...
("At Midnight All the Agents") takes its name from a line in the song. This line is also quoted at the end of the chapter.
| Chart (2009) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Australian Recording Industry Association The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956... Singles Chart |
65 |
| UK Singles Chart UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
52 |
| UK Rock Chart UK Rock Chart The UK Rock Chart usually refers to the Top 40 Rock Singles and the Top 40 Rock Albums Chart compiled by the Official Charts Company from physical record sales in British retail outlets with larger than average genrespecific sales.... |
1 |
| US Billboard Alternative Songs | 20 |
According to the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
website, the Dead have performed a cover version of "Desolation Row" since the mid-1980s. The song is included on their 2002 release Postcards of the Hanging (which, in itself, is an allusion to the lyrics of "Desolation Row"), which features a recording from March 24, 1990, at the Knickerbocker Arena in Albany, New York
Albany, New York
Albany is the capital city of the U.S. state of New York, the seat of Albany County, and the central city of New York's Capital District. Roughly north of New York City, Albany sits on the west bank of the Hudson River, about south of its confluence with the Mohawk River...
. The song was frequently included in Dead set lists and is often abbreviated as "D-Row."
Italian singer-songwriter Fabrizio de André
Fabrizio De André
Fabrizio De André was an Italian singer-songwriter.Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarianism, and pacifism, he also was a convicted atheist , and his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church...
wrote "Via della Povertà", an Italian translation of "Desolation Row", and included it in his 1974 album Canzoni. In Norway, Åge Aleksandersen
Åge Aleksandersen
Åge Aleksandersen is a Norwegian singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is one of his country's most famous singer/songwriters, musicians....
recorded his version called "Nederst på Karl Johan" (on Fredløs: Dylan på norsk, 1997). Dan Tillberg made a Swedish cover version called "Hopplöshetens gränd" on the "Kärlek minus noll" ("Love Minus Zero") cover album.
Chris Smither
Chris Smither
Chris Smither is an American folk/blues singer, guitarist, and songwriter. His music draws deeply from the blues, American folk music, modern poets and philosophers.-Early life, influences and education:...
recorded the song on his 2003 album Train Home
Train Home (Chris Smither album)
Train Home is an album by American singer/songwriter Chris Smither, released in 2003. Guest Bonnie Raitt provides slide guitar and backup vocals on "Desolation Row".-Reception:...
with Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Raitt
Bonnie Lynn Raitt is an American blues singer-songwriter and a renowned slide guitar player. During the 1970s, Raitt released a series of acclaimed roots-influenced albums which incorporated elements of blues, rock, folk and country, but she is perhaps best known for her more commercially...
providing backup on vocals and slide guitar. It has also been recorded by Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Hitchcock
Robyn Rowan Hitchcock is an English singer-songwriter and guitarist. While primarily a vocalist and guitarist, he also plays harmonica, piano and bass guitar....
on the album Robyn Sings
Robyn Sings
Robyn Sings is a double album by Robyn Hitchcock, released in 2002. The set is made up entirely of Bob Dylan covers, performed live at various dates.The CD was the second release on Hitchcock's own Editions PAF! label.-Background:...
.
Old 97's
Old 97's
The Old 97's are an alternative country band from Dallas, Texas. Formed in 1993, they have since released nine studio albums, two full extended plays, shared split duty on another, and have one live album. Their most recent release is The Grand Theatre, Volume Two...
singer Rhett Miller
Rhett Miller
Stewart Ransom Miller II , better-known as Rhett Miller is the lead singer of the alternative country band Old 97's and a successful solo musician. He graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas, a private boys' school in Dallas in 1989 and briefly attended Sarah Lawrence College on a creative...
borrowed "Desolation Row"'s melody for a new song, "Champaign, Illinois". It was recorded with Dylan's blessing and appears on their 2010 album The Grande Theatre, Volume One, with Dylan and Miller sharing writing credit.