If you thought Bob Dylan was beginning to slip into a predictable songwriting formula, his April 29, 2009 release, Together Through Life, should alleviate any fears. This is Dylan's biggest departure from anything resembling a groove since his mid-'60s experimental peak. And while it may not be obvious at first, this is one of Dylan's most impressive records. It's something like wine; once you find the doorways buried in its subtleties, you discover a whole new frontier that's ripe for exploration. But don't expect any bread crumb trails. As with all of Dylan's finest records, you're on your own to make them your own.
Bob Dylan and the Dead Redux
Not since 1975 has Dylan collaborated so intensely with another songwriter, when theater guru Jacques Levy shared duties on the bulk of Desire, which soon led to the launch of Dylan's creatively climactic Rolling Thunder Revue. Likewise, of Together Through Life's ten songs, nine were co-written with Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, who hasn't worked with Dylan since the two penned “Silvio” and “The Ugliest Girl in the World” for 1988's Down in the Groove.
In a Rolling Stone interview with historian Doug Brinkley, Dylan commented warmly about his lyrical co-conspirator and songwriting foil: “Hunter is an old buddy. We could probably write a hundred songs together if we thought it was important or the right reasons were there. He’s got a way with words and I do too. We both write a different type of song than what passes today for songwriting.”
La Vie... En Dylan?
Dylan loves struggling with new terrain, and soundtracks have always offered the singer-songwriter some of his best avenues of discovery. Together Through Life fell together pretty quickly after French filmmaker Olivier Dahan (La Vie En Rose) approached Dylan to contribute a single song to his road trip romance, My Own Love Song, starring Renée Zellweger and Forest Whitaker.
Stirred to action, Dylan took up the challenge, and not surprisingly it galvanized into a full-blown album project. For the film, Dylan responded with the poignant single, “Life Is Hard,” a song whose lyrics form the foundation for the rest of the album's brooding textures: “The evening winds are still/I've lost the way and will/Can't tell you where they went/I just know what they meant/I'm always on my guard/Admitting life is hard/Without you near me.”
The Musicians:
Bob Dylan – guitar, keyboards, vocals
Mike Campbell – guitar, mandolin
David Hidalgo – accordion, guitar
Donnie Herron – steel guitar, banjo, mandolin, trumpet
Tony Garnier – bass guitar
George Recile – drums
The Track List:
1."Beyond Here Lies Nothin'" – 3:51
2."Life Is Hard" – 3:39
3."My Wife's Home Town" – 4:15
4."If You Ever Go to Houston" – 5:49
5."Forgetful Heart" – 3:42
6."Jolene" – 3:51
7."This Dream of You" – 5:54
8."Shake Shake Mama" – 3:37
9."I Feel a Change Comin' On" – 5:25
10."It's All Good" – 5:28
Songwriter Versus Composer
While some will criticize the new album as Dylan doing another knock-off of himself, those paying close attention will quickly realize that, as a musician, Dylan has turned a major corner with Together Through Life, slipping out of his songwriter's shoes and into the role of composer. Rather than focusing on the individual lyrics, the vocals, or isolated instruments, Dylan has become more concerned with how everything works together to produce a net effect.
Like the album's lyrics, the music is about disparate counterpoints working together to generate, not statements, but moods. "The sound is uncluttered. There's power and suspense. The whole vibration feels like it could be coming from inside your mind,” said Dylan about this, his 33rd studio album. Whether it's Heartbreaker Mike Campbell's mandolin chops on “Life Is Hard,” the rare violin echoing back to Desire's Scarlet Rivera on “This Dream of You,” or the accordion of Los Lobos' David Hidalgo peppered throughout the disc, Dylan seized the styles of each musician—including his own ravaged vocal (“I have the blood of the land in my voice,” he sings)—interlacing them like devices to create distinct impressions.
An Instant Classic
Dylan must have been chuckling when—like an ironic road sign for listeners—he playfully positioned “Beyond Here Lies Nothin'” as the opening track, but the album has nothing to do with self-parody, a stage Dylan grew out of over a decade ago. This album might best be described as crumbling romance in a weathered border town. But then again, maybe not. Either way, we've seen some of Dylan's finest work when he shakes it up like this, and Together Through Life does not disappoint, consisting of a pocketful of spontaneously written, moldering love songs that contrast dark, intense lyrics laid against upbeat, Tex Mex-flavored swingin' blues. From the acerbic dredging up of all things foul in the cliché titled “It's all good,” to the Willie Dixon-inspired “My Wife's Home Town,” Together Through Life vibrates with Dylan's unique ability to create a riotous, sardonic, yet whimsical overview of an American landscape that's ever-fertile for aching disillusionment. Give that man a Grammy!
And keep an ear out for “My Wife's Hometown” and “Jolene,” which have become set staples at Dylan's live shows.