What is the first name of the person whose tale Dylan takes in a darker direction?
"Temporary Like Achilles"This slow-moving blues number is highlighted by Hargus "Pig" Robbins's "dusky barrelhouse piano" and Dylan's "brief wheeze of harmonica". In the song, the narrator has been spurned by his lover, who has already taken up with her latest boyfriend. Referring to his rival as "Achilles", the narrator senses the new suitor may end up being discarded as quickly as he was. The refrain that ends each of the main verses—"Honey, why are you so hard?"—is a double entendre Dylan had been wanting to work into a song.
"Absolutely Sweet Marie"This song, described as "up-tempo blues shuffle, pure Memphis" and an example of "obvious pop sensibility and compulsive melody", was recorded in four takes on March 7, 1966. Gill sees the lyrics as a series of sexual metaphors, including "beating on my trumpet" and keys to locked gates, many deriving from traditional blues. Nonetheless, the song contains what has been termed "one of the most oft-repeated of Dylan's life lessons", the thought that "to live outside the law you must be honest", which was later invoked in many bohemian and counter-cultural contexts.
"4th Time Around"When The Beatles released their sixth studio album, Rubber Soul, in December 1965, John Lennon's song "Norwegian Wood" attracted attention for the way in which Lennon disguised his account of an illicit affair in cryptic, Dylanesque language. Dylan sketched out a response to the song, also in 3/4 time, copying the tune and circular structure, but taking Lennon's tale in a darker direction. Wilentz describes the result as sounding "like Bob Dylan impersonating John Lennon impersonating Bob Dylan".
"Obviously 5 Believers""Obviously 5 Believers", Blonde on Blonde's second-to-last track, is a roadhouse blues love song similar in melody and structure to Memphis Minnie's "Me and My Chauffeur Blues", and was described by Robert Shelton as "the best R&B song on the album". Recorded in the early morning hours of the March 9–10 Nashville session under the working title "Black Dog Blues", the song is driven by Robertson's guitar, Charlie McCoy's harmonica and Ken Buttrey's drumming. After an initial breakdown, Dylan complained to the band that the song was "very easy, man" and that he didn't want to spend much time on it. Within four takes, the recording was done.
John