Expecting Rain

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONasj5meH_s

The centerpiece of Street Legal:

Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, señor?

Señor, señor, do you know where she is hidin’?
How long are we gonna be ridin’?
How long must I keep my eyes glued to the door?
Will there be any comfort there, señor?

There’s a wicked wind still blowin’ on that upper deck
There’s an iron cross still hangin' down from around her neck
There’s a marchin’ band still playin’ in that vacant lot
Where she held me in her arms one time and said, “Forget me not”

Señor, señor, I can see that painted wagon
I can smell the tail of the dragon
Can’t stand the suspense anymore
Can you tell me who to contact here, señor?

Well, the last thing I remember before I stripped and kneeled
Was that trainload of fools bogged down in a magnetic field
A gypsy with a broken flag and a flashing ring
Said, “Son, this ain’t a dream no more, it’s the real thing”

Señor, señor, you know their hearts is as hard as leather
Well, give me a minute, let me get it together
I just gotta pick myself up off the floor
I’m ready when you are, señor

Señor, señor, let’s disconnect these cables
Overturn these tables
This place don’t make sense to me no more
Can you tell me what we’re waiting for, señor?

In one respect, the song for me is about a vagabond, a stranger in a strange land disillusioned by his surroundings and decides to find respite & mercy at the hands of another before an impending storm is about to strike.
In another way, when taking into account the subtitle, the song is about American colonialism in perhaps South America at the time and its affect on all who live there.

Regardless of the actual meaning, Bob provides some context. Toward the end of his 1978 tour and as this song began to really become a highlight, Bob began it with a story:

'I was traveling on a train one time to Mexico from ahh, deep in the heart of Chihuahua. Anyway I fell asleep for awhile and woke up and it was evening. And this family with about twelve or fifteen kids were getting off the train. And I was kind of sitting there in a daze. I wasn't nodding off, in the window it was like a mirror. So I was watching it all happen through the window. And ... saw an old man get on the train and walk up the aisle and take a seat next to me across the other side of the aisle. This old man he looked to be about 150 years old, he's wearing a blanket. So when I turned to look at him I could see he was looking at me, and both his eyes were burning. Smoke was coming out of his nostrils. I turned around quickly and looked back into the mirror. I figured that this was the man I wanted to talk to. I couldn't think of anything to say though.'

There you go.
Anyway, for me, Senor is not only the most extraordinary performances to come out of that wild year, it solidifies the song for me as one of Bob's greatest songs.
The performance from Seattle is just that and more. It gives me chills every time I hear it. Bob's performance here is nothing short of cathartic.

Seattle WA
November 10 1978
http://www.sendspace.com/file/qy37r3

What's the consensus these days on Senor? Any haters? Somebody's got to have some live postings to offer as well.
Let us speak of the mysterious Senor...

A dark, mysterious and cryptic number. Some of my favorite imagery in any of Bob's songs.

It's impossible for me to pick a favorite. From 1994 onward, each performance I've heard has been knock your socks off fantastic. In fact, it may be the most consistently well performed song in Bob's entire catalog. It always seems to bring out the best of him as an interpreter.

Some wonderful versions over the years:

Dortmund, Germany 9 / 15 / 1987
http://www.mediafire.com/?7lno8gfepbog6my

Bloomington, Indiana 10 / 26 / 1995
http://www.mediafire.com/?fa5dsjavl93cng8

Ithaca, New York 11 / 15 / 1999
http://www.mediafire.com/?f56j696936mq85q

Amsterdam, Holland 11 / 11 / 2003
http://www.mediafire.com/?e7i00i6q8irnrd0

Dublin, Ireland 11 / 27 / 2005
http://www.mediafire.com/?7m9021i9moiv9i6

Rothbury, Michigan 07 / 05 / 2009
http://www.mediafire.com/?usk43d5a3xbbbpb

I love the Hush Hush-version. Amazing song, and still performs it strong.

If anyone does not like this song they can clean Bob's portaloo with their tongue.

A great song off one of Bob's best albums of the '70s... filled with dark foreboding, mysterious appeal and almost always one of the highlights of any live show when he pulls it out. I've never heard a bad performance by Bob and His Band. A real testimony to the greatness of this piece!

It's OK. A bit of a throwback - a post-punk era song that harks back to 60s narrative songs with some tex-mex ramblings that retread themes from Desire and Pat Garrett. But yes it's OK.

Portaloo for you boyo.

No problem.

I remember when it came out. I really liked it but I knew it was fake: it's clearly trying to revive an older Dylan and it does it very nicely. If that's all you want, see you at the portaloo, man.

My real first song of Bob. I was 9 years old when I heard it for first time ...... and I'm still here.

Terrific song. Love the version from 78 which has the big verbal intro about trains. I was also lucky enough to witness the Dublin one from 05 live and it blew my socks off.

Yeah, cos songs can be real and fake, can't they? I got one made of plasticine in my desk here.

I’m ready when you are, señor

For me, the best sentence.

Yes, songs can be fake.

In the same way that people who start their posts with "yeah, cos" can be fake.

Minor key + forced lyrical gravity =

Senor
Love Sick
Ain't Talkin
Forgetful Heart

In other words, super corny songs that are nonetheless usually performed well.

Could be a song unpatriotic?. I ask , I do not claim.

Songs are songs. Objects are objects. Words are words.

Fake has no meaning. Define reality.

That's just silly. When David Cameron says in today's news that he's awfully upset about the woman with the disabled daughter he's faking it. We don't need to posit a real David Cameron in order to recognise insincerity when we hear it.

You seem to have created a version of David Cameron that I'm sure David Cameron would disagree with.

I like this cover: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHrTG6zMgMc Tim O'Brien

Love it so much. top favorite have the words pinned to my wall. i was front row center as he played it live in 2010. I think his performances of this song get better and better each year. It's a song that getts darker and more cryptic and old and mysteriously eerie. amazing with his shadow behid him center stage shouting out "Senor!" I was smilling the whole way.
a buddy of mine who doesnt care much for dylan even loves this song soooo much.
Interesting analysis, most people go toward the whole he's talking to God about the second comming and what not. Meaning doesn't really matter thats how i took it but its still enjoyable regardless.

I hope this comment was the product of some kind of chronological dyslexia.

Each of those songs - with the possible exception, ironically, of 'Senor' - talks about real, tangile human feelings and experiences and does so in a powerful way. Sounds to me that you just have a bee in your bonnet about minor key songs with serious lyrics.

'Senor' is of a piece with 'Angelina' and other songs like that, songs whose main meaning seems to be the atmosphere. Some people regard this as a flaw. I'm not sure it is - this is an extremely hard feat to pull off. My only beef with 'Senor' is the gaudy rhyming and sketchy craft in places (the infamous 'magnetic field' line, or the simple error of putting 'tables' before 'cables' in the climax). But basically, a gem in the rubble of that record.

corny songs????

going to act like Benny boy here and call kalekebab a fool. Not a corny song. want a corny song turn on the radio. also yeah each year he performs this song better and better. It's impossible to duff up the song anyways sense its so good. but i like the thundering music and powerful hard edged voice to it. you probably like Katy Perry music don't you?

I like lots of songs that might fit the "minor key with serious lyrics" description, I just think that type of song isn't Bob's strong suit. His attempts at this "form" almost always come off as painfully corny and pretentious melodrama.

But thanks for the arbitrary and ignorant assumption about my tastes!