Expecting Rain

Tin Angel is better than Things Have Changed

You mean the lyrics, I suppose.
I can't see from which point of view is Tin Angel supposed to be considered a *song*, other than from the literary front.

WTF? Are you being serious? Imagine not being able to see how Tin Angel is a song!

x infinity (apparently 'The maximum number of smilies allowed is 6' here....)

Pay In Blood

The last truly great song !?

I just think of " Ain´t talkin´" and others.

...and, in order to answer the OP, the last *truly great* Dylan song is Jokerman.

from then on, there's only *good/very good*.

Among which, in my opinion:
(considering post-00 only)

Mississippi
Cross The Green Mountain
Workingman's Blues
Pay In Blood
Long And Wasted Years

I think the OP has a point. Things Have Changed is probably my favourite 'late' Dylan song.

I love Mississipi, Long and Wasted Years, Sugar Baby, High Water, Workingman's Blues #2, Ain't Talkin, Forgetful Heart, Pay in Blood, Tin Angel and consider all of them on the same level or higher than THC

I second that

I always thought WMB2 was a bit over-rated. I note this topic was originally started prior to Tempest being released so I would nominate Long and Wasted Years as his last truly great song. I am very hopeful that if this is revisited in another couple of years that it will be replaced by an even later work that may even be in progress at this very moment.

Scarlet Town

Arguably, Mississippi dates to before Things Have Changed.

To me Things HC is the best song of his later period (from TOOM to present). But his last great song to me would be Ain´t talking

You've got a point here, Jo!
I hadn't taken this into consideration.

If we're talking Tempest, it'd have to be the barmy and beautiful LAWY. Scarlet Town is just too by-numbers ModBob - cleverly done, ticks a lot of boxes, but doesn't really convince. A superior Ain't Talkin,' but similarly affected.

somebody please remind me what MOD Bob stands for?

Vocally, I'd agree that LAWY is ace on record and really something else live (at least intially, when he performed it like an OAP 'Isis' ), but its lyrically far too loose and sloppy. I mean, come on, really?


It's been such a long, long time
Since we loved each other and our hearts were true
One time, for one brief day, I was the man for you
Last night I heard you talkin' in your sleep
Saying things you shouldn't say, oh baby
You just might have to go to jail someday
Is there a place we can go,
Is there anybody we can see? Maybe
It's the same for you as it is for me
I ain't seen my family in twenty years
That ain't easy to understand, they may be dead by now
I lost track of 'em after they lost their land
Shake it up baby, twist and shout
You know what it's all about
What are you doing out there in the sun anyway?
Don't you know, the sun can burn your brains right out
My enemy crashed into the dust
Stopped dead in his tracks and he lost his lust
He was run down hard and he broke apart
He died in shame, he had an iron heart
I wear dark glasses to cover my eyes
There are secrets in 'em that I can't disguise
Come back baby
If I hurt your feelings, I apologize
Two trains running side by side, forty miles wide
Down the eastern line
You don't have to go, I just came to you because you're a friend of mine
I think that when my back was turned,
The whole world behind me burned
It's been a while,
Since we walked down that long, long aisle
We cried on a cold and frosty morn,
We cried because our souls were torn
So much for tears
So much for these long and wasted years

The late great Bennyboy coined the term ModBob to denote the modern phase of Dylan, which begins in the Timeoutofmindazoic age.

There's also SpeedBob (1966) and GodBob (when he got shit after Street-Legal). You shouldn't ask about SpongeBob.

much obliged. Damn achronyms

Yeah, there's a batshit element to the lyrics, but he sings them like he really means them. Which makes certain better lines ('Two trains running side by side...,' 'Is there a place we can go? Is there anybody we can see?') really shine. This song is an instance of the hotch-potch lyrics feeling like they mean something largely because of the commitment in the singing. There's a certain mood, a certain sentiment, that rings true almost in spite of the lyrical content. 'Scarlet Town,' on the other hand - while maybe a saner, and certainly a more linear, lyric - is sung in too mannered a way to provide the LAWY-style gut-punch. I remember, the first time I herad LAWY, how struck I was by the passion and zest in the singing - and by how long it had been since Bob had delivered a vocal like that on record.

I think Long & Wasted Years is really the gem of Tempest. It's just ... so good. And I'm not sure I can explain why. It's nutso.

Not the only one on Tempest, but it certainly is a gem. I only really began to appreciate its power when I heard it at a concert. 'Jaw-dropping' is about the closest I can describe that first performance.

Old news to paste here, but it might be new to some of you:

There has been a number of discussions on message boards concerning the melodic similarities between Marty Stuart's 1999 "Observation of a Crow" and Bob Dylan's "Things Have Changed," which was recorded shortly afterwards. Stuart told American Songwriter magazine there is a reason for the resemblance, due to one night when he hung out with Dylan.

"I took him to my warehouse to see all the country music treasures I have," Stuart said. "Bob said, 'Hey, I like that 'Crow' song. I might borrow something out of that.' I said, 'Well, I probably borrowed it from you in the first place. Go ahead."

Watch Marty perform "Crow":
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTVXPXZBbOU

The Observations Of A Crow
Marty Stuart

Newspaper boy makin' his rounds
Spreadin' the word all over town
Drivin' his car just as fast as it will go

There's papers in the driveway, papers in the yard
Paper broke a window, he didn't throw it that hard
But it shattered like a dream down in the valley below

Hey, quarter moon, well how was your night?
Yeah well, any minute now God's gonna hit them brights
So if you stick around, don't you say that you weren't told

Well, take it from me, you better grab your shades
If He looks at you, ooh, well try not to look so afraid
Just do the best that you can, but don't you think that He won't know

Creosote's drippin' from the high line poles
Fast as you can count 'em, 12 in a row
Blessed accommodations for the daily observations of a crow

Well, that cat down there, yeah, well he's Louie the flea
He's married to a waitress by the name of Lora Lee
When they scream and they holler, man they put on a show

He's a protected witness from a Detroit job
Turned his best friend in, his name is Bob
I know who got the time, but who do you think got the dough?

Take a look at that pilgrim passing by
He's looking for love, I can see it in his eyes
He's running 'round in circles, you can take it from me

His shadow begs for mercy that every lost and found
In city after city, town after town
Tortured by the memory of a love he thought was supposed to be

Creosote's dripping from the high line poles
Fast as you can count 'em, 12 in a row
Blessed accommodations for the daily observations of a crow

Well, I'm a genuine scoopologist, the name is Crow
Sitting up here, watching the show
In this one horse drive-through, forsaken, dried up piece of the world

Well, it ain't much but it's my kingdom, it's my home
Even had a queen till that parakeet came along
Fast talking, loud squawking, green feathered scrak took my girl, later

.

That's a gracious interchange between Stuart and Dylan.

Mississippi, Po' Boy, and Sugar Baby come to mind for me.

I still believe that he's gonna come out with at least one more classic.