And of course, Dylan is an infinitely superior musician and lyricist to me, so I normally bow to his view. Rather it could well mean that the recording just didn’t feel right to Bob as they listened to the playback. So because it is such a common phrase, often used as a bit of a throw-away line, I don’t think Dylan’s single comment about this song should be taken as the be-all and end-all of any discussion about the song. And although “What’s it all about?” is not a phrase I tend to use, I think quite possibly if I was engaged in a debate about the Crusades I think I might be reduced to dragging it out. Thus this “what’s it all about?” phrase can indeed be about a specific event or about life in general. Stuff happens, innocent youngsters die, the church authorises and encourages wars to scour the sinners and disbelievers from the face of the earth, an earthquake kills thousands…. So “what it was about” is taken to mean the song needs to be about love, or lost love, or power and corruption, or religion, or … well something.īut the phrase “what it’s all about?” (or its variant “what’s that all about?”) is often used in a quizzical form, suggesting that in this piece there is no underlying meaning, and therefore something is wrong. After all, we live in a world of science where everything is explained except the paranormal and those who believe in the paranormal are often considered a little off-centre themselves. And that is the perfectly reasonable line that many people take. Of course such a comment as “I couldn’t quite grasp what it was about after I finished it,” gives us the notion that all Dylan’s songs have to be about something concrete such as a love affair, mankind’s propensity to fight, poverty, injustice…. The inspiration’s gone and you can’t remember why you started it in the first place.” Either you get it all, and you can leave a few little pieces to fill in, or you’re trying always to finish it off. Then you’ll go back and try and pick it up, and the inspiration is just gone. Sometimes, you’ll write something to be very inspired, and you won’t quite finish it for one reason or another. “That one I couldn’t quite grasp what it was about after I finished it. If ever there was a song of Dylan’s in which (in my opinion even if no one else’s) one absolutely must consider the music and the lyrics as one, for me that song is Angelina.Īnd to explain this I would start with Dylan’s own comment, An index to our most recent articles can be found on the home page. In relation to this song you might also enjoy Jochen’s review of the song.
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