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Bobby's As Mad As Hell, And He's Not Going To Take It Anymore!

Bob Dylan

Positively 4th Street

Released: September 6th, 1965

Tracks Bob Dylan

The events we write about at Gaslight Records happened in some form or another 50 years ago to the day. Roll along with us and imagine you are back in 1974.

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Bob Dylan made his bones penning one finger-pointin' classic after another. Whether he was taking on the "masters of war" or lamenting "two men dyin' 'neath the Mississippi moon", few were safe from the sharp wit and gravelly ire courtesy of this boy from the north country. People yearning for the voice of a generation reveled in every word. They had truly found themselves some kind of savior.

And then he went and ruined everything.

July 25th, 1965: Dylan made history and a boatload of enemies when he plugged in and sold out at Newport. The dyed-in-the-wool folkies were betrayed and now savior-less. Maybe it was just the lousy sound system they were booing; or that the biggest act in town tried to walk off after playing three lousy tunes. (He came back for a two song acoustic encore).

Bobby's As Mad As Hell, And He's Not Going To Take It Anymore!
Bob Dylan performing his electric set at the Newport Folk Festival on July 25th, 1965

Not four days later, Dylan was back in the studio and you know he had that damned crowd on his mind. Whatever the reason for the incessant jeerings, he was hurt. Real hurt. "Positively 4th Street" is the long-suffering Dylan’s retort. He had another axe to grind, another finger to point. Dylan took on the phonies and naysayers throughout his history, throwing back barbs at every lousy crumbum from Hibbing to Greenwich Village.

You got a lotta nerve

To say you are my friend

When I was down

You just stood there grinning

You got a lotta nerve

To say you got a helping

hand to lend

You just want to be on

The side that’s winning

Not satisfied to merely call out a couple of booers, Dylan went back to the beginning, to the cold and lonely days when his name shut more doors than it opened. They didn’t want to help him out, didn’t even care if he lived or died. Fast forward a couple of years and he’s built up some street cred. Suddenly they were all coming out of the woodwork, looking to hitch a ride on that gravy train.

Well, Dylan wasn't having any of it. And that includes you low down dirty sycophants who have nothing to offer but empty promises.

You say I let you down

You know it’s not like that

If you’re so hurt

Why then don’t you show it

You say you lost your faith

But that’s not where it’s at

You had no faith to lose

And you know it

Time and again, he said he was nobody’s messiah - never even wanted the gig. And now they wanted to go and hang all their angst on him? Nuts to that noise.

The next year would be a whirlwind of productivity for Bob, cranking out back-to-back-to-back albums in one of the largest and most celebrated outpourings of his career. But that happenin’ time wasn’t without its pitfalls, self-doubt and a healthy dose of amphetamine-fueled paranoia.

I know the reason that you talk behind my back.

You say ‘How are you?’ ‘Good luck’ But you don’t mean it.

It took a motorcycle accident a year after recording “4th Street” (to the day, coincidentally) to put the kibosh on his recording and touring schedule. Which was really kind of the point. Speaking of which...

You’d rather see me paralyzed.

Like I said, he was pretty hurt.

Other versions of this track

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