Crimson flames tied through my ears, rollin' high and mighty traps
Pounced with fire on flaming roads using ideas as my maps
"We'll meet on edges, soon, " said I, proud 'neath heated brow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth, "rip down all hate, " I screamed
Lies that life is black and white spoke from my skull, I dreamed
Romantic facts of musketeers foundationed deep, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Girls' faces formed the forward path from phony jealousy
To memorizing politics of ancient history
Flung down by corpse evangelists, unthought of, though somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then. I'm younger than that now
A self-ordained professor's tongue too serious to fool
Spouted out that liberty is just equality in school
"Equality, " I spoke the word as if a wedding vow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand at the mongrel dogs who teach
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy in the instant that I preach
My existence led by confusion boats, mutiny from stern to bow
Ah, but I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats too noble to neglect
Deceived me into thinking I had something to protect
Good and bad, I define these terms quite clear, no doubt, somehow
Ah, but I was so much older then I'm younger than that now
Comments
Notes on new Chart
Some changes/suggestions:
- Let's extend the intro to match the 30th Anniversary Concert version.
- 2 measure start with just guitar. Instead of just the E - Esus chords, it would be great if we could have one guitar do the trademark arpeggiated riff (see tab below)
- Measure 3, add bass and drums quarter notes followed by a measure of 8 eighth notes.
- Organ in on Measure 5
- Pat, you bring the verse in, with four-note scale (b, c#, d d#) to bring us to the E to start of the verse.
- On the B chords of measures 8 & 12 verse , bass & drums should do an eighth note pattern with a crescendo to drive to the next line (this is more from the Byrd's version). Ron was doing that on measure 12. I think that will help with keeping this long song from getting boring.
- We need to be careful on the chord progressions. In particular, the C#m & G#m chords seem generally off. Possibly we have a continuation of the E-Esus intro - which would probably work if everyone was playing that -
- It would be great if either Ken or Biff could do an more of an arpeggiated pattern throughout. In the 30th anniversary video, you can watch Dylan playing that in the video start at about 0:30 and then through much of Clapton's solo at about 2:10. One guitar strumming and one picking would give the song a more distinctive sound. (It's probably better on acoustic, but I think it would work on any guitar).
- Here is an interpretation of the guitar intro (Intro, although thought I heard the b string which he doesn't play and he continues with strummed chords).
- Ken, I can't vouch for the tab below, but that should be the original byrd guitar solo (if you want to play around with that for some musical ideas). Here is a knock-off of the clapton solo with a view of the Clapton Solo
- The lead sheet has the solo's spelled out - guitar between 2 & 3 and organ between 4 and 5.
- We will repeat the refrain on the last verse before exiting.
- Pat, consider joining on the guitar riff on the outtro (as in the Byrd arrangement)
- I think it would be good for Joe to do the first refrain solo and then we would join for subsequent refrains. (Maybe the second verse should be Joe and Donna).
- I added a little simple vocal harmony for Joe and Donna on the third line. I would add that starting with the 3rd verse. (the upper notes are intended for Joe and the lower notes for Donna).
- Perhaps it's the recording, but we could use more vocals and bass. (In other words guitar drums were too much). With those instruments we are likely getting some pickup on the vocal mikes in addition to the output of the individual speakers (and drums). But we want to make sure volumes are not too high.
I uploaded the Lead Sheet to the site. You can find it here
Here is a guitar tab for the intro
(riff 1)
E E6sus4
------------------------------|
----------0-------------------|
-------2----2---------2-----2-|
-----2-2------2-----2-2-0-----|
---2---4----------2---4---4---|
-0-----0--------0-----0-------|
and the solo
----------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------|
-9-9-9-8-6-6--------------6--6-6--------|
--------------9-9-9---9-9---------9-9-9-|
----------------------------------------|
----------------------------------------|
-----------------------------------------------|
-------7--7-7s9-9-9--9s10-10-10--9--7----------|
-9-9-9---------------------------------9-9-6---|
---------------------------------------------9-|
-----------------------------------------------|
-----------------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------|
-----7---------------------------------|
-9-9----9-9-8--6-------6-----6-----6---|
------------------9--6---9-6---9-6---9-|
---------------------------------------|
---------------------------------------|
tab source: http://www.guitaretab.com/b/byrds/300135.html
Bob Dylan wrote "My Back Pages" in 1964 as one of the last songs—perhaps the last song—composed for his Another Side of Bob Dylan album. He recorded it on June 9, 1964, under the working title of "Ancient Memories", the last song committed to tape for the album. The song was partly based on the traditional folk song"Young But Growing" and has a mournful melody similar to that of "The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll" from Dylan's previous album, The Times They Are a-Changin'.[ As with the other songs on Another Side, Dylan is the sole musician on "My Back Pages" and plays in a style similar to his previous protest songs, with a sneering, rough-edged voice and a hard-strumming acoustic guitar accompaniment.
In the song's lyrics, Dylan criticizes himself for having been certain that he knew everything and apologizes for his previous political preaching, noting that he has become his own enemy "in the instant that I preach." Dylan questions whether one can really distinguish between right and wrong, and even questions the desirability of the principle of equality. The lyrics also signal Dylan's disillusionment with the 1960s protest movement and his intention to abandon protest songwriting. The song effectively analogizes the protest movement to the establishment it is trying to overturn, concluding with the refrain:
Music critic Robert Shelton has interpreted this refrain as "an internal dialogue between what he [Dylan] once accepted and now doubts." Shelton also notes that the refrain maps a path from Blakean experience to the innocence of William Wordsworth. The refrain has also been interpreted as Dylan celebrating his "bright, new post-protest future."
Dylan's disenchantment with the protest movement had previously surfaced in a speech he had given in December 1963 when accepting an award from the Emergency Civil Liberties Committee (ECLC) in New York.[9] Author Mike Marqusee has commented that "No song on Another Side distressed Dylan's friends in the movement more than 'My Back Pages' in which he transmutes the rude incoherence of his ECLC rant into the organized density of art. The lilting refrain ... must be one of the most lyrical expressions of political apostasy ever penned. It is a recantation, in every sense of the word."
In an interview with the Sheffield University Paper in May 1965, Dylan explained the change that had occurred in his songwriting over the previous twelve months, noting "The big difference is that the songs I was writing last year ... they were what I call one-dimensional songs, but my new songs I'm trying to make more three-dimensional, you know, there's more symbolism, they're written on more than one level." In late 1965, Dylan commented on the writing of "My Back Pages" specifically during an interview with Margaret Steen for The Toronto Star: "I was in my New York phase then, or at least, I was just coming out of it. I was still keeping the things that are really really real out of my songs, for fear they'd be misunderstood. Now I don't care if they are." As Dylan stated to Nat Hentoff at the time that "My Back Pages" and the other songs on Another Side of Bob Dylan were written, "There aren't any finger pointing songs [here] ... Now a lot of people are doing finger pointing songs. You know, pointing to all the things that are wrong. Me, I don't want to write for people anymore. You know, be a spokesman."
Dylan did not play "My Back Pages" in concert until June 11, 1988, during a performance in Mountain View, California. The arrangement he used eliminated some of the song's verses and included an electric guitar part performed by session musician G. E. Smith. Since 1988, Dylan has played the song in concert many times in both electric and semi-acoustic versions, and sometimes as an acoustic encore. At the 30th Anniversary Tribute Concert to Dylan at Madison Square Garden in 1992, Dylan performed "My Back Pages", in the Byrds' arrangement, with George Harrison, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, Neil Young, and Roger McGuinn.This performance, which featured vocals from all six musicians, along with guitar solos by Clapton and Young, was released on The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebrationalbum in 1993. In addition to its initial appearance on Another Side of Bob Dylan, "My Back Pages" has appeared on a number of Dylan compilation albums. In the United States and Europe, it appeared on the 1971 album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II (a.k.a. More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits) and on the 2007 album Dylan. In Australia, the song was included on the 1994 compilation album Greatest Hits Vol. 3.