Artikel / Krönika
3. november 2013: Bob Dylan, Milano: “Ain’t it just like the night….”
Av Johnny Borgan

Strålende dag i Milano, med sol og vårstemning. Støtte på Tony Garnier i en hattebutikk, og alt tegnet til nok en fin konsertdag.

Kveldens konsert var nær perfekt. Dylans stemme var som fløyel, og ethvert tilløp til det raspende bjeffet som trenger gjennom når han er sliten, var helt borte – kanskje den beste av de syv konsertene jeg har sett så langt, ved siden av første Stockholmskonserten. Dylan var på hugget hele kvelden, og bandet fulgte ham med argusøyne hvert skritt. Minimale endringer i setlisten, men ”Duquesne Whistle” og ”Pay In Blood” byttet plass. På grunn av de små endringene fra kveld til kveld blir effekten desto større når han klimprer i gang introen til nok en turnedebut, og nok en av hans aller største sanger, ”Visions of Johanna”, med passende referanse til Leonardos Mona Lisa, her i Milano, som huser en av de største da Vinci-samlingene. ”Love Sick” er også i kveld et stort høydepunkt, sammen med den omskrevne ”Tangled Up In Blue”, der den italienske poeten nå er sporløst forsvunnet – ikke desto mindre leveres den med uovertruffen kraft og nerve – viklet inn i blått.

Et bilde kan lyve mer enn tusen ord. Samtidig kan det gode poetiske bildet leve i oss som en bukett av roser eller som en katalysator, både for minner, tanker og andre bilder. Å være på en Bob Dylan-konsert er på det beste som å se film. Med den duse og dempede belysningen som nå preger konsertene, trer bildene enda tydeligere fram enn vanlig, der Dylan tidvis kun står som en siluett mot det mørke sceneteppet.

There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train (Things Have Changed)

Dekadanse.

You will start out standing
Proud to steal her anything she sees
But you will wind up peeking through her keyhole
Down upon your knees (She Belongs To Me)

Hengivenhet.

My ship is in the harbor
And the sails are spread (Beyond here lies nothing)

Stolthet.

What good am I if I’m like all the rest
If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed
If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry
What good am I? (What Good Am I?)

Ydmykhet.

The lights of my native land are glowing
I wonder if they'll know me next time 'round
I wonder if that old oak tree's still standing
That old oak tree, the one we used to climb” (Duquesne Whistle)

Retrospeksjon.

I'm stayin' ahead of the game,
And she's a-doin' the same,
And the whiskey flyin' into my head.
The fiddler's arm has gone dead,
And talk is beginning to spread (Waiting for you)

På slutten av en lang kveld.

I got something in my pocket that could make your eyeballs swim
I got dogs who could tear you limb from limb
I'm circlin' around the Southern Zone
I pay in blood, but not my own. (Pay In Blood)

Vold & aggresjon.

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin’ for a while on a fishin’ boat
Right outside of Delacroix (Tangled Up In Blue)

Vandreren.

I see, I see lovers in the meadow
I see, I see silhouettes in the window
I watch them ’til they’re gone and they leave me hanging on
To a shadow (Love Sick)

Alder & forgjengelighetens erkjennelse.

High water risin’, six inches ’bove my head
Coffins droppin’ in the street
Like balloons made out of lead
Water pourin’ into Vicksburg, don’t know what I’m goin' to do
“Don’t reach out for me,” she said
“Can’t you see I’m drownin’ too? (High Water (For Charley Patton)

Kaos og endetid. (Sangen ble utgitt på selveste 9/11)

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel with a neon burnin’ bright
He felt the heat of the night hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate (Simple Twist of Fate)

Ung kjærlighet.

Louise, she’s all right, she’s just near
She’s delicate and seems like the mirror
But she just makes it all too concise and too clear
That Johanna’s not here
The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place (Visions of Johanna)

Tilstedeværelse & fraværenhet, lengsel & savn.

Forgetful heart
Like a walking shadow in my brain
All night long
I lay awake and listen to the sound of pain
The door has closed forevermore
If indeed there ever was a door” (Forgetful Heart)
Det er for sent.
“I wanna be with you in paradise
And it seems so unfair
I can't go to paradise no more
I killed a man back there (Spirit on the Water)

Uopprettelig skade.

Scarlet Town, in the hot noon hours
There’s palm-leaf shadows and scattered flowers
Beggars crouching at the gate
Help comes, but it comes too late
By marble slabs and in fields of stone
You make your humble wishes known
I touched the garment, but the hem was torn
In Scarlet Town, where I was born (Scarlet Town)

Byen under den røde himmelen.

It's soon after midnight,
And my day has just begun (Soon After Midnight)

Vampyren skrider til verket.

I ain't seen my family in twenty long years
That ain't easy to understand, they may be dead by now
I lost track of em after they lost their land

Hva gikk egentlig galt? Behov for familieterapi?

Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to how (All Along The Watchtower)

Det tårner seg opp og tordner seg til. Det går mot slutten.

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ’n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ’n’ how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned? (Blowin’ in the wind)

Håp? Resignasjon? Håp.

Siste Milano-konserten i kveld – går han tilbake til Early Roman Kings, eller er vi så heldige at vi får A Hard Rain’s A-gonna Fall? Nobody knows.


1. Things Have Changed
2. She Belongs To Me
3. Beyond Here Lies Nothin'
4. What Good Am I?
5. Duquesne Whistle
6. Waiting For You
7. Pay In Blood
8. Tangled Up In Blue
9. Love Sick

(Pause)

10. High Water (For Charley Patton)
11. Simple Twist Of Fate
12. Visions of Johanna
13. Forgetful Heart
14. Spirit On The Water
15. Scarlet Town
16. Soon After Midnight
17. Long And Wasted Years

(encore)

18. All Along The Watchtower
19. Blowin' In The Wind J

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