The artist longs for “Hard Times” to leave him alone. “Jim Jones” yearns for freedom after being sentenced to life on a slave ship.
A scoundrel named “Blackjack Davy”steals a 16-year-old bride who eagerly declares, “I’ll forsake my house and home/And I’ll forsake my baby/I’ll forsake my husband, too/For the love of Blackjack Davey.” “Little Maggie” turns to alcohol as a temporary solution to her relational troubles. Two men violently beat a pair of army recruiters after being verbally threatened (“Arthur Mcbride”). On “Frankie and Albert,” a man’s two-timing leads his woman to shoot him dead in a fit of passion (after she goes drinking at the corner saloon). The singer-relegated to a chain gang-appears to be threatening the woman in his life on “You’re Gonna Quit Me” (“Day you quit me, baby/That’s the day you die”).
The legendary Dylan draws only on himself, his guitar and a set of biographical folk tunes. Many of these poetic story songs share interesting snapshots from diverse lives. Unfortunately, most of Dylan’s characters lack noble qualities.
