Inside a Song

I’ve been listening to the soundtrack of “I’m Not There” for the past few days; in fact, I’ve been listening mostly to Disc 2 of the soundtrack; in fact, if the truth be told, I’ve been living inside Disc 2 of that soundtrack for almost a week now.

It’s in the car and it plays every time I drive. I listen to the lovingly rendered versions of Dylan’s songs by a variety of artists and am taken especially by the acoustic ones with beautiful guitar picking and the voices that explore the amazing range and subtlety of Bob’s lyrics in ways I haven’t heard before. There are treats waiting throughout this CD and I know now when each is coming, sometimes going back and replaying a song just to be immersed in it again. And again. However, I don’t jump ahead – there must be something in me that makes me go through the somewhat less favourite cuts (I notice that I still inadvertently use the terminology of vinyl when I am talking about the tracks) because those treats I know are ahead are worth the wait.

So it’s clear that I have found this disc of the soundtrack powerful and compelling. But it is cut (track) #17 that is for me the most compelling. I first heard it in St. Catherine’s in the background of our activities there when JE played the soundtrack and burned copies for us, and it engaged me. I heard it again when we were back home and it was playing when friends were over for dinner. I hadn’t yet explored the names of the artists on the CD so I didn’t know whose that lovely ethereal voice on #17 was. I turned up the sound and asked if anyone knew who the vocalist was. JJ who is an amazing vocal artist herself said she thought it was male and possibly African-American but not someone she knew. And no one else knew either.

The next day I looked it up on the trusty wikipedia and learned that it was Antony Hagerty, male, yes, I guess, but neither African nor American. If you want to know more, check out the soundtrack here and the artist on #17 here. You will know if you looked or if you already know the soundtrack that the song is “Knockin on Heaven’s Door”. If you want to know why I found/find this version so compelling, you can watch and listen here.

I have loved that song ever since I first heard it, and my favourite version for a couple of decades has been the one Bob did on his Australia tour with a great chorus of backup singers including, I believe, Queen Latifah (and now I can’t find that memorable video anywhere). It was my favourite, but as I mentioned above, I’ve been living inside Disc 2 for a while and especially inside cut #17.

Actually I decided that if there were ever a memorial event for me I would want Antony’s version of the song to be part of it. Shortly after deciding that, I finished the article I was reading in The New Yorker about performance artist Marina Abramovic, and learned that she invited Antony to a party and announced that she planned to have him sing "My Way" at all three of her funerals (read the article).

No matter, all I want is this CD with this version of this song, not because there’s any heaven with a door in it to knock on, but because that voice and Bob’s words say something about what we might think of, what we might feel, what we might live for. That’s all.