Under The Red Sky (1990)

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like satin and silk

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle like a pail of milk

Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle, rattle and shake

Wiggle like a big fat snake.

Desolation Row, it is not.

For that matter, it's not Oh Mercy either.

Lyrically, I'm not sure what to make of Under The Red Sky. Some of the songs seem to be child-like entities written, presumably, for his young daughter to whom the LP is dedicated. The opener, Wiggle Wiggle, and the title track  ("Someday little girl, everything for you is gonna be new/Someday little girl, you’ll have a diamond as big as your shoe") certainly fit that picture but even on those tracks that clearly aren't aimed at the four-year old market the lyrics too often land somewhere between tortured and juvenile. Some examples:

From 2X2:

Seven by seven, they headed for heaven
Eight by eight, they got to the gate
Nine by nine, they drank the wine
Ten by ten, they drank it again

From Unbelievable:

You go north and you go south
Just like bait in the fish’s mouth
Ya must be livin’ in the shadow of some kind of evil star
It’s unbelievable it would get this far

Handy Dandy:

Handy Dandy, Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy
Handy Dandy, just like sugar and candy 

And I could go on. This is so far off the finesse of Oh Mercy that is makes you suspect that he must be up to something. If he is, though, what it is remains beyond me. I've nothing against children's songs  - Woody Guthrie produced some fantastic tunes for the young 'uns -  but that's not what's going on here for the most part. Lyrically, it is not terrible but just not particularly good, which is strange for Dylan; even on the musically poorest parts of his back catalogue you could usually rely on his wordcraft. On this LP only Born In Time really shapes up to his usual lyrical standards.

The irony here is that, looking beyond the lyrical content to the music, this is quite an enjoyable LP. Not remarkable, certainly not a patch on Oh Mercy, but enjoyable enough. Three of the tracks - TV Talkin' Song, 2x2 and Handy Dandy - don't do anything for me at all and Wiggle Wiggle is just a bit silly but that's the worst you can say. The rest of the songs have a lot going for them. 10,000 Men and Unbelievable are the sort of 12 bar rock and roll numbers that Dylan, at this point, is knocking out easily but are no less enjoyable romps for that. Add to those God Knows and Cat's In The Well which are both pleasingly jaunty tunes. The real strength on the record lies in the tracks Under The Red Sky and Born In Time which exhibit a more gentle touch; both lovely songs (regardless of my reservations about the lyrical content of the first of those).

The production of Don and David Was and, for the first time, Dylan himself under the pseudonym of Jack Frost is tempered and serves the songs well. The problem with the record - lyrics aside - is that while there are things to enjoy it is not particularly memorable. I was looking forward to getting into this LP as, at the time of its release, my Dylan listening was still dominated by Oh Mercy and this offering rarely got anything other than a brief spin on the player. I looked forward to putting that right. Having now given it the attention I should have at the time, I must admit, even though there are good tracks here, when this blog is done, it may well be a long while before it gets a run-out again.

Out of five?

Three and a half

Favourite track?

Born In Time

Up next?

Good As I Been To You.