All Along the Watchtower

All Along the Watchtower by Bob Dylan or Jimi Hendrix



In many ways this is the most appropriate song for this year. A song, with apocalyptic references, released actually just five days before the start of 1968 by Dylan, and then covered and released by
Hendrix in the fall of 1968. It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Dylan's original sounds completely different than Hendrix's cover.

Dylan plays and sings the song pretty straight forward. A harmonica sets the tone and then a steady guitar and drums plow forward. The lyrics are the most import part of the song, the story that Dylan sings to us is a conversation between a joker and a thief. The song closes, referencing the Book of Isaiah, as two riders approach. The end is near. Dylan's version is some what haunting, but also rushed. It's almost as if Dylan could foresee the political upheaval that the upcoming year would see.



Hendrix's cover, on the other hand, is chilling. It feels like an attempt to catch the craziness of 1968. The opening guitar work and riff might be one of the five most famous openings in all of Rock'n'Roll. It has the feeling of guns and bombs going off, and then Hendrix almost speaks, "There must be some way out of here..." I'm not sure if any of the lines of the song hit home quite like that one.

The song, when viewed from the prism that Dylan wrote it, is a classic case of life imitating art. When Dylan wrote the song, American public opinion was still in favor of the war. It was the Tet Offensive, beginning at the end of Jan. 1968 that would swing American public opinion against the war. Suddenly, by September 1968 when Hendrix sings "There must be some way out of here", it takes on a whole new meaning.

The amazing thing about this song is how two versions, released only 9 months apart, could be so different and feel so different. Dylan's feels almost like a story told by and for citizens of the Middle Ages. I always imagine the people on horses, wearing their Adam of the Road cloths, discussing the story of the Joker and the Thief. On the flip side the Hendrix version is, thanks to so many movies and TV specials, linked to Vietnam. The song sounds like a hopeless cause, no we aren't losing, but we sure as hell aren't winning. Hendrix's version meanders with guitar solos, Dylan's is direct (and naturally 90 seconds shorter).

Now, the question is, why would anyone else cover this song? Dylan's original is pretty great. Hendrix's, according to so many, is even better. So why bother? How can anyone put a new twist on this song? And yes, Mr. Dave Matthew's I'm looking at you and your craptastic cover.