Kicking Your Monday Off On A Mellow Note

A well-worn cliche in music is that what's not said or heard in a song can be as important as what's heard. A textbook version of this is Dylan's "Most of the Time."

I initially heard this one from one of the scores of Dylan "bootleg" releases (the excellent bootleg series that included his Oh Mercy/Time Out of Mind/Love and Theft period). But the song was familiar enough for some reason, and it was only after a bit of research that I discovered it was featured in a pivotal scene in High Fidelity, a movie that all music geeks should have in their collection.

Pay no mind to the slightly glossy video and production. The song itself is among Dylan's best, and unfortunately buried in one of his lesser albums (Oh Mercy). It's pure late-era Dylan. A woman wronged him. And you're hearing the voice of a man with a scarred heart.

Of course, according to the song, things are going OK.

"Most of the time I'm clear and focused all around

Most of the time I can keep both feet on the ground"

His resilience continues....

"I can handle I stumble upon / I don't even notice she gone

Most of the time"

Of course, the key is "most of the time."

His bitterness grows, but never in a wallowing self-pity tone. He even goes as far as to not give her a name.

"I can survive and I can endure

And I don't even think about her

Most of the time"

The "most of the time" is the stuff that tears you up. It's the reason Dylan spent a bit more time emphasizing "her" - adding a slight growl at the end. For true effect, go to the original recording from "Oh Mercy" - and let the final atmospherics by Daniel Lanois engulf you.