MUSIC REVIEW: 'CHIMES OF FREEDOM - THE SONGS OF BOB DYLAN'

An Amnesty International Tribute Album of Raised & Legendary Voices

By: Jesse Livingston

January 26, 2012

(Amnesty International) Amnesty International has just released a four-disc set of various artists doing Bob Dylan covers. It's called Chimes of Freedom, and it's a sprawling vista of inspiration and humanity.

Bob Dylan is many things to many people. To get a sense of his mythical status, one need look no further than David Bowie's 1971 “Song for Bob Dylan”: “You gave your heart to every bedsit room, at least a picture on my wall / and you sat behind a million pair of eyes and told them how they saw / Then we lost your train of thought, the paintings are all your own / While troubles are rising, we'd rather be scared together than alone.” What's brilliant about this song is that Bowie is using Dylan's own fanciful symbolic language to describe Dylan's cultural legacy.

“You gave your heart to every bedsit room...” There was a time when Dylan lived in the eye of the whirlwind, championing social change and activism. Lonely and frightened people came together around his music to reassure each other that a better world was possible if they worked together. His mystical lyrics touched deep places in the collective consciousness, fanning a flame of hope in troubled times.

“You sat behind a million pair of eyes...” Dylan's dream-language painted the world as a dark carnival filled with con-men, clowns, soldiers, and vagabonds. He had a sense of the absurdity of it all, while still presenting a vision of a brighter future through the decency of the individual.

“Then we lost your train of thought...” At some point, Dylan decided he couldn't continue in the role of folk hero, and stepped out of the spotlight. He focused his talent in a direction that made sense to him but left many others disappointed and angry. They felt he had abandoned the cause, unwilling to accept the idea that he might always have been as lost as they were.

“While troubles are rising...” What many detractors may have missed is that Dylan the man was never that important; what mattered was Dylan the myth and the catalogue of songs that continue to inspire the lonely and frightened around the world.

Dylan's subject matter has always been equal parts sweeping metaphor and interpersonal dialogue. Take “Changing of the Guards,” performed with dire intensity by The Gaslight Anthem. It's got the grand images of war and political turmoil, but at heart, it's the story of two lovers caught up in the madness. Some songs, like “Desolation Row” — covered raucously by My Chemical Romance (the same version used in the Watchmen soundtrack) — are dreamlike set-pieces that use symbolic panoramas to evoke a sense of the larger world. Some, like “Boots of Spanish Leather” — in a drifting, wistful version by The Airborne Toxic Event — are focused entirely on the relationship between two people and the private events of their lives which are every bit as important as the noisy affairs of society.

It would be impossible to cover all of the seventy-one songs in this set without stretching everyone's patience; let's take one song, Dylan's original version of the eponymous track “Chimes of Freedom,” as a stand-in for all the others. It's still mesmerizing forty-eight years after it was written. Mixing the political fire of his earlier songs with the surrealist poetry of later works, it strikes a perfect balance and shows the individual — Dylan himself — caught in the storm, gazing at the pandemonium and seeing the specter of hope, justice, and love rising over us all.

It's the same spirit Amnesty International has dedicated itself to since 1961 — the same year Dylan moved to New York to become a folk singer. Their stated goal is “to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated.” It's a very similar sentiment to “...for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail.” The profits from the sale of this collection will go to supporting their work, so there's really no reason not to purchase and enjoy this tribute to Dylan's myth — the myth that became more real than the man. As Bowie put it: “Give us back our unity / Give us back our family / You're every nation's refugee / Don't leave us with their sanity.”

Standout Tracks: “Love Sick” [Mariachi El Bronx], “This Wheel's on Fire” [Charlie Winston], “Make You Feel My Love (Live)” [Adele], “Mr. Tambourine Man” [Jack's Mannequin], “Outlaw Blues” [Queens of the Stone Age], “Bob Dylan's Dream” [Bryan Ferry], “Desolation Row (Live)” [My Chemical Romance], “Don't Think Twice, It's All Right” [Kronos Quartet], “It's All Over Now, Baby Blue” [Bad Religion], “With God on Our Side” [K'naan], Political World [Carolina Chocolate Drops]

For Fans of: Woodie Guthrie, Phil Ochs, Ramblin' Jack Elliott