"Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" is a song by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, released on his fifth album, '' Bringing It All Back Home''. In 2005, ''

Mojo Mojo may refer to: *Mojo (African-American culture), a magical charm bag used in voodoo Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * MOJO HD, an American television network * ''Mojo'' (play), by Jez Butterworth, made into a 1997 film * '' ...

'' magazine rated the song as the 68th greatest Bob Dylan song.

Themes

The title alludes to an earlier Dylan song, "

Bob Dylan's Dream "Bob Dylan's Dream" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1963. It was recorded by Dylan on April 24, 1963, and was released by Columbia Records a month later on the album ''The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan''. The song was also recorded as a demo for Dyl ...

", released in 1963. The song is a satirical and surrealistic story that jumbles together historical and literary and narrative references from the

voyages of Columbus Between 1492 and 1504, Italian explorer Christopher Columbus led four Spanish Empire, Spanish transatlantic crossing, transatlantic maritime expeditions of discovery to the Americas. These voyages led to the widespread knowledge of the New Worl ...

to the ''

Mayflower ''Mayflower'' was an English ship that transported a group of English families, known today as the Pilgrims, from England to the New World in 1620. After a grueling 10 weeks at sea, ''Mayflower'', with 102 passengers and a crew of about 30, r ...

'' to '' Moby Dick'' to the present day. The narrator calls his ship's captain "Captain Arab", referring to Captain Ahab from ''Moby-Dick''. several times during the telling of the tale. Historian Sean Wilentz described the song as "a six-and-a-half-minute roller-coaster ride, more joyful than scary" in which Dylan constructs a manic journey through American history: "a hipster sailor travels across a historical landscape where it’s sometimes 1620, sometimes 1851, sometimes 1492, but always 1965 as well—and could just as easily be America today, which is really the point." For Wilentz, the song amounts to a portrait of America as "a newfound land that is frantic, exasperating, jumbled, and irrational beyond the point of absurdity".

Recording

Dylan recorded an acoustic version on January 13, 1965, the first day of the ''Bringing It All Back Home'' sessions. He recorded what would become the final album version a day later, with

Bobby Gregg Robert J. Gregg (born Robert Grego; April 30, 1936 – May 3, 2014) was an American musician who performed as a drummer and record producer. As a drum soloist and band leader he recorded one album and several singles, including one Top 40 singl ...

on drums, Bill Lee on bass, and Paul Griffin on piano. He did not perform the song live until October 13, 1988, then went on to play it during the final six concerts of his 1988 tour. The track commences with an early take of Dylan beginning to play the song alone before producer Tom Wilson is heard bursting into laughter and signalling for a start-over. The track is then transitioned into a take played by the full band the next day.

Covers

The song was covered by

Taj Mahal The Taj Mahal (; ) is an Islamic ivory-white marble mausoleum on the right bank of the river Yamuna in the Indian city of Agra. It was commissioned in 1631 by the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan () to house the tomb of his favourite wife, Mu ...

on the Dylan tribute album '' Chimes of Freedom''.

References

{{authority control 1965 songs Songs written by Bob Dylan Bob Dylan songs Song recordings produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) Music based on novels Songs about dreams Songs about sailors