blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
song written 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 ...
, recorded in New York City on September 16, 1974, and released on his 15th studio album, ''
Blood on the Tracks
''Blood on the Tracks'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975, by Columbia Records. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dy ...
'', in 1975.
Composition and recording
"Meet Me in the Morning" is an acoustic blues performed with a full band and the only blues song on ''
Blood on the Tracks
''Blood on the Tracks'' is the fifteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on January 20, 1975, by Columbia Records. The album marked Dylan's return to Columbia Records after a two-album stint with Asylum Records. Dy ...
''. It is musically identical to another song, "Call Letter Blues", that Dylan had recorded earlier in the ''Blood on the Tracks'' sessions before rewriting the lyrics entirely. "Call Letter Blues" was eventually released on ''
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991
''The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3'' is a box set by Bob Dylan issued on Columbia Records. It is the first installment in Dylan's Bootleg Series, comprising material spanning the first three decades of his career, from 1961 to 1989. It has been c ...
'' in 1991.
The intersection mentioned in the song's first line, 56th and Wabasha, apparently does not exist. However, Minnesota Highway 56 and Wabasha Street in
Saint Paul, Minnesota
Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County, Minnesota, Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississip ...
did intersect in 1974, when the song was recorded. This suggests that the lyric is "56 and Wabasha" rather than "56th and Wabasha" as the official Dylan website states.
Other versions
A September 19, 1974, outtake of "Meet Me in the Morning" was released on the B-side of the Record Store Day 2012 release of Dylan's single "
Duquesne Whistle
"Duquesne Whistle" is a song written by Bob Dylan and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter (lyricist), Robert Hunter that appears as the opening track on Dylan's 2012 studio album ''Tempest (Bob Dylan album), Tempest''. It was first released as a ...
" and on the single-CD and 2-LP versions of '' The Bootleg Series Vol. 14: More Blood, More Tracks'' in 2018, with the complete recording sessions of the song included on the deluxe edition of that album.
Live performance
On September 19, 2007, Dylan played the song live in concert for the first and, to date, only time, during a show in
Nashville, Tennessee
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...
. He was joined onstage for the performance by
Jack White
John Anthony White (; born July 9, 1975), commonly known as Jack White, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the duo the White Stripes. White has enjoyed consistent critical and popular success and is widely c ...
of
The White Stripes
The White Stripes were an American rock duo from Detroit formed in 1997. The group consisted of Jack White (songwriter, vocals, guitar, piano, and mandolin) and Meg White (drums and vocals). After releasing several singles and three albums with ...
.
Notable covers
American heavy metal artist
Jason Becker
Jason ( ; ) was an ancient Greek mythological hero and leader of the Argonauts, whose quest for the Golden Fleece featured in Greek literature. He was the son of Aeson, the rightful king of Iolcos. He was married to the sorceress Medea. He was ...
recorded a cover of the song and released it on his album '' Perspective'' (1995).
Russian rock
Rock music became known in the Soviet Union in the 1960s and quickly broke free from its Western roots. According to many music critics, its "golden age" years were the 1980s (especially the era of perestroika), when the Soviet underground roc ...
musician
Mike Naumenko
Mikhail Vasilyevich Naumenko, better known as Mike Naumenko (russian: link=no, Майк Науменко, 18 April 1955 – 27 August 1991)
Freddie King recorded Meet Me In The Morning on the 1975 album Larger Than Life
In popular culture
"Meet Me in the Morning" is prominently featured in
Sam Mendes
Sir Samuel Alexander Mendes (born 1 August 1965) is a British film and stage director, producer, and screenwriter. In 2000, Mendes was appointed a CBE for his services to drama, and he was Knight Bachelor, knighted in the 2020 New Year Honour ...
' 2009 movie ''
Away We Go
''Away We Go'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama directed by Sam Mendes and written by Dave Eggers and Vendela Vida. The film's two leads are John Krasinski and Maya Rudolph. It is Mendes's first film without Thomas Newman's collaboration.
Plot
Ver ...
''.
The song can be heard in the background in the 2015 film
Steve Jobs
Steven Paul Jobs (February 24, 1955 – October 5, 2011) was an American entrepreneur, industrial designer, media proprietor, and investor. He was the co-founder, chairman, and CEO of Apple; the chairman and majority shareholder of Pixar; a ...
, during a scene where Jobs talks to his daughter.
The song can be heard in the climbing documentary 'Valley Uprising'.