It's All Good (Bob Dylan Song)
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"It's All Good'" is a blues song written by American singer-songwriter
Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
(with
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
lyricist Robert Hunter) that appears as the 10th and final track on Dylan's 2009 studio album ''
Together Through Life ''Together Through Life'' is the thirty-third studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 28, 2009, by Columbia Records. The release of the album, which reached number 1 in multiple countries, was unexpected and surprised fans ...
''. Like much of Dylan's 21st century output, he produced the song himself using the pseudonym
Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, a ...
.


Composition and recording

"It's All Good" is a fast-tempo, accordion-driven blues in which the title is meant ironically, as the lyrics catalog various social ills. When asked by journalist Bill Flanagan how the song got started, Dylan responded, "Probably from hearing the phrase one too many times". In their book ''Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track'', authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon call it a "compelling" song that is "reminiscent of
Muddy Waters McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
", and praise Mike Campbell's "superb guitar part". The song is performed in the key of
G major G major is a major scale based on G (musical note), G, with the pitches G, A (musical note), A, B (musical note), B, C (musical note), C, D (musical note), D, E (musical note), E, and F♯ (musical note), F. Its key signature has one sharp (music ...


Reception

The catchphrase "It's all good" was in vogue in the 2000s as a means of saying, "Don't worry about it". It was often said in response to an apology and was especially common in hip-hop culture. Music journalist
Rob Sheffield Robert James Sheffield (born February 2, 1966) is an American music journalist and author. He is a long time contributing editor at ''Rolling Stone'', writing about music, TV, and pop culture. Previously, he was a contributing editor at '' Blen ...
, writing in ''
Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...
'', which placed the song 21st on a list of "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century", discussed the song in relation to rap music, noting that Dylan was "always a hip-hop head — ever since he spat bars on old-school rap legend
Kurtis Blow Kurtis Walker (born August 9, 1959), known professionally by his stage name Kurtis Blow, is an American rapping , rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Walker is the first commercially successful rapper and the first to sign with a major rec ...
’s 'Street Rock' in the Eighties", and sees Dylan's song as " lippingthe rap catchphrase into an accordion blues rant, for a tone that’s somewhere between ' Gangsta Gangsta' and ' The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar'”. Corey DuBrowa, in an 8.1/10 ''Paste Magazine'' review of ''
Together Through Life ''Together Through Life'' is the thirty-third studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 28, 2009, by Columbia Records. The release of the album, which reached number 1 in multiple countries, was unexpected and surprised fans ...
'', called it a "sneering, sarcastic jump-blues...in which Dylan's ravaged voice attacks the clichéd phrase as if it represented every banker, politician and Ponzi-scheme cheat he could conjure", and sees it as emblematic of an album that is "more resolutely focused on the treacherous horizon ever before and "decries the mess we're in". Stephen Thomas Erlewine at ''
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'' referred to it as a "mordantly funny rocker", noting how Dylan's use of the contemporary catchphrase was proof 'there's no avoidance of the present" on an album where "the music is proudly, almost defiantly, rooted in the past". A 2021 ''
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'' article ranking all of Dylan's LPs (where ''
Together Through Life ''Together Through Life'' is the thirty-third studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released on April 28, 2009, by Columbia Records. The release of the album, which reached number 1 in multiple countries, was unexpected and surprised fans ...
'' placed 19th out of 39), noted that "The album reaches its apex with the sneery 'It's All Good'...It's a great, underrated gem, in need of a re-appraisal". Singer/songwriter
Elliott Murphy Elliott James Murphy (born March 16, 1949) is an American rock singer-songwriter, novelist, record producer, and journalist. Biography Elliott Murphy was born in Rockville Centre, New York, grew up in Garden City, Long Island and began playi ...
cited it as one of Dylan's top 10 songs of the 21st century in an article for ''Poetic Justice Magazine''.


Cultural references

The unusual opening line of the final verse ("I’ll pluck off your beard and blow it in your face") is a reference to
William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's ''
Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...
''. In Act II, Scene 2, Hamlet's soliloquy includes the lines, ""Who calls me villain? breaks my pate across? Plucks off my beard and blows it in my face?"


In popular culture

Olivier Dahan Olivier Dahan (; born 26 June 1967) is a French film director and screenwriter. His third directed film, '' La Vie en Rose'', was one of the only French cinema films to win two Academy Awards, including the first acting Oscar in the French lang ...
used the song to score a car-chase sequence in his 2010
Renée Zellweger Renée Kathleen Zellweger ( ; born April 25, 1969) is an American actress. The recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Renée Zellweger, various accolades, including two Academy Awards, two British Academy Film Awards, and four ...
-starring film ''
My Own Love Song ''My Own Love Song'' is a 2010 road movie directed and written by Olivier Dahan and starring Renée Zellweger, Forest Whitaker, Madeline Zima and Nick Nolte. It premiered in Dahan's native France on April 7, 2010, and in the United States at t ...
''.


Live performances

Dylan has played the song live just three times on the
Never Ending Tour The Never Ending Tour is the popular name for Bob Dylan's ongoing touring schedule which began on June 7, 1988. The tour amassed a huge fan base with some fans traveling from around the world to attend as many Dylan shows as possible. Dylan him ...
. All of the performances occurred on his tour of North America in the fall of 2009: The live debut occurred at the Aragon Ballroom in
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on October 31, 2009 and the last performance took place at the
United Palace Theater The United Palace (originally Loew's 175th Street Theatre) is a theater at 4140 Broadway in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan, New York City, United States. The theater, occupying a city block between Broadway, Wadsworth Avenu ...
in
New York, New York New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on New York Harbor, one of the world's largest natural harb ...
on November 18, 2009.


References


External links


Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official site {{authority control 2009 songs Bob Dylan songs Songs written by Bob Dylan Song recordings produced by Bob Dylan Songs with lyrics by Robert Hunter (lyricist)