There’s a line on Bye & Bye – “I’m sittin’ on my watch so I can be on time.” Such a line would be unthinkable on Blonde on Blonde or Blood on the Tracks. But Hank Williams might have sung such a line.
The singer of Floater (Too Much to Ask) even admonishes school boys and girls to sit near the front “if you want to learn anything.” The same Dylan who has consistently spoken of the unhappiness of his own education and his general hatred of school.
The songwriter of Time Out of Mind, Love & Theft, and Modern Times is very unlike the writer of Bringin’ It All Back Home. Even Oh Mercy scarcely points the direction he was heading. It’s probable he didn’t know.
