Time Out of Mind

1997年，Bob Dylan推出了他个人的第41张专辑”Time Out of Mind”(被遗忘的时光)，这一年他56岁。 这是一张关于衰老，爱，悔恨和生命的专辑，是一个睿智的老人的心灵之旅(所有歌曲均以第一人称写就)，深邃而平和。唯一的遗憾是口琴作为Bob Dylan音乐中极为重要的元素，在本专辑中被严重弱化了。Bob Dylan所写的歌词依然像诗一样优美，旋律依然具有强的感染力，而他那破锣似的嗓音已经变的有些脆弱，如沙砾的质感，依稀有Tom Waits 和 Louis Armstrong的影子。 这张专辑的音乐风格很是奇怪，是两种不同风格的混合体。一半是忧伤的叙事风格的民谣，就像我们在”Blood on the Tracks”中听到的；另一半是爵士布鲁斯风格的，也是Bob Dylan近年比较钟情的。而Columbia公司似乎也是有意安排歌曲的顺序，奇数序号的歌曲都是前者，偶数序号的歌曲都是后者。 第一首”Love Sick”在反复和即兴的旋律中描述了爱与死亡的主题，没有了年轻时的愤世嫉俗，Bob Dylan用极具画面感的歌词写出了孤独的灵魂对爱的渴望:”I’m sick of love but I’m in the thick of it.This kind of love I’m so sick of it.” 紧接着的第二首是快节奏的布鲁斯作品”Dirt Road Blues”。第三首”Standing in the Doorway “就比较sweet了，也表现了Bob Dylan信仰基督后的转变。”yesterday everything was moving too fast and now too slow.” “Trying to get to Heaven “富有哲理及宗教关怀，像一张温暖的手。Bob Dylan唱到: “When you think that you lost everything, you find out you can lose a little more. I’m just trying to get to heaven before they close the door.” “Make you feel my love”是一首深情的中板慢歌，任何一段拿出来都可以作为追女孩子的情诗。”When the rain is blowing in your face. And the whole world is on your case. I could offer you a warm embrace. To make you feel my love.”爱是永恒的主题，是越老越无解的东西。类似的还有”Till I fell in love With You”。 最后一首”Highlands”简直是一部叙事小说，相信很多人无法忍受Bob Dylan絮絮叨叨地讲述一次邂逅，关键是它的长度超过了16分钟，也许人老了话就多了。值得一提的是Bob Dylan唱到”I’m listening to Neil Young”，两个民谣的中流砥柱真是惺惺相惜。 这张专辑被认为是Bob Dylan自1975年”Blood on the Tracks”之后最棒的作品，并在98年一举拿下三座葛莱美奖，包括”年度最佳专辑”。 对此，Bob Dylan不以为然，他说到:”我已经习惯自己的唱片被诋毁和误解，假如你还想继续往前走，就得试着习惯各种各样的诋毁和误解。我已经不大习惯人们这么喜欢我的专辑，我想自己还需要一些时间来适应现在这种情形吧。” by Stephen Thomas Erlewine After spending much of the '90s touring and simply not writing songs, Bob Dylan returned in 1997 with Time Out of Mind, his first collection of new material in seven years. Where Under the Red Sky, his last collection of original compositions, had a casual, tossed-off feel, Time Out of Mind is carefully considered, from the densely detailed songs to the dark, atmospheric production. Sonically, the album is reminiscent of Oh Mercy, the last album Dylan recorded with producer Daniel Lanois, but Time Out of Mind has a grittier foundation -- by and large, the songs are bitter and resigned, and Dylan gives them appropriately anguished performances. Lanois bathes them in hazy, ominous sounds, which may suit the spirit of the lyrics, but are often in opposition to Dylan's performances. Consequently, the album loses a little of its emotional impact, yet the songs themselves are uniformly powerful, adding up to Dylan's best overall collection in years. It's a better, more affecting record than Oh Mercy, not only because the songs have a stronger emotional pull, but because Lanois hasn't sanded away all the grit. As a result, the songs retain their power, leaving Time Out of Mind as one of the rare latter-day Dylan albums that meets his high standards.