EXTRACTS (full version here)
Desire is perhaps Bob Dylan’s most varied album in terms of style and tone. It combines epic ‘story songs’ about real or fictional characters with a number of shorter and more abstract pieces. The album was recorded with the rhythm section which would become the basis of the Rolling Thunder tour band, with Rob Stoner on bass and Howard Wyeth on drums. The most crucial addition was the eccentric street musician Scarlet Rivera, whose highly distinctive ‘gypsy violin’ style dominates many of the tracks. Additional vocals are supplied by country rock legend Emmylou Harris, then at the beginning of her career. The band is looser and more spontaneous than previous Dylan ensembles, with Rivera’s contribution in particular helping to create a range of variable musical textures.
The portentous atmosphere is also created by the intro, which consists of a strummed acoustic guitar, a short bass solo from Rob Stoner and some entrancing violin lines from Rivera – all suggesting that there will be a tragic outcome. We begin with the gunfighter’s internal thoughts as he looks down at the gypsy girl. The highly romantic opening lines with their intimate and carefully chosen details …Your breath is sweet, your eyes are like two jewels in the sky/ Your back is straight, your hair is smooth on the pillow where you lie… seem to suggest that that what follows will be a declaration of love. But this is undercut quite brutally, as the narrator informs us that …I don’t sense affection, no gratitude or love/ Your loyalty is not to me but to the stars above… It is as if the girl is looking up at her lover but is actually staring right through him up into the dark night. This is a remarkable image of passionate disappointment. Perhaps she really is in love with him but is steeling herself not to show it as she knows that he is about to meet his death. It is as if she is wearing one of the ghoulish masks that Mexicans wear in their annual Die de los Muertos (‘Day of the Dead’). It could even be said that she represents death itself.
We hear a few scattered details about the girl and her family. Her father is …a wanderer and an outlaw by trade… who …oversees his kingdom so no stranger does intrude… and thus appears to be some kind of gang leader. He has clearly taught his daughter many survival skills, including …how to throw the blade… and – perhaps most importantly – …how to pick and choose… But the final line of the second verse makes it clear that the old man is in a parlous state, very probably on the edge of death: …His voice it trembles as he calls out for another plate of food… The inclusion of ‘trembles’ strongly suggests that he is either terminally ill or demented, suggesting that in fact the daughter is in charge of his ‘outfit’. Perhaps it is her who is sending him ‘to the valley below’.
We also hear that the females of the family have psychic gifts: …Your sister sees the future like your mama and yourself… despite her being illiterate: …You never learned to read or write, there’s no books upon your shelf… which enhances our impression of the girl as possessing a natural psychic power. In the final lines it is suggested that she has a considerable sexual appetite: …Your pleasure has no limits, your voice is like a meadowlark… Here the traditional poetic image of the voice of the meadowlark is invoked to suggest that the girl is experiencing a powerful orgasm. This is countered by …But your heart is like an ocean, mysterious and dark… It seems that he has been overwhelmed by her ‘dark powers’ and that he will therefore follow her instructions even – as seems likely – they will lead to his death.
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