Outside In the Cold Distance

Memorial Day Weekend. The kick off to the summer season. The sun is out, there's a bit of humidity in the air, traffic to and from work sucked my ass, and it's prime barbecue time. Along with the nice weather, beaches, and bbqs the summer ushers in a different sound in music. It's time to put away some of those winter groups and make room for the reggae people. There are a large number of bands that just sound better during the summer. This doesn't mean that they can't be listened to throughout the course of the year, it's just their sound is tailor made for the awesomeness of summer. So I found it to be appropriate that my ipod picked Dave Matthews Band today to kick off the summer.



Dave Matthews Band's Central Park Concert is the ultimate summer album, along with being in my top ten favorite live albums. I do have a bit of a bittersweet pang whenever I put this show on however. The Central Park Concert was a  free show being offered by the band, the only problem was I was up at school in Massachusetts and not home on Long Island. A bunch of us at school had talked about making the trip down to New York to check out the show, we were in college and if it's for free it's for me. Unfortunately the talk kind of fizzled out and I missed out on an awesome, free concert opportunity.  If I could go back in time I definitely would have pushed a little harder to try and make the show. It's always cool to own a live album to a show you attended. It makes it all the more special.

All Along the Watchtower may be a Bob Dylan song but I don't think there is anyone who would argue that this song belongs to Jimi Hendrix. Actually I believe that some where in life Bob Dylan has stated that this is more a Hendrix song then his (much like Trent Reznor and Johnny Cash's version of Hurt). Does anyone else notice that Bob Dylan songs tend to sound better when they're sung by other artists? Is that an anti-rock history comment? Don't get me wrong I love and appreciate the music of Bob Dylan (I actually got to see him perform with Paul Simon when I was in high school), but sometimes the extraordinary lyrics that he writes get lost in the terrible that is his voice. For example I think Billy Joel and Adele have recorded better versions of To Make You Feel My Love. I'm not trying to be sacrilegious here, I just happen to enjoy Bob Dylan songs better when they aren't sung by Bob Dylan (this isn't true for all of his songs though. Who could sing Rainy Day Women better?).

So with the notion that Watchtower is a Hendrix song, I find this version to be quite epic. First off lets start with the long intro that leads in to the National Anthem (obvious nod to Hendrix). It really helps to set the tone for the song. Sitting in my car this morning right on the cusp of the summer season this was getting me all types of ready. When the song finally does start it has this eerie/creepy vibe to it. I love that Dave keeps it just him and the guitar for the first couple of minutes, and takes his time with each word he sings. It makes the song sound so haunting and dark (how scary is the laugh after the lyric "...life is but a joke"), and I never really thought of it that way. Maybe Watchtower is a scary song and we just haven't been paying attention. I love when the band strikes up for that hard brief chord (right around the 5:50 mark I believe). It makes me think of a bolt of lightning cutting through the sky. This has to best set up to a song ever. So much time and care is put into it.

When the rest of the band finally does strike up you're to the point where you're so immersed in the song that there is no turning back. It's brilliant story telling if you ask me. Everything here is perfect. The set up, the jam in the middle that builds and builds and builds until the song seems like it's going to explode. Right when it hits that point where it seems this song is going to destroy your speakers Dave takes all that emotion and all that build up and starts yelling "fire". It's bringing the song full circle, and gives me the chills. He just gets so caught up in the emotion of the song and just explodes at the end (listen to him sing "outside in the cold distance", sooooo good). It's not just about singing the lyrics at this point it's about feeling them. Listen carefully to his voice, there is no question that this song is flowing through him.

Now mix that in with a bonfire and an awesome summer night, and that's why this might actually be my favorite version of All Along the Watchtower. I know, whoa right? I'm actually listening to Hendrix's version right now (but I listened to the DMB version first), and it just feels like the 60's. When I listen to it I feel the time period and listen more for Jimi's guitar than the lyrics, but when I listen to the Dave Matthews Band version I feel the summer nights surrounded by good friends and a bonfire. Come to think of it that's exactly where I want to be right now.