Resourceful in its wistful knowledge and continually surprising, the works of Bob Dylan are rattled through with touching thoughtfulness in Chronicles: Volume 1. Whether or not all of it is to be taken as gospel is beside the point. One of the great charms of Dylan is that his interest in the audience feels genuine but secure, guarded and coy. Whether he writes for them or for himself is up for debate, with Chronicles there is a rightful sense of the latter as the Highway 61 Revisited legend offers up thoughts on his music, past and present. He scuttles through the early days, the earning of a reputation and soon finds himself regaling the darker days of a flatlining lack of interest.
All of it comes to a head with real beauty and truth, a consistent level that offers up a stellar example of how Nobel Prize-winning writing should be undertaken. There are similarities with Johnny Cash’s self-titled autobiography, a sense of placement and presence in events that happened decades before the writing began. Dylan is careful not to reveal too much about his life, but Chronicles is filled with hints that fans will claw at for generations to come. Oh Mercy gets the best outing, a piece that sees Dylan understand the new path of his music, his frustrations at touring and the rekindling of a creative flame that every artist longs for. Dylan writes with a hopeful clarity to his work, an ambitious need to tour sees him put the best foot forward.
Much of that comes through clear as day for Chronicles: Volume One, a piece that does name drop the likes of Johnny Cash, Woody Guthrie and all those star players in the influence of Dylan. Rightly so. Anybody lucky enough to break bread with Cash or write for Guthrie would be remiss if they were not proud of it, and Dylan clearly is. There is a pride and sentiment to his work as an artist, moreso as a writer than as a performer, that is key to this work. Frequently waxing on the influence of On the Road by Jack Kerouac, there is placement from Dylan that can very nearly be felt. His past is not unveiled or detailed, but the feeling and emotion is. That is far more important than the facts, the feeling and presence of a great artist coming to terms with his influences and tracking them into his own works.
It makes for a far more intimate read than first envisioned. From his first guitar and the days of University living and influence all the way through to the doubts of a post-popularity career that soon resurged. Chronicles is a deep and moving piece that cements Dylan as a great writer. Those that engaged with his music before and after this already knew that, but Chronicles has something stranger to it, an intimacy and flavour not quite found on the tracks Dylan creates. Hearing of his everyman plight grounds the singer with clarity and grace, removed from an expectation of higher, Godlike powers broadcast onto him by hopeful fans.
