Bob Dylan – Longest Days Review

As grand as it is to hear Bob Dylan cover the greats, his flourish for more modern works is a surprise. It should not be given his stature, but the vocal range Dylan now has compared to those points during the 1960s and 1970s, is massively different. Even then, it fits the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour. It fits the John Mellencamp cover slotted into this Indianapolis show from the October 2023 dates. Longest Days is crawling towards two decades of life, and hearing it live with this accompaniment is a real treat. Illegible openings for this Longest Days cover, selected from the live shows available on YouTube but also in the neat Nothing Lasts Forever package, are not enough to stave off the clear love Dylan has for this song.  

Dylan had gone on record long before this cover and named it “one of the better songs of the last few years,” and it is possibly why his interpretation of the track is identical to Mellencamp’s original. Take some time to listen to that original. It evaded a couple of ears on release, but the rugged voice mixed with the modern folk electric Mellencamp blends, is a wonderful experience. It is loud in its silence, the sharp pauses indicate not a lack of things to say but a time to breathe and understand what came before it. A track for the bedside of the dying, by Mellencamp’s admission. Smooth guitar, a comfortable appeal but a striking message. It is the route of all great country songs, and it should be no surprise Dylan is moved by it. But to the point of covering Longest Days in his live show? That is the surprise here. 

The fuse of modern ramblings and the Bruce Springsteen effect on Americana wholesomeness is struck from this Dylan cover and replaced by the swing of traditional folk with a rhythm and blues flourish – as is expected and loved of this Rough and Rowdy Ways showcase. Slipping this Mellencamp cover in between the standard That Old Black Magic piece from Johnny Mercer and one of a few tributes to Grateful Dead with Truckin’ is a neat way to round out a cover-laden set. Striking it may be to hear a more modern song taken from the annals of music history, it does not give Dylan the striking Rough and Rowdy Ways presence heard in other covers from this tour. If anything, it feels like Dylan is trying to match the effective instrumentals of the Mellencamp original. 

Nice of him to do so it may be, but it does not match the tempo and liberated tones of a band given the freedom to swing away with the neat flourishes benefitting covers of Van Morrison and Grateful Dead pieces elsewhere. Longest Days is certainly a neat inclusion and pays tribute to one of the modern spectacles. Solid stuff. It is not free from criticism because someone smuggled a recording out of a show last year. Dylan can and does do better in his covers, though long may these attempts continue. Not everything can be a hit – and even then, Longest Days is still a mighty and interesting addition to the setlist.