Bob Dylan – Melancholy Mood Review

At this point, Melancholy Mood may as well be a Bob Dylan song. It is not, of course. Credit where it is due and in this instance it is rightly assigned to Walter Schumann and Vick R. Knight Sr, but a live performance of this American Songbooks standard was a lingering surprise. He has performed it plenty of times, mainly when touring after the release of one of many modern covers records, Fallen Angels. But the track was quietly dropped from the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour last year and has resurfaced just once since then. Obvious differences aside, the quality Dylan provides this track on the first and only appearance throughout 2023, is monumental.  

Two minutes is all it takes for Dylan to get to grips with Melancholy Mood and cast it aside once more. He presumably favours those Grateful Dead pieces that frequently feature on this tour, a wild and wonderful collection of glamorous live performances stuffed with rare covers. Key to all these pieces, from the Grateful Dead bits and Leonard Cohen pieces, is a sense of tremendous respect for the source material all the while administering the Dylan spin. Gruff vocals, a sense of belonging to the song and it to him, the stream goes both ways and is backed by some impressive swing-like musicians. Great lyrics never leave the mind. You can return to your favourites over years or decades and leap right back into action. 

It makes more sense to realise this and hear Melancholy Mood in Dylan’s hands again. No wonder he can pull these through in the spur of the moment, they are some of his favourites. Why else would he cover them, in the studio years ago and now on stage for a two-minute interlude at a performance in Tokyo? As brief as it is, the gentle guitar works on this which opens it up as this mysterious little number is a treat. Melancholy Mood here depends on Bob Britt and Doug Lancio, their guitar works here a masterful back and forth which recedes into the background as a choppy Dylan vocal performance slams through the lyrics as though he was strapped for time. Maybe he was, it sounds very much like a “…and one more thing,” performance. More power to it, though, it is exceptional. 

Over before you know it, little flickers of the American Songbook remain. Those rising vocals and the old-hat appeal of Fallen Angels and Triplicate make their way to the stage in more than one cover on this rare Tokyo setlist. It accompanies set staple That Old Black Magic, a neat Johnny Mercer rendition Dylan has since made his own. Melancholy Mood here, the Frank Sinatra classic, feels like more of a lingering apology for a botched Brokedown Palace cover immediately before it. Rushing to get something wild and different out there leads to a few verses spun in the right way. Padding? Yes. But thoroughly enjoyable still and of the otherworldly high standard Dylan sets on his live shows, particularly on the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour.