Bob Dylan – Don’t Fence Me In Review

Another for the pile of confusing covers Bob Dylan has provided in the name of half-decent filmmaking. He does not have an eye for what makes a good movie. At least he is not part of the on-screen lineup. Scott Stapp as Frank Sinatra in a Dennis Quaid-led biopic of the man who championed the Star Wars programme. Bedtime for Bonzo star Ronald Reagan and Dylan does not appear to have much in common, but it has paved the road to Don’t Fence Me In, another cover piece from Dylan. Willie Nelson has, obviously, covered the song too. His was not for a Quaid biopic but an exercise in maintaining a prolific streak of releases. Material like this is too good to pass up. The Robert Fletcher and Cole Porter-written piece has obvious appeal to Dylan, the man who made his way through the American songbook almost a decade ago. 

Don’t Fence Me In has traded hands with movie producers and studio heads for generations and now it is the turn of Dylan and Reagan. Everyone from David Byrne to Chumbawamba has given Don’t Fence Me In a go. They find the fury of the everyman poet a chance to expound their guilt or understanding of the working class. Remove it from the context of Reagan and what the likes of giving land and loving the freedom of right-wing horse-riding hold with Quaid in the saddle, and it sounds nice. Dylan lends his wizened and gravelly voice to a song which charmed Bing Crosby. The latter may hold the most popular rendition of the song, and while Dylan will not challenge that throne there is scope for another cover of the Fletcher and Porter work.  

Dylan gives a thorough and well-loved rendition of Don’t Fence Me In. A nice surprise for the soundtrack and what we have learned as fans of the man over the last decade is his ease of understanding the topic and tense of these tracks. Don’t Fence Me In still has relevance to the United States and in some spots has wider commentaries. While some may see this as a chance to rip down the borders and ride along with fellow countrymen, Dylan sees it as an opportunity to add a reflective touch – something he has done more recently with Rough and Rowdy Ways and Shadow Kingdom. Don’t Fence Me In has all the particulars of a man who remembers when his land was truly free.  

But paired with the closing credits of a biopic to trickle-down economics, it has a splash of irony. The actions of those who closed off those open fields find themselves with a song of freedom dedicated to them. It is incredible how some gaslight themselves, noting the greatest country in the world under awkward stewardships as its heyday. What a world we live in, and from across the pond we can sit in fascination. What comes to fruition with this is a very good Dylan cover. Whether it moves him to perform it live or if it is one to be forgotten on the studio floor forever is yet to be seen. Whatever the case, it fits the feel and theme of modern-day Dylan, and it is a strong cover of a classic track of liberation.