Bob Dylan – Train of Love Review

Bob Dylan and Johnny Cash were no strangers. An apology from the former to the latter opens this cover of Train of Love. Love is the pertinent idea here. Dylan has never, truly, laid out his love as clearly as this. A song he says he was singing before writing anything of his own. One of the long-running greats in the mind of the Mr. Tambourine Man writer, put to test in a short and mellow version. Dylan loves a Cash cover. So too do his fans. But what feels different with this one, the Time Out of Mind era just behind him, is how spritely and full of life Dylan appears. It is not the cover which does this but it is perhaps the reignition of interest in his career. With this interest comes a chance to highlight the works which he holds in high regard. Train of Love is one of those.  

His rugged voice at the time adds a new depth to Train of Love. It has the sound of a reflective lover and the joy possessing Dylan through this performance is infectious. A remarkable cover and as Dylan sways from side to side, plucking away at his acoustic guitar, he looks almost proud of Cash for writing a song which has affected him in such a way. Train of Love is dependent on the guitar style Cash brought and the menacing look of a train with big black wheels. But Cash never wishes to impart the fear of being at the train station. He hopes to understand the freedom of the road and the transportation method as a tool not to escape but to return to those who mean a lot. Dylan does not shake off those messages but does mark a huge instrumental change.  

It fits his blues-rock style and with a solid instrumental section, Train of Love is fired into new life. Dylan appreciates the original work and we can now hear an example of how he processes this affection. Cash stood up for Dylan, worked with him at a time of risky career change, and appears to have stuck with him. Dylan appreciates it and makes as much clear on a tight cover of Train of Love. He cuts a few pieces here, the train conductor lost to the blowing whistles and bustle of the train station. This cover has more of an urgency to it, a sense of wandering the open road and despite those promises of coming home, the chance of doing so sounds slim. 

But such is the joy of a cover. Dylan is incredibly well-versed at slashing and hacking his way through works he respects. He finds the core of which he was influenced or moved by, focuses on it and trims the perceived fat. Train of Love is an already short track but under Dylan’s stewardship and a switch to instrumental brilliance, the pairing of acoustic and electric in particular, gives the song new meaning. Coming home had a thrill to it on the Cash original while in this Dylan cover it feels like a defeatist part of travelling. A return to your roots because the train took you too far. You roamed away from the net of safety and it is time to return. Whatever the case, however Dylan does it, this is another exceptional cover.