Bob Dylan – Dignity Review

No, not the Deacon Blue song. Bob Dylan laying his instrumental and vocal choices down on the Raintown rip would shock the system, but no luck. This rarity from the Oh Mercy sessions has made its way into the Rough and Rowdy Ways tour dates. For those who got stuck into the self-titled compilations of Dylan or Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits Volume 3, then Dignity may be a familiar piece, a song which caused more trouble than it was worth at the time but kept attracting Dylan back to it. A deep cut which has seemingly made itself a permanent fixture for the upcoming tour of Europe. What a warmly welcomed song it shall be, as evidenced by this live recording from a Prague show. Dignity has plenty of its eponymous quality, and within is a fresh, exciting Dylan recording.  

Considering the ban on phones for these gigs it is remarkable how exceptional the recordings can be. Dignity sounds fantastic. A search for dignity sounds excellent in the Rough and Rowdy Ways style, which as it turns out bears the fruits of swinging, piano-driven instrumentals often enough to retroactively fit just about any Dylan track into the new sound. It works well, and it is one of the understated triumphs of this tour – a chance to revive older tracks which had fallen out of favour with audiences or artists, through the sounds of a new instrumental range. Dignity is a song of the wanderer. An observer looking at those less fortunate not in their situation but in where they are, it is the location that brings on the hardship and its narrator is stumped. He cannot help. Therein lies the heart of Dignity and it is a broad, hard-hitting experience in this reworking.  

But Dignity could refer to a person too. The narrator is now involved with their less-than-ideal circumstances and trying to haul a character of the same name out of this place. Whatever the case it is Dylan seeking the just and good actions possible in an accidentally stumbled upon moment in time. The adaptations of its sound made to the grooves of the Rough and Rowdy Ways style are heavy-set, punishing instrumentals which rely on the percussion grooves, particularly the drumming style given to these revival pieces. Those are the slips of a new form which benefit the deep cuts. It is why When I Paint My Masterpiece and Most Likely You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine sounded so strong in these recent performances. Dylan has a way of marking the relevancy of a song not just in its timeless message but in advancing the feel of the instrumentals.  

It, in turn, affects the tone and structure of the show itself. These new additions are a joy to uncover and the likes of Dignity, rare as they are, can easily slot into those staples of the set. It appears All Along the Watchtower and It Ain’t Me, Babe are doing just that for the time being. Whether those songs make their way over to Nottingham next month is yet to be seen, but we can sit in hope. It is all well and good to hear the contemporary brilliance, the exciting deep cuts, but there is a tickle to those essential songs which, when heard live, adds a new layer. Such is the case for Dignity, a deep cut which is given a thunderous new outcome by a few shuffles of the live lineup and an instrumental twist.