Bob Dylan and Patti Smith – Dark Eyes Review

Unlikely collaborations are the gift of live performance. Where it may not seem a likely crossover, the work done by Bob Dylan and Patti Smith for Dark Eyes makes their overlap sound natural. This is a pairing with plenty of brilliance overlapping. It is this that makes a great cover. Dark Eyes, the Empire Burlesque song, is given new life a decade after its release, and that is thanks to Smith. Dark Eyes is a better cut than most of the songs featured on Empire Burlesque. To hear it performed at all after its release is quite the surprise, let alone with Smith. She adds a phenomenal layer to the track, something Dylan had lacked in the studio as he chased contemporary sound for the first, and thankfully last, time in his career. Dark Eyes needed an emotional depth that Dylan, at the time of recording, could not offer.  

Smith is the perfect solution. She adds a seasoned feel to the track, and with Dylan relegated to backing vocalist, it feels like the right balance is hit for Dark Eyes. It only took a decade after release, but it is better late than never for this delightful rendition at the Electric Factory in Philadelphia. Dylan and Smith turn a relatively tame studio version into a moving, charming live performance. That much is not beyond either artist, but to see it come together so well, and to be recorded with video too, at the time, is great. In the lead-up to Time Out of Mind, Dylan started donning some atrocious silver suits, but his fashion sense was a contrast to the surprise and brilliance of his live shows. Dates from 1995 are filled with the electricity Dylan had lost through the 1980s. There are purple patches just like any other artist, but it was hard to hear an inspired Dylan during that time.  

Post-MTV Unplugged performances are a true gift. Dark Eyes with Smith is just one of those many memorable moments which, for those in attendance, rounds out an impressive night. It is the same for when a cover is thrown into the set or a familiar favourite makes a return. Dark Eyes, shared between Dylan and Smith, captures the magic the studio version had failed to highlight. A ballad needs the simpler touch, and that is what Empire Burlesque lacks. But a decade on, and Dylan has shaken off the need to chase the contemporary sound. In its place is the soft guitar and duet it always needed. It is not a callback to the old days of sharing a stage with Joan Baez, that would be too on-the-nose a comparison, too easy a mistake to make.  

No, what Dark Eyes offers is a sense of Dylan as a transitional figure. Here is the man whose acoustic hits were, and still are, a defining part of his performance. With Smith appearing for this performance, there is a sense Dylan is being welcomed back into the contemporary circle. Those influential artists who are always on tour, always set to offer the audience some fresh excitement. Dylan would go from strength to strength through the decades to follow, and part of the reason why can be heard on Dark Eyes. It was not a return to his classic sound but an acceptance of the quality of lyrics he had in his earlier releases. It was the instrumental style that failed him in those moments, and that much can be seen in this delicate, delightful performance.