A “ragged” cover of Everything is Broken, Bob Dylan‘s Oh Mercy hit, has been praised by fans.
Neil Young and Tom Petty tackled the song during a joint performance together in 1989, just a month after the album had been released. Their love for the song could not have been clearer, as they learned the lyrics in time for their Bridge Benefit performance. Young, who plays piano and provides vocals alongside Petty, who also sings, are joined by Sammy Hagar on acoustic guitar. The show took place at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California, and has since been praised by fans as a “ragged” cover of a great song from Dylan. Some also suggested covering Everything is Broken the year it released is a sign of just how big a fan Petty and Young were of Dylan.
A video upload of the performance to YouTube has received plenty of praise from fans, with many suggesting it’s the difference in instruments which gives this cover its edge. One fan hailed the performance, writing: “One of my favourite Dylan tunes done by some of my favourite musicians. Ragged and awesome.”
Another added: “I saw this show, hadn’t heard Dylan’s version yet. Thought ‘this sounds like a Dylan song.'” A third shared: “Love hearing Tom Petty with Neil Young.” Not everyone was a fan of this performance, however, with one person writing: “Another God awful live recording.”
Everything is Broken was initially written under the title Broken Days, which was completed in March 1989. Dylan rewrote the song entirely a month later, with producer Daniel Lanois saying the style of Dylan’s writing is far from “sacred”.
He said: “I sat next to him for two months while he wrote [Oh Mercy] and it was extraordinary. Bob overwrites. He keeps chipping away at his verses. He has a place for all his favorite couplets, and those couplets can be interchangeable.
“I’ve seen the same lyrics show up in two or three different songs as he cuts and pastes them around, so it’s not quite as sacred ground as you might think.” Dylan would perform Everything is Broken a total of 285 times, the last performance being at the North Charleston Coliseum in 2003. Dylan would feature the song most of all during his 1991 tour.
Young would perform the song just once also, opening the Bridge Benefit performance with the cover. A full setlist can be found below, as can a recording of Young and Petty’s cover of Everything Is Broken.
- Everything is Broken
- Pocahontas
- Crime in the City (Sixty to Zero, Part I)
- After the Gold Rush
- The Needle and the Damage Done
- No More
- Heart of Gold
- Rockin’ in the Free World
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