Bob Dylan – Some Raven at My Window Review

Halloween is never worth celebrating, not really. An excuse to dress up and drink is all it is. Gone are the origins of being creeped out, scared stiff, or made to feel sick. Some Raven at My Window, though, an unofficial compilation of Bob Dylan live performances, is reason to celebrate the horror-themed days. Songs performed on or around Halloween, as well as a few bumps in the dark from other moments across these decades on stage. It is a sweet theme for Halloween, celebrating not the holiday but the subtle arrangement changes, the eerie extra layer which can come from live performance. A few Theme Time Radio Hour sketches are dropped in nicely, too. It makes all the difference when a bootleg can feel like an official release. Dylan reading out Edgar Allen Poe sets the scene before some of the greatest oddities in his live show history.  

A slowed and menacing Slow Train opens the compilation, the moodiness of these classics is what secures their spot on the three-and-a-half-hour masterclass from mr. tambourine and Nightingale’s Code. This Slow Train is the best version available. You do not need to listen to every piece out there to accept it as one of the finest moments in Dylan’s live history. Considering how rough the mid-to-late 1980s would be on Dylan as a recording artist, to hear some daring moments on stage is a treat. Pair it with the sinister-sounding follow-up, High Water (For Charley Patton) from a December 2018 show, and the tone for Some Raven at My Window is set. It would have been all too easy for the compilation to fall on slowed efforts, on the stripped-back moments from Dylan, but that is not the case. There are still a few riotous performances tucked away, though the best bits come moments where Dylan sounds as though he is huddled up in a damp pub, strumming away in the corner like on Polly Vaughan.  

Tangled Up in Blue and Can’t Wait are clinical efforts heard on the second disc, too. Darker tones, the change of melody and instrumentation, can be heard throughout. Keep the same form and quality people are used to, but drive a wedge between listeners and what they know. Scarlet Town and Things Have Changed on the second disc are magnificent examples of how these changes come to be. Mr. Tambourine Man from a 1978 tour is staggering. Those keyboard additions had taken hold of him, but a few balancing choices made for the instrumentals makes all the difference. Adapting songs of a similar theme across decades of touring is no small feat, but you can hear those Halloween-adjacent tones come through, with or without mention of the holiday.  

That is a sign of strong similarities from song to song. A third disc of performances from October 31 are nice additions, even if they do not all fit the same feeling. Dylan speaking on magic words like “presto” and “open sesame” bleeding into performances from across the decades is a masterstroke. There are better ways to celebrate the horror season than catching flu or drinking while dressed as a Men in Black agent. Settle into Some Raven at My Window, a demanding and delightful set of songs fitting the season. One of the very best compilations out there, with the benefit of seasonal occasion on its side. Dylan fans have plenty to enjoy here. Those who have expired options of all-time great tours may find the reinvention of these songs to be a treat. Enough new context is added to the classics, to the contemporary tours, to warrant a listen. Make it a Halloween tradition.