Dylan covers fail to capture essence of originals

By Nate Adams
Collegian Editor
November 14, 2007

On paper, I’m Not There: Original Soundtrack sounds like the album of the year. A who’s who of indie rock all-stars and folk powerhouses both young and old, the record takes classic Bob Dylan tracks and opens them to new interpretation. Containing Dylan covers from hipster heroes like Stephen Malkmus (Pavement), Jeff Tweedy (Wilco), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and The Hold Steady, as well as tracks from new-folk upstarts like Cat Power and Sufjan Stevens, not to mention established crooners like Willie Nelson, the days leading up to the album’s release were ripe with anticipation.

Sadly, this hodge-podge of a record yields little more than traditional covers that don’t butcher the source material, but also fail to breathe any new life into the tried and true originals.

Take, for example, Tweedy’s cover of “Simple Twist of Fate.” Just guitar and vocals, the song is a fair re-creation of the original. However, the track does nothing to expand the song; if anything, Tweedy’s strain to hit the high notes is grating, whereas Dylan’s is vulnerable.

The legacy of these songs is part of the problem. The film’s director and soundtrack organizer Todd Haynes stayed away from Dylan’s most popular tracks such as “Like a Rolling Stone” for fan favorites like “Ring Them Bells” and “The Ballad of a Thin Man.” While this allows for a more diverse selection of Dylan songs, it also leaves the bands covering them to much more scrutiny from die-hard Dylan-ites.

Perhaps it’s not Eddie Veder’s fault then, when his cover of “All Along the Watchtower” sounds flat. Perhaps, because of the legend of Dylan and his music, Richie Havens is not to blame for a weak cover of “Tombstone Blues.”

Still, even with this in mind, there are some tracks that fall flat on their faces. Surprisingly enough, the two biggest duds come from two of the most consistent groups on the album. Sufjan Stevens’ rendition of “Ring Them Bells” does take the song in a new direction, but in doing so erases what made the song so good in the first place. Instead, the listener gets an overblown mess of a folk song that shoots for grandiose instrumentation and delivers a muddy pile of guitars and horns.

The other stinker comes from a most unlikely source, the usually bulletproof Hold Steady, whose rocked-out cover of “Can You Please Leave Out the Window?” finds the band stumbling through a clumsy, forced ballad while frontman Craig Finn struggles to find the voice to deliver Dylan’s words. In a way, it’s a relief that the band finally did something lame after years of consistent excellence.

Still, the album is not without some good cuts. Karen O’s performance on “Highway 61 Revisited” is both unexpected and excellent, with her normal cat-screech replaced with an almost soulful soprano. Indie folk hero Cat Power does an awesome cover of “Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again” that is sexy, mournful and creative while still staying true to the origial Dylan material. Elsewhere, Sonic Youth is able to match the lonesome tone of “I’m Not There” while bringing its own shoegazing sound to the track, and Iron and Wine re-invents “Dark Eyes” as a forest song sung by the Ents. Even Malkmus gets off his lazy ass and does a super good cover of “Ballad of a Thin Man.”

As a film soundtrack, the massive artist list pairs well with the schizophrenia of the casting. As a collection of songs, I’m Not There is an interesting assortment of modern artists trying to emulate the force that inspired them. As an album, it will perhaps best be remembered as a record that helps to remind everyone why Dylan is such an American musical treasure, and just how hard it is to recreate what he has done so well.

adamsn1@lasalle.edu