The 66 Songs Bob Dylan Wrote in The Philosophy of Modern Song Book Revealed: From Ray Charles to the Clash, Cher and the Eagles

Bob Dylan was announced earlier this year as having written separate reviews of over 60 different songs for his next book, "The Philosophy of Modern Song". Now the names of the 66 songs he wrote about have been revealed, thanks to the release of a table of contents page for the highly anticipated book, which is out in early November via Simon & Schuster. (Read the full list below.)

Unsurprisingly, classic songs written and/or recorded by great Americans like Jimmy Reed, Ray Charles , Willie Nelson, Little Richard, Townes Van Zandt will be considered. Less expected, Dylan will take a detour to analyze songs like "Gypsies, Tramps and Thieves" by Cher, "Witchy Woman" by the Eagles, "CIA Man" by the Fugs and "Come On-a My House" by Rosemary Clooney.

An announcement in March said the book would be "a master class in art and craft of songwriting", while Dylan "analyzes what he calls the easy rhyme trap, breaks down how adding a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy The announcement further stated that while the essays "ostensibly are about music, they are actually meditations and reflections on the human condition."

It plays some favorites among recording artists, if not necessarily songwriters themselves. There are four songs associated with Elvis Presley (“Money Honey”, “Blue Moon”, “Viva Las Vegas”), three made popular by Ray Charles (“Come Rain or Come Shine”, “I Got a Woman”, “ You Don't Know Me") and two from Frank Sinatra's catalog ("Strangers in the Night", "Without a Song").

The oldest song on the list is "Rudy Was a Lady" by Stephen Foster, written in 1849, followed by "The Whiffenpoof Song" from the early 1900s. Blues, R&B and hillbilly songs from the first half of the 20th century feature prominently. But the majority of the songs are from the 50s to 70s, a golden age for rock, pop, soul and country. He dives into the punk/new wave era for Elvis Costello's "Pump It Up" and The Clash's "London Calling". The two most recent songs on the list are "It Doesn't Hurt Anymore", recorded by Regina Belle in 1989, and Warren Zevon's "Dirty Life and Times" from her 2003 farewell album "The Wind". .

Perhaps one of the most surprising songs on the list is the Eagles' "Witchy Woman" - surprising if for no other reason than that, in a 2021 interview, Dylan cited three other Eagles songs as his favorite of the band: "New Kid in Town", "Life in the Fast Lane " and "Pretty Maids". in a Row" (the latter of which, he says, "could be one of the greatest songs of all time"). Dylan was asked about this in the interview because his song "Murder Most Foul" had included the lines "Play Don Henley, play Glenn Frey / Take it to the limit and let it go by".

The chapter on "Pump It Up" might be interesting, since Costello freely admits that he was inspired in part by Dylan's "Subterranean Homesick Blues", so it will be interesting to see if the debt is acknowledged as part of the tribute.

The following is a list of song titles that are chapter titles in the upcoming book of Dylan. The artists most associated with each song are listed in parentheses. Whether Dylan will only consider the original version of Nina Simone's "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" or bring up the Animals or even Costello, for that matter, remains to be seen. It's probably the original Ernie K-Doe record of "A Certain Girl" that he likes, but given his affection for Warren Zevon, the latter artist's cover version might be mentioned, as far as we know. . There's still a lot to reveal when Dylan's essays go public in November.

“Detroit City”(Bobby Bare) “Pump It Up”(Elvis Costello & the Attractions)“ Without a Song" (Frank Sinatra) "Take Me Out of This Garden of Evil" (Jimmy Wages) "There's the Glass" (Webb Pierce) "Willy the Wandering Gypsy and Me" (Billy Joe Shaver) "Tutti Frutti" (Little Richard) "Money Honey" (Elvis Presley) "My Generation" (The Who) "Jesse James" (Harry McClinto...