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Dylan Week: Bob Dylan's Love Affair With New York City

By

Ben Yakas

Published May 24, 2012

Modified May 24, 2012

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It's the place Bob Dylan set off on his calling, surrounded by the musicians, personalities and culture which would irrevocably shape the rest of his life. It's the one place he has returned to time and again over his career, whenever he was sapped of the hunger, when inspiration seemed harder to find than rooster's teeth. Or as he recollected telling his father in the first volume of his autobiography Chronicles, it was the "capital of the world" for him: "New York City was the magnet—the force that draws objects to it, but take away the magnet and everything will fall apart."Over the course of his enigmatic career, Dylan's relationship with NYC has defied his own cynical nature; this is the man who once sang, "You can always come back, but you can’t come back all the way," a man who has played more than 2300 shows over the last 13 years on his "Never Ending Tour." It's safe to say that he's someone who is not comfortable sitting still anymore. And yet, the most indelible images of his career almost all come from here: walking with Suze Rotolo down Jones Street on the cover of The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan, sitting in the Chelsea Hotel writing "Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands," telling off an ex-girlfriend on "Positively 4th Street." You can see a lot of those places in the video below:Click through to hear his first impression of NYC in song.

 

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By

Ben Yakas

Published May 24, 2012

Modified May 24, 2012

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"I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now." We'll be celebrating Bob Dylan's 71st birthday with a series of posts this week. As mercurial as Dylan has always been, there is one thing we do know: for as long as Dylan has been writing songs, he has been writing to, for and about New York City.

So far, we've listed our favorite Dylan covers, looked at the Freewheelin' album cover art, explored songs written about Robert Zimmerman, seen how Dylan has been depicted in comic books, and listed the worst Dylan covers ever. Today on his actual birthday, we'll dive into our archives to take a tour of his New York life through video, songs, and story.

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birthdays

bob dylan

dylan week

Music

rock

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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