Visions of Johanna" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan on his 1966 album Blonde on Blonde. Rolling Stone included "Visions of Johanna" on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. In 1999, Sir Andrew Motion, poet laureate of the UK, listed it as his candidate for the greatest song lyric ever written.
Visions of Johanna Lyrics. Ain’t it just like the night to play tricks when you’re tryin' to be so quiet? We sit here stranded, though we’re all doin’ our best to deny it And Louise holds a handful of rain, temptin’ you to defy it Lights flicker from the opposite loft In this room the heat pipes just cough The country music station plays soft But there’s nothing, really nothing to turn off Just Louise and her lover so entwined And. these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind. In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman’s bluff with the key chain And the all-night girls they whisper.
Written by: Bob Dylan. these visions of Johanna that conquer my mind
The album "Blonde on Blonde" is FULL of allusions to this guilt he had. And eventually he says that the visions of Johanna are all that remain. Also he sings about "empty cage now corrode" which to me means he was trapped in a relationship, . folk darlings with Joan and Bob eventually breaking that cage. Her cape of the stage once that flowed" - must be Joan's cape (being a performer). When Dylan began "Visions of Johanna" there was no audience recognition, which created a heightened focus, a special attention. When he finished playing that song, you could feel the 'Wow'. But that wasn't the only dramatic moment. Johanna is Bob Dylan's (the narator or 'little boy lost' in the song) ideal self. Louise is a real person who the narator desires but he is restricted by his actual self.
Because today I heard Visions of Johanna by Old Crow Medicine Show. It is from the CD Fifty years of Blonde on Blonde and in fact is an interpretation of the whole double album. It is all great stuff, but Visions is beyond great. It is so utterly, incredibly brilliant I am almost (but, being a writer, not quite) lost for words. We publish a wide range of articles about Bob Dylan and his compositions. There is an index here.
From the Album Blonde On Blonde. Renews automatically. Page 1 of 1Start overPage 1 of 1. Back.
A Music Page with a Music Calendar. November 16: Bob Dylan Every Grain of Sand live in Boston, Massachusetts 2002 (Video). Toiling in the danger and in the morals of despair.
A1 | California |
A2 | Lay Down Your Weary Tune |
A3 | Dusty Old Fairgrounds |
A4 | Who You Really Are |
A5 | If I Could Do It All Over, I'd Do It All Over You |
A6 | Whatcha Gonna Do |
A7 | Farewell |
B1 | I Wanna Be Your Lover Baby |
B2 | Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window |
B3 | From A Buick 6 |
B4 | Visions Of Johanna |
B5 | She's Your Lover Now |
Category | Artist | Title (Format) | Label | Category | Country | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
BD 002 | Bob Dylan | Visions Of Johanna (LP, Unofficial, W/Lbl) | Berkeley Records | BD 002 | 1972 | |
BD002 | Bob Dylan | Visions Of Johanna (LP, Comp, Unofficial) | Berkeley Records | BD002 | UK | 1975 |
BD 002 | Bob Dylan | Visions Of Johanna (LP, Unofficial, W/Lbl) | Berkeley Records | BD 002 | 1972 | |
BD 002 | Bob Dylan | Visions of Johanna (LP, Comp, Unofficial) | Not On Label (Bob Dylan) | BD 002 | Unknown |