Exercises in Loneliness: Installment One

Loneliness can take many forms. One can be lonely in a room full of people, one can be lonely surrounded by loved ones. One can feel lonely in one place and no longer in another. It's an absence, it’s a state of mind, and sometimes it is a decision. To collect all the songs attributed to loneliness would take a great archiving across all genres since the beginning of recorded music. It’s one of the trademark themes of both country and blues, think Hank Williams’ “I’m So Lonely I Could Cry,” or Ray Charles’ “Lonely Blues.” And like many of the qualities that transcended traditional American country and blues, loneliness is no less a prevalent topic today than it was then. It’s a primal human emotion and experience. It can be exhausting and troublesome, in some cases complicated, and others clear as day. No matter the circumstance loneliness may find you in, here is the first instalment of my favorite songs regarding loneliness.

Bob Dylan’s Dream- Bob Dylan:

This Dylan song slips through cracks, but to be fair so does 85% of his catalogue. That’s just what happens when you’ve written more words than in the Bible. “Bob Dylan’s Dream” is stuck in the middle of Freewheelin Bob Dylan, so it’s no wonder it garners minimal attention. To go up against “Blowin’ In the Wind,” “Masters of War,” and “Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright” is something not even a fool would consider. But “Bob Dylan’s Dream” isn’t a political or cultural testimony, and far from poignant or revolutionary enough to one day award him a Nobel Prize. Rather it is in its simplicity and sheer nostalgia that makes this song so wistful and sympathetic. It’s message is established immediately, the speaker wishes nothing more than to be reunited with the loved ones of his earlier days. This is a rare case where the speaker is not a hypothetical but rather is defined as Dylan before the song can be heard. The transparency of the title “Bob Dylan’s Dream” creates a personal quality that can rarely be traced within his work. He presents himself as sentimental and vulnerable without requesting pity or targeting another. It is a rare Dylan, and currently the one I feel closest to.

I’m in my first week of my first year of college as I right this. I have yet to fully learn what it means to change while away from loved ones in a way that creates, as it seems, an irreversible distance. As of right now I’m beginning to understand. In “Bob Dylan’s Dream,” Dylan pictures an image of his friends in the room they once frequently occupied “jokin’ and talkin’ about the world outside,” causing his eyes to become “half-damp,” as he realizes the chances of returning to that life “are a million to one.” The parallel between Dylan’s nostalgia and my current situation leaves little to be desired. At this moment I’m holding the song closely, my traveling companion acting as a replacement for the real ones.

The subject of friends in general is rare in music. At times it seems lyrics at large focus so singularly on romantic love. An enchanting topic of course, but what about the platonic? What about our brothers, sisters, family members, leaders, mentors, and closest friends? In many instances these relationships last the longest and can be the most formative in one's life. We don’t really go through anything alone, even when it may seem like it. We always have someone by our side, even if hidden in the dark. 

I’m glad Dylan seems to mirror my dilemma time and time again. It’s comforting to know that whatever I’m experiencing, whatever I’m thinking, Dylan has already written it. He is the greatest lyricist of all time, and isn’t it great to think we live in the same world? “Ten thousand dollars at the drop of a hat,” he writes “I’d give it all gladly for our lives to be like that.” The song fades with a piercing harmonica, the only scream Dylan can muster. It hurts, but if he can handle it, so can the rest of us.