Really Good Time soundtrack the end of the world with ‘Bob Dylan Was On Pawn Stars In 2010’
In the post-truth era, it’s genuinely hard to discern exactly what is real or not anymore.
However, to my surprise, Bob Dylan did in fact appear on Pawn Stars in 2010, and so Really Good Time’s track of the same name isn’t designed to curiously bait me into listening. Even if it did, I’d still admit to enjoying the song.
Ultimately, though, the moment of realising that our one true artistic icon has succumbed to baseless reality commercialism and has appeared on such a television show requires an appropriately apathetic soundtrack. This is deeper than Donald Trump being on The Apprentice or even Ozzy Osbourne documenting himself shouting at his dogs and eating burritos. This is Dylan contradicting everything he stood for.
Lead singer, Diolmhain Ingram Roche, explained, “While draining the internet for pointless information about and around the film [A Complete Unknown], I discovered Bob Dylan had appeared on Pawn Stars in 2010. I found this shocking, like an affront to a truth that, while difficult to pin down, I had up until this point felt that I understood about the world. For a moment I was fifteen years old, and Bob Dylan was supposed to be mine, and I was never going to live in that world again.”
Discovering that information understandably feels like the world is falling apart, and honestly, Really Good Time’s song reflects that. Static noise unpeels in the introduction and makes way for the affronting opening lyric of “You were standing on a rock / hurtling through space.”
Obviously, this is all tongue-in-cheek on the surface and provides a pretty charming entry point for anyone new to the band. But underneath it all, there is an urgency to the composition that speaks to something wider within the subject of this song, something appropriately existential and, dare I say it, rebellious.
The song feels unrelenting in the very same way the myriad of digital shit is served to us online, offering us no escape, the only difference being that on this song, you don’t want it to. Through the tension build of the song, your frustration builds like a spinning top and constantly edges you to tip over the edge, bringing everything to a chaotic and necessary release.
The music video is somewhat apt for this song, as the band hurtles down a hill à la Cheddar cheese rolling, towards whatever fate awaits them at the bottom: peril or glory. It’s hard not to feel like it’s the former on this track, but if we are gonna bow out to any tune, it may as well be this one.
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.