The Bob Dylan song that inspired two screenplays
A lot of what initially appealed to people about Bob Dylan was his passion for truth. When he wrote songs, he wrote them from an honest point of view. Whether he was talking about love, politics, or the difficulties contained within society, he was never one to hold back on spilling his guts.
Many people were drawn to Bob Dylan because of his unwavering honesty. His combination of simple instrumentation, catchy melody, and beautiful poetry made people everywhere insistent on listening to him. He inspired many different songwriters with his ability to reveal things to people that they might not have already noticed.
“I was very influenced by Dylan,” said Bruce Springsteen, echoing the sentiment of millions of songwriters worldwide, “I always say he’s the father of my country. He initially provided me with a picture of a country that I recognised. One that feels real, feels like the truth.”
Springsteen said that when he started writing music and committing more time to making music, he wanted to invoke in people the same thing Bob Dylan did with him. This meant he focused on politics, nostalgia and society as a whole when writing music. A lot of people adopted this approach to music, and it’s what cemented Dylan as one of the most prolific songwriters of all time.
Of course, there was another side to Dylan that also made him such an engaging voice in music. When promoting his new biopic, A Complete Unknown, Timothée Chalamet made reference to the fact that he has yet to meet Dylan despite playing him in a film. “I never got the chance to meet him. He’s super reclusive, yeah, he’s elusive,” said Chalamet. “I don’t know if he’ll ever see the movie.”
As well as being someone who can highlight the truth in the world, Bob Dylan has also never been afraid to remain an elusive figure. This is represented in how he acts in his personal life and also in some of the songs he’s written. One song that can be seen in full effect is ‘Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’, from his 1975 album Blood On The Tracks.
The song came in at nine minutes long and contains within it a complicated narrative that still hasn’t been deciphered to this day. Dylan hasn’t shed any light on the song and what is happening within it, meaning fans and critics have been left to pine through the words in a bid to work out what’s happening.
The story follows a character called the Jack of Hearts, a charming bank robber who manages to seduce two women, Lily and Rosemary, who are both romantically involved with another character called Big Jim, who is supposedly the greediest and wealthiest man in the town. Big Jim is eventually murdered by Rosemary, and she is hanged for her crime. Afterwards, the Jack of Hearts leaves town and Lily is left alone to ponder over what happened. The suggested meanings of the song vary from every character being a part of the same person to some saying it’s a critique of the justice system.
Because of how ambiguous the song is, there have been a number of stories written about it, including two screenplays. One of them was commissioned by Bob Dylan and written by John Kaye, while the second was put together by James Byron. Unfortunately, neither of the films was ever made, so the song’s meaning remains a mystery.
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