‘All Along the Watchtower’: XTC’s game-changing Bob Dylan cover forgotten by time
The prevailing reputation of cover songs within the world of post-punk and alternative music is that they are the last refuge for the uninspired and unambitious. Yet, that description certainly doesn’t fit with the unique stylings of XTC. The Swindon-based band are undoubtedly among the greatest art rock outfits the UK has ever produced, with a proven knack for creating innovative and unforgettable tracks. However, even XTC could not resist the pull of a cover song.
To give them their due, across their 14 studio albums spanning over 30 years, XTC only ever recorded two cover songs, the stand-out being Bob Dylan’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’. However, according to band members, the folk classic was not their first choice. In a 2007 interview, songwriter Andy Partridge revealed that, originally, they wanted to take on The Rolling Stones’ psychedelic anthem ‘Citadel’.
The Stones track is a favourite of Partridge, who shared, “I thought the music was kind of weirdly brutal – because the Stones couldn’t really do psychedelia, and that’s why I love [Their Satanic Majesties Request]. It’s a fantastic, magnificent failure.” A description that could indeed be said of XTC, a groundbreaking band that rarely received much mainstream attention or praise.
Ultimately, it came down to the flip of a coin to decide which classic song would receive the XTC treatment, and in the end, it was settled on ‘All Along the Watchtower’. The piece was written by Bob Dylan in 1968, with lyrics inspired by the Book of Isaiah, but was perfected six months later by Jimi Hendrix. The legendary guitarist took Dylan’s piece and made it his own, with even Dylan himself conceding that Hendrix’s version is the definitive recording of the track. In fact, Dylan once said in an interview, “Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it’s a tribute to him in some kind of way.”
Such was the impact of the Hendrix version of ‘All Along the Watchtower’, that XTC weren’t too aware of Dylan’s original when they made the decision to cover the track. “Not being particularly a Dylan fan – I preferred Donovan – I didn’t know what Dylan’s version was like,” Partridge claimed. Nevertheless, XTC’s take on ‘All Along the Watchtower’ would breathe new life into Dylan’s piece, even if it failed to eclipse the reputation of Hendrix’s cover.
Featuring on their debut album, White Music, XTC’s ‘All Along the Watchtower’ is only a cover in the sense that Devo’s ‘(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction’ is a cover. In other words, there are very few similarities between the cover and the original other than the lyrics themselves. The musical backing of the track sounds like classic, golden age XTC, evoking sounds that the band would later develop on albums like Drums and Wires.
Predictably, the cover attracted hate from Dylan purists, though Partridge notes, “Even derogatory laughter is great because you know you’re getting to them in some way.” In the end, ‘All Along the Watchtower’, along with the rest of White Music, did not receive much attention from the musical mainstream upon its release. Even within the world of XTC fanatics, the 1978 debut is often eclipsed by the more prominent works which followed. However, the album instantly affirmed the band’s dedication to innovation and creating weird and wonderful sounds; commercialism had no place in the world of XTC.
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