The Moon Is In My Eye

Bob Dylan “Soon After Midnight”

I saw Bob Dylan live for the first time on the night before Thanksgiving. It was just one of those things where I knew I had to see him at least once, and the opportunity came up. I’m glad I did, it was as good as a show can be while also not quite being the thing I’d ideally want it to be. I did my research and knew exactly what I was getting into, so I couldn’t be disappointed that he no longer plays guitar, his voice is shot, and while he’ll play “Tangled Up In Blue,” it won’t really sound like “Tangled Up In Blue.” I don’t mean to damn with faint praise here: It’s a show that finds its own unique path to being good and fulfilling that doesn’t have a lot to do with familiarity.

I got to know the newer songs in Dylan’s set in advance of the show, and in doing that, fell in love with “Soon After Midnight” from his 2012 record Tempest. It’s a gentle ballad with touches of doo-wop and country music, and sounds like a scene lit with Hollywood moonlight. It starts off rather romantic – “I’m searching for phrases to sing your praises / I need to tell someone” – but as the song moves along, his words become increasingly sinister. I didn’t notice this at first. It’s so easy to get caught up in the enchanting effect of this song that even a phrase like “they’re lying there dying in their blood” seems lovely in context. The irony is intentional, of course: Dylan’s selling the earnest sentimentality and soft side of a brutal man. So even if it’s preceded by a cruel and dismissive line, the concluding phrase “it’s soon after midnight and I don’t want nobody but you” still comes off as a moment of genuine tenderness.

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