Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues
Encyclopedia
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan
. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited
. The song was later released on the compilation album
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
and as two separate live versions recorded at concerts in 1966: the first of which appeared on the B-side
of Dylan's "I Want You
" single
, with the second being released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. The song has been covered
by many artists, including Nina Simone
, Gordon Lightfoot
, Barry McGuire
, Judy Collins
, Frankie Miller
, Linda Ronstadt
, the Grateful Dead
, Neil Young
and Bryan Ferry
. In addition, it was sampled
by the Beastie Boys
for their song "Finger Lickin' Good
."
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has six verses but no chorus. The song's lyrics describe a nightmare vision of the narrator's experience in Juarez
, Mexico in which he encounters sickness, despair, prostitutes, saints, shady women, corrupt authorities, alcohol and drugs, before finally deciding to return to New York City. The lyrics incorporate literary references to Malcolm Lowry
's Under the Volcano
, Edgar Allan Poe
's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue
" and Jack Kerouac
's Desolation Angels
, while the song's title references Arthur Rimbaud
's "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)". William Ruhlmann of the Allmusic website has described the song as a comic tour de force and music journalist Toby Creswell
included it on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time. Music critic Dave Marsh
ranked the live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Liverpool that was released as the B-side of "I Want You" as the number 243 greatest single of all time.
", "Highway 61 Revisited
" and "Queen Jane Approximately
", three other songs that would appear on Highway 61 Revisited. However, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" took more attempts to perfect than the other songs recorded that day; it wasn't until take
16 that Dylan and his band captured on tape the version that was released on the album. According to Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin
, the backing musicians on the take that was used on Highway 61 Revisited were Mike Bloomfield
on electric guitar
, Al Kooper
on Hohner Pianet, Paul Griffin
on piano
, Harvey Brooks on bass guitar
and Bobby Gregg
on drums
. On early takes of the song, Sam Lay was the drummer and Frank Owens played piano. In Heylin's opinion, Gregg's jazzier
drumming and Griffin's more fluid piano playing better communicated the feeling of dislocation that Dylan desired for the song. Take 5 of the song, featuring both Lay and Owens, was included on the 2005 album The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
.
Lyrically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" continues the theme of road weariness from the album's previous song, "Highway 61 Revisited". The singer finds himself in Juarez, Mexico at Easter
time, amidst sickness, despair, whores and saints. While there, he encounters corrupt authorities and women of dubious character, named in the song as "Saint Annie" and "sweet Melinda", before seeking succor in drugs and alcohol. The song establishes a nightmare vision as the singer is influenced by gravity, negativity, sex, drugs, drink, illness, remorse and memory. In the song's final verse, the singer decides he has had enough and finds the means to leave it all behind and head back to New York City, where things may be better. Author Paul Williams
has noted that scene and situation are combined into a gorgeous evocation of muddied consciousness in "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", without ever resolving into a clear picture of what the song is about. Despite the sordid details of the singer's experiences in Juarez, the lyrics maintain a sense of humor, and William Ruhlmann of the Allmusic website considers the song a comic tour de force.
Like many of the songs on Highway 61 Revisited, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has abundant literary references, including images recalling Malcolm Lowry
's novel Under the Volcano
and a street name taken from Edgar Allan Poe
's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue
". The song also uses the phrase "housing project hill" which is taken from Jack Kerouac
's novel Desolation Angels
. A number of Dylan biographers, including Colin Irwin, Robert Shelton and Andy Gill, have suggested that the song's title makes reference to Arthur Rimbaud
's poem "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)", in which Rimbaud refers to himself as "Tom Thumb in a daze." In addition, some commentators have suggested that there may be a musical reference in the lines "And she takes your voice/And leaves you howling at the moon," since "Howlin' at the Moon" is the title of a song by Hank Williams, a musician who Dylan idolized.
Musically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" consists of no chorus
, but six verses, varied by a handful of chords and Dylan's vocal emphasis. Keyboards, drums and vocals provide texture, while Mike Bloomfield plays Latin Americanesque
fills on electric guitar. The keyboard parts in particular make innovative use of two different pianos, with Al Kooper playing an electric Hohner Pianet and Paul Griffin adding a bar room feel on tack piano
. In all but the final verse, the even lines rhyme
and the odd lines are unrhymed. In the final verse, however, the odd numbered lines rhyme on "ee" and all the even lines rhyme on "uf." This change in the rhyming pattern provides a subtle sense of finality to the final two lines:
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
(known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits in Europe) and on another compilation released exclusively in Europe titled Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits 2
. An alternate take of the song, featuring Sam Lay on drums instead of Bobby Gregg, is included on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
.
The song has also been popular live in concert. Clinton Heylin has stated that "as performed live in 1965–66, 'Tom Thumb' became an inferno of pain. As if pain were indeed art." A live version recorded at a concert in Liverpool, England on May 14, 1966, featuring Dylan backed by The Band
, was released as the B-side to the "I Want You
" single in 1966, and later also appeared on the Masterpieces
compilation. The song was also performed on May 17, 1966 by Dylan and The Band at the famous and controversial so-called 'Albert Hall
' concert (which in fact took place at the Manchester Free Trade Hall
) and consequently it appears on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. Dylan also played "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" regularly during his 1974 tour
, and has played it in concert occasionally ever since.
In a 2005 reader's poll published in Mojo
magazine, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was listed as the number 13 all time greatest Bob Dylan song. In 2002, Uncut
magazine listed it as the number 38 all time best Bob Dylan song. Music journalist Toby Creswell
included "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time and music critic Dave Marsh
ranked the live version from Liverpool as the number 243 greatest single of all time and as one of the dozen or so truly great B-sides, noting that it demonstrated Dylan's prowess as a great live performer.
covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1965, and his version reached number 8 on Toronto's CHUM Chart
. Other covers recorded in the 1960s include those by Barry McGuire
, on his 1966 album This Precious Time, and Judy Collins
, on her 1967 album In My Life
. Nina Simone
also covered it in 1971 on her To Love Somebody album. Nina Simone's version differs considerably in tone from Dylan's: while Dylan's version is sympathetic, if sneering, towards the foolish subject, Simone's version is an intense, first-person account of illusions being crushed, until she is finally helpless in the hands of fate.
Frankie Miller
covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1973 on Once in a Blue Moon
, Linda Ronstadt
covered it in 1998 on We Ran
and Bryan Ferry
covered it on his 2007 album Dylanesque
. The Grateful Dead
have, on occasion, covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" live in concert and a recording of the song by the band appears on the album View from the Vault, Volume One
. Additionally, Neil Young
covered the song for the Bob Dylan tribute concert The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
in 1992. The Beastie Boys
sampled the last two lines of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" for their song "Finger Lickin' Good
", which appeared on their 1992 Check Your Head
album.
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet, film director and painter. He has been a major and profoundly influential figure in popular music and culture for five decades. Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was an informal chronicler and a seemingly...
. It was originally recorded on August 2, 1965 and released on the album Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited is the sixth studio album by singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. It was released in August 1965 by Columbia Records. On his previous album, Bringing It All Back Home, Dylan devoted Side One of the album to songs accompanied by an electric rock band, and Side Two to solo acoustic numbers...
. The song was later released on the compilation album
Compilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II , also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of...
and as two separate live versions recorded at concerts in 1966: the first of which appeared on the B-side
A-side and B-side
A-side and B-side originally referred to the two sides of gramophone records on which singles were released beginning in the 1950s. The terms have come to refer to the types of song conventionally placed on each side of the record, with the A-side being the featured song , while the B-side, or...
of Dylan's "I Want You
I Want You (Bob Dylan song)
"I Want You" is a 1966 song recorded by Bob Dylan. It was issued as a single in June 1966, shortly before the release of its accompanying album, Blonde on Blonde. A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included as a B-side...
" single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
, with the second being released on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. The song has been covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
by many artists, including Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
, Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
, Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...
, Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
. In addition, it was sampled
Sampling (music)
In music, sampling is the act of taking a portion, or sample, of one sound recording and reusing it as an instrument or a different sound recording of a song or piece. Sampling was originally developed by experimental musicians working with musique concrète and electroacoustic music, who physically...
by the Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
for their song "Finger Lickin' Good
Finger Lickin' Good (song)
"Finger Lickin' Good" is a song by the Beastie Boys on the 6th track of their 3rd studio album Check Your Head.Among others, the song contains samples of: James Brown's "Licking Stick - Licking Stick", Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Freaks For The Festival", and Cold Blood's "Shop Talk", as well as a line...
."
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has six verses but no chorus. The song's lyrics describe a nightmare vision of the narrator's experience in Juarez
Ciudad Juárez
Ciudad Juárez , officially known today as Heroica Ciudad Juárez, but abbreviated Juárez and formerly known as El Paso del Norte, is a city and seat of the municipality of Juárez in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. Juárez's estimated population is 1.5 million people. The city lies on the Rio Grande...
, Mexico in which he encounters sickness, despair, prostitutes, saints, shady women, corrupt authorities, alcohol and drugs, before finally deciding to return to New York City. The lyrics incorporate literary references to Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
's Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano is a 1947 semi-autobiographical novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry . The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac , on the Day of the Dead.Surrounded by the helpless presences of his ex-wife, his...
, Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's "The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das...
" and Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels is a 1979 album by the hard rock band Bad Company. It was their 5th studio release. Paul Rodgers revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard that the album's title came from the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac.Desolation Angels was recorded at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey,...
, while the song's title references Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
's "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)". William Ruhlmann of the Allmusic website has described the song as a comic tour de force and music journalist Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of Rolling Stone and a founding editor of Juice. In 1986 he co-wrote, with Martin Fabinyi, his first book Too Much Ain't Enough a biography of pub rocker and former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes...
included it on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time. Music critic Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
ranked the live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" from Liverpool that was released as the B-side of "I Want You" as the number 243 greatest single of all time.
Lyrics and music
"Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was recorded on August 2, 1965 at Columbia Studios in New York, the same day as Dylan recorded "Ballad of a Thin ManBallad of a Thin Man
"Ballad of a Thin Man" is a song written and recorded by Bob Dylan, released on the album Highway 61 Revisited in 1965.-Meaning:"Ballad of a Thin Man" comments on a conventional "Mr. Jones", who walks into a room of intentionally bizarre circus freaks and doesn't "know what's happening".The...
", "Highway 61 Revisited
Highway 61 Revisited (song)
"Highway 61 Revisited" is the title track of Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. It was also released as the B-side to the single "Can You Please Crawl Out Your Window?" later the same year...
" and "Queen Jane Approximately
Queen Jane Approximately
"Queen Jane Approximately" is a song from Bob Dylan's 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited. It was released as a single as the B-side to "One of Us Must Know " in January 1966...
", three other songs that would appear on Highway 61 Revisited. However, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" took more attempts to perfect than the other songs recorded that day; it wasn't until take
Take
A take is a single continuous recorded performance. The term is used in film and music to denote and track the stages of production.-Film:In cinematography, a take refers to each filmed "version" of a particular shot or "setup"...
16 that Dylan and his band captured on tape the version that was released on the album. According to Dylan biographer Clinton Heylin
Clinton Heylin
Clinton Heylin is an English author who has written extensively about popular music and the work of Bob Dylan.- Education :...
, the backing musicians on the take that was used on Highway 61 Revisited were Mike Bloomfield
Mike Bloomfield
Michael Bernard "Mike" Bloomfield was an American musician, guitarist, and composer, born in Chicago, Illinois, who became one of the first popular music superstars of the 1960s to earn his reputation almost entirely on his instrumental prowess, since he rarely sang before 1969–70...
on electric guitar
Electric guitar
An electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
, Al Kooper
Al Kooper
Al Kooper is an American songwriter, record producer and musician, known for organizing Blood, Sweat & Tears , providing studio support for Bob Dylan when he went electric in 1965, and also bringing together guitarists Mike Bloomfield and Stephen Stills to...
on Hohner Pianet, Paul Griffin
Paul Griffin (musician)
Paul Griffin was an American session musician and pianist, who recorded with hundreds of artists from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, Harvey Brooks on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
and Bobby Gregg
Bobby Gregg
Robert J. Gregg is a musician who has performed as a drummer and has also been a record producer. As a drum soloist and band leader he recorded one album and several singles, including one Top 40 single in the United States...
on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....
. On early takes of the song, Sam Lay was the drummer and Frank Owens played piano. In Heylin's opinion, Gregg's jazzier
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
drumming and Griffin's more fluid piano playing better communicated the feeling of dislocation that Dylan desired for the song. Take 5 of the song, featuring both Lay and Owens, was included on the 2005 album The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings....
.
Lyrically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" continues the theme of road weariness from the album's previous song, "Highway 61 Revisited". The singer finds himself in Juarez, Mexico at Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
time, amidst sickness, despair, whores and saints. While there, he encounters corrupt authorities and women of dubious character, named in the song as "Saint Annie" and "sweet Melinda", before seeking succor in drugs and alcohol. The song establishes a nightmare vision as the singer is influenced by gravity, negativity, sex, drugs, drink, illness, remorse and memory. In the song's final verse, the singer decides he has had enough and finds the means to leave it all behind and head back to New York City, where things may be better. Author Paul Williams
Paul Williams (Crawdaddy! creator)
Paul Williams is an American music journalist and writer. Williams created the first national US magazine of rock music criticism :Crawdaddy! in January 1966 on the campus of Swarthmore College with the help of some of his fellow science fiction fans...
has noted that scene and situation are combined into a gorgeous evocation of muddied consciousness in "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues", without ever resolving into a clear picture of what the song is about. Despite the sordid details of the singer's experiences in Juarez, the lyrics maintain a sense of humor, and William Ruhlmann of the Allmusic website considers the song a comic tour de force.
Like many of the songs on Highway 61 Revisited, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" has abundant literary references, including images recalling Malcolm Lowry
Malcolm Lowry
Clarence Malcolm Lowry was an English poet and novelist who was best known for his novel Under the Volcano, which was voted No. 11 in the Modern Library 100 Best Novels list.-Biography:...
's novel Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano
Under the Volcano is a 1947 semi-autobiographical novel by English writer Malcolm Lowry . The novel tells the story of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic British consul in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac , on the Day of the Dead.Surrounded by the helpless presences of his ex-wife, his...
and a street name taken from Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe was an American author, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre, Poe was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective...
's short story "The Murders in the Rue Morgue
The Murders in the Rue Morgue
"The Murders in the Rue Morgue" is a short story by Edgar Allan Poe published in Graham's Magazine in 1841. It has been claimed as the first detective story; Poe referred to it as one of his "tales of ratiocination". Two works that share some similarities predate Poe's stories, including Das...
". The song also uses the phrase "housing project hill" which is taken from Jack Kerouac
Jack Kerouac
Jean-Louis "Jack" Lebris de Kerouac was an American novelist and poet. He is considered a literary iconoclast and, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Kerouac is recognized for his spontaneous method of writing, covering topics such as Catholic...
's novel Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels
Desolation Angels is a 1979 album by the hard rock band Bad Company. It was their 5th studio release. Paul Rodgers revealed on In the Studio with Redbeard that the album's title came from the novel of the same name by Jack Kerouac.Desolation Angels was recorded at Ridge Farm Studios in Surrey,...
. A number of Dylan biographers, including Colin Irwin, Robert Shelton and Andy Gill, have suggested that the song's title makes reference to Arthur Rimbaud
Arthur Rimbaud
Jean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
's poem "My Bohemian Life (Fantasy)", in which Rimbaud refers to himself as "Tom Thumb in a daze." In addition, some commentators have suggested that there may be a musical reference in the lines "And she takes your voice/And leaves you howling at the moon," since "Howlin' at the Moon" is the title of a song by Hank Williams, a musician who Dylan idolized.
Musically, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" consists of no chorus
Refrain
A refrain is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in verse; the "chorus" of a song...
, but six verses, varied by a handful of chords and Dylan's vocal emphasis. Keyboards, drums and vocals provide texture, while Mike Bloomfield plays Latin Americanesque
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
fills on electric guitar. The keyboard parts in particular make innovative use of two different pianos, with Al Kooper playing an electric Hohner Pianet and Paul Griffin adding a bar room feel on tack piano
Tack piano
In music, the tack piano is a permanently altered version of an ordinary piano, in which tacks or nails are placed on the hammers of the instrument at the point where the hammers hit the strings, giving the instrument a tinny, more percussive sound...
. In all but the final verse, the even lines rhyme
Rhyme
A rhyme is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words and is most often used in poetry and songs. The word "rhyme" may also refer to a short poem, such as a rhyming couplet or other brief rhyming poem such as nursery rhymes.-Etymology:...
and the odd lines are unrhymed. In the final verse, however, the odd numbered lines rhyme on "ee" and all the even lines rhyme on "uf." This change in the rhyming pattern provides a subtle sense of finality to the final two lines:
- I'm going back to New York City
- I do believe I've had enough.
Other appearances and acclaim
In addition to its appearance on the Highway 61 Revisited album, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was also included on the compilation albumCompilation album
A compilation album is an album featuring tracks from one or more performers, often culled from a variety of sources The tracks are usually collected according to a common characteristic, such as popularity, genre, source or subject matter...
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Vol. II , also known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits, was the second compilation album released by Bob Dylan. With Dylan not expected to release any new material for an extended period of time, CBS Records president Clive Davis proposed issuing a double LP compilation of...
(known as More Bob Dylan Greatest Hits in Europe) and on another compilation released exclusively in Europe titled Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits 2
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits is the eighth album released by Bob Dylan on Columbia Records, original catalogue number KCS 9643. It contains every Top 40 single Dylan enjoyed through 1967. It peaked at #10 on the pop album chart in the United States, and went to #3 on the album chart in the United...
. An alternate take of the song, featuring Sam Lay on drums instead of Bobby Gregg, is included on The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack
The Bootleg Series Vol. 7: No Direction Home: The Soundtrack is the third most recent installment in the Bob Dylan "Bootleg Series" of rare and/or officially unissued recordings....
.
The song has also been popular live in concert. Clinton Heylin has stated that "as performed live in 1965–66, 'Tom Thumb' became an inferno of pain. As if pain were indeed art." A live version recorded at a concert in Liverpool, England on May 14, 1966, featuring Dylan backed by The Band
The Band
The Band was an acclaimed and influential roots rock group. The original group consisted of Rick Danko , Garth Hudson , Richard Manuel , and Robbie Robertson , and Levon Helm...
, was released as the B-side to the "I Want You
I Want You (Bob Dylan song)
"I Want You" is a 1966 song recorded by Bob Dylan. It was issued as a single in June 1966, shortly before the release of its accompanying album, Blonde on Blonde. A live version of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was included as a B-side...
" single in 1966, and later also appeared on the Masterpieces
Masterpieces
Masterpieces is a compilation album by Bob Dylan. The 3-LP set was released in Japan and Australia in anticipation of his 1978 tour. Primarily a greatest hits collection spanning Dylan's career up that point, the album features three previously unreleased tracks, including "Rita May", "George...
compilation. The song was also performed on May 17, 1966 by Dylan and The Band at the famous and controversial so-called 'Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....
' concert (which in fact took place at the Manchester Free Trade Hall
Free Trade Hall
The Free Trade Hall, Peter Street, Manchester, was a public hall constructed in 1853–6 on St Peter's Fields, the site of the Peterloo Massacre and is now a hotel. The hall was built to commemorate the repeal of the Corn Laws in 1846. The architect was Edward Walters The hall subsequently was...
) and consequently it appears on The Bootleg Series Vol. 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966, The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert. Dylan also played "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" regularly during his 1974 tour
Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour
The Bob Dylan and The Band 1974 Tour was a two-month concert tour in early 1974 that featured Bob Dylan, in his first real tour in eight years, performing with The Band, who as The Hawks had once been his little-known backing band...
, and has played it in concert occasionally ever since.
In a 2005 reader's poll published in Mojo
Mojo (magazine)
MOJO is a popular music magazine published initially by Emap, and since January 2008 by Bauer, monthly in the United Kingdom. Following the success of the magazine Q, publishers Emap were looking for a title which would cater for the burgeoning interest in classic rock music...
magazine, "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" was listed as the number 13 all time greatest Bob Dylan song. In 2002, Uncut
UNCUT (magazine)
Uncut magazine, trademarked as UNCUT, is a monthly publication based in London. It is available across the English-speaking world, and focuses on music, but also includes film and books sections...
magazine listed it as the number 38 all time best Bob Dylan song. Music journalist Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell
Toby Creswell is an Australian music journalist and pop-culture writer. He was editor of Rolling Stone and a founding editor of Juice. In 1986 he co-wrote, with Martin Fabinyi, his first book Too Much Ain't Enough a biography of pub rocker and former Cold Chisel vocalist Jimmy Barnes...
included "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" on his list of the 1001 greatest songs of all time and music critic Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh
Dave Marsh is an American music critic, author, editor and radio talk show host. He was a formative editor of Creem magazine, has written for various publications such as Newsday, The Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and has published numerous books about music and musicians, mostly focused on...
ranked the live version from Liverpool as the number 243 greatest single of all time and as one of the dozen or so truly great B-sides, noting that it demonstrated Dylan's prowess as a great live performer.
Cover versions
Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon LightfootGordon Lightfoot
Gordon Meredith Lightfoot, Jr. is a Canadian singer-songwriter who achieved international success in folk, folk-rock, and country music, and has been credited for helping define the folk-pop sound of the 1960s and 1970s...
covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1965, and his version reached number 8 on Toronto's CHUM Chart
CHUM Chart
The CHUM Chart was a ranking of top 30 songs on Toronto, Ontario radio station CHUM 1050 AM, from 1957 to 1986, and was the longest-running Top 40 chart in the world produced by an individual radio station...
. Other covers recorded in the 1960s include those by Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire
Barry McGuire is an American singer-songwriter best known for the hit song "Eve of Destruction", and later as a pioneering singer and songwriter of Contemporary Christian Music.-Early life:...
, on his 1966 album This Precious Time, and Judy Collins
Judy Collins
Judith Marjorie "Judy" Collins is an American singer and songwriter, known for her eclectic tastes in the material she records ; and for her social activism. She is an alumna of the University of Colorado.-Musical career:Collins was born and raised in Seattle, Washington...
, on her 1967 album In My Life
In My Life (Judy Collins album)
In My Life is an album by American folk singer Judy Collins, released in 1966. It peaked at No. 46 on the Billboard Pop Albums charts in 1967....
. Nina Simone
Nina Simone
Eunice Kathleen Waymon , better known by her stage name Nina Simone , was an American singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger, and civil rights activist widely associated with jazz music...
also covered it in 1971 on her To Love Somebody album. Nina Simone's version differs considerably in tone from Dylan's: while Dylan's version is sympathetic, if sneering, towards the foolish subject, Simone's version is an intense, first-person account of illusions being crushed, until she is finally helpless in the hands of fate.
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller
Frankie Miller is a Scottish rock singer-songwriter, who had his biggest success in the 1970s. Miller was raised at Colvend Street, Glasgow with his parents, Cathy and Frank, and elder sisters Letty and Anne. Miller attended Sacred Heart Primary school. He was an altar boy in Sacred Heart Chapel...
covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" in 1973 on Once in a Blue Moon
Once in a Blue Moon (Frankie Miller album)
Once In A Blue Moon is the debut solo album by Frankie Miller, utilising Brinsley Schwarz as his backing band, showcases Miller's skills as a singer and songwriter...
, Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt
Linda Ronstadt is an American popular music recording artist. She has earned eleven Grammy Awards, two Academy of Country Music awards, an Emmy Award, an ALMA Award, numerous United States and internationally certified gold, platinum and multiplatinum albums, in addition to Tony Award and Golden...
covered it in 1998 on We Ran
We Ran
We Ran is a 1998 Rock album by American singer/songwriter/producer Linda Ronstadt. It lasted only two weeks on the Billboard album chart, peaking at a disappointing #160. The album was a rare commercial failure for Ronstadt with US sales of approximately 75,000 copies...
and Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry
Bryan Ferry, CBE is an English singer, musician, and songwriter. Ferry came to public prominence in the early 1970s as lead vocalist and principal songwriter with the band Roxy Music, who enjoyed a highly successful career with three number one albums and ten singles entering the top ten charts in...
covered it on his 2007 album Dylanesque
Dylanesque (album)
Dylanesque is a 2007 album by Bryan Ferry, Roxy Music´s frontman. It is an album of covers of Bob Dylan songs. As of July 11, 2007, it has sold 11,985 copies in the US and has reached the top 10 on both UK and Swedish album charts.- Track listing :...
. The Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
have, on occasion, covered "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" live in concert and a recording of the song by the band appears on the album View from the Vault, Volume One
View From The Vault, Volume One
View from the Vault, Volume One, sometimes known simply as View from the Vault, is the first release in a series of DVDs and companion soundtracks by the Grateful Dead known as "View from the Vault". The audio is taken from the soundboard and the video from the video screens at the concerts...
. Additionally, Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
covered the song for the Bob Dylan tribute concert The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration
The 30th Anniversary Concert Celebration is a live double-album release in recognition of Bob Dylan's 30 years as a recording artist. Recorded on October 16, 1992 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, it captures most of the concert, which featured many artists performing classic Dylan songs,...
in 1992. The Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys
Beastie Boys are an American hip hop trio from New York City. The group consists of Mike D who plays the drums, MCA who plays the bass, and Ad-Rock who plays the guitar....
sampled the last two lines of "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" for their song "Finger Lickin' Good
Finger Lickin' Good (song)
"Finger Lickin' Good" is a song by the Beastie Boys on the 6th track of their 3rd studio album Check Your Head.Among others, the song contains samples of: James Brown's "Licking Stick - Licking Stick", Rahsaan Roland Kirk's "Freaks For The Festival", and Cold Blood's "Shop Talk", as well as a line...
", which appeared on their 1992 Check Your Head
Check Your Head
Check Your Head is the third studio album by the Beastie Boys, released on April 21, 1992.Three years elapsed between the release of Paul's Boutique and their recording of this album. Check Your Head was recorded at the G-Son Studios in Atwater Village, California in 1991...
album.
External links
- "Just Like Tom Thumb's Blues" lyrics from Bob Dylan's website