Bob Dylan Releases Another New Song: “I Contain Multitudes”

Bob Dylan continues his unveiling of previously unreleased songs with the release of “I Contain Multitudes.” The midnight EST drop follows last month’s “Murder Most Foul.”

Similar in mood and tempo to “Murder Most Foul” with a laundry list of references and name-checks, “I Contain Multitude” clocks in at a much shorter running time of just over 4:30. The song’s feel, instrumentation and musicians backing him, along with his choice of chords, inversions and vocal delivery place it somewhere post-2005, though with Dylan it’s hard to tell.

Interestingly, both “I Contain Multitudes” and “Murder Most Foul” are in the key of C, which give the song a running continuity when played back-to-back.

Today, tomorrow, and yesterday too
The flowers are dyin’ like all things do
Follow me close, I’m going to Bally na Lee
I’ll lose my mind if you don’t come with me
I fuss with my hair and I fight blood feuds
I contain multitudes

Got a tell-tale heart like Mr. Poe
Got skeletons in the walls of people you know
I’ll drink to the truth and the things we said
I’ll drink to the man that shares your bed
I paint landscapes, and I paint nudes
I contain multitudes

Red Cadillac and a black mustache
Rings on my fingers that sparkle and flash
Tell me what’s next? What shall we do?
Half my soul baby belongs to you
I relic and I frolic with all the young dudes
I contain multitudes

Dylan sings three verses which leads to a bridge, sung over a descending six-minor walkdown, contrasting with the dreamy feel of the verses and creating tension.

I’m just like Anne Frank, like Indiana Jones
And them British bad boys The Rolling Stones
I go right to the edge, I go right to the end
I go right where all things lost are made good again

Is this new song just Dylan comforting his fans during these quarantine times? Or is it a lead up to a new full album release, the first of newly recorded material since 2012’s Tempest? With Dylan, the mystery is always expected.

We’ll have more analysis and observation soon.

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