Ink On the Tracks. The Bob Dylan Stereo Stories

Here at Stereo Stories we have 18 stories about Bob Dylan songs (and half of them are by one writer!*). This is a fraction surprising, given how popular Dylan is and how evocative his songs are.

Then again, people have been writing and reading and thinking and talking about Dylan, in one way or another, for nigh on 60 years!

Amongst our humble collection you’ll find stories about high-school days, share-house life, broken relationships, family life, teenage life, unrequited love, and grief.

Some samplers, to whet your appetite…

….Sometimes it’s only when you see a girl for the second or third time that you realise how beautiful she is. A song is a bit like that… (Damian Balassone and Friend Of The Devil)

…Over fifteen years, brick by determined brick, we built a life out of thin air and intentions. When I first met you, my mother could not tell her friends her eldest daughter was a lesbian. Talking to her friends, she would shorten my girlfriends’ names to androgynous mysteries. Jo. Nic. Lou… (Molly Galea and Don’t Think Twice It’s Alright.)

… I’m staring at strangers, wondering if their dads are alive. How often do they see them? Do they find their dads wise, embarrassing, or supportive? … (Brian Nankervis and Sooner Or Later One Of Us Must Know)

…I had better things to do than to listen to another song identified by my music-obsessed brother as worthy of listening to. Yet, I was polite, I was always polite… (Scott Hovey and Jokerman)

…Fifteen years old and overflowing with angst and self righteousness. It was a time where no one in the world could possibly have had problems that were more complex than mine, where everyone was wrong and I was right, and where nothing could ever be cool, unless I deemed it to be so… (Casselise Rowe and Shelter From The Storm)

…Form 4B were ready and attentive for Mr Moore when he arrived for class. Mr Moore was our favourite teacher. A groovy with-it guy, up to date with all the latest trends… (Colin Ritchie and Like A Rolling Stone)

…Phil was divesting himself of all material possessions, man. Fortunately, I was on hand to help him cleanse himself of the most evil of these things, his LP records…(Stephen Andrew and Tonight I’ll Here Staying Her With You)

….What is a 14 year old boy to make of Just Like A Woman? What does he know of fog, amphetamines and pearls? What does he know of standing inside the rain, of dying there of thirst, of a long-time curse?…(Vin M*)