Song #139: "Mr. Tambourine Man" by The Byrds

Date: June 26, 1965
Weeks: 1

The Byrds' version of "Mr. Tambourine Man" is kind of a forgotten song.

1) The culture at large seems to remember "Mr. Tambourine Man" as a Bob Dylan song. A YouTube search for the title lists a ton of amateurs showing off their own covers, and they uniformly identify Bob Dylan as the originator. And that's fair; he did write it.

2) William Shatner's version of this song is an infamous goofy spectacle.

3) It's not even the song the Byrds are best remembered for. That would be "Turn! Turn! Turn!" (#149). The opening chords of "Turn! Turn! Turn!" are practically movie shorthand for "This is the 1960s."

With all respect to Mr. Dylan, the lyrics are nonsense. "Waiting only for my boot heels to be wanderin’." You're waiting for your own feet to start walking? Don't you control that? I guess not if your brain is  drug-addled, as much speculation seems to suggest with regard to this song's lyrics. Drugs or not, the meaning is poorly conveyed.

Nonsense lyrics aren't a problem for me. I've always thought that if pop music is catchy, it's okay if the lyrics are indecipherable. Fortunately, the Byrds make the music catchy. Unlike Dylan and Shatner, they field a full 1960s rock band, with 3 guitars, drums, and, yes, a tambourine. The result is a nicely full sound. The bass line is particularly compelling. The video I've chosen to link is a performance that has a lot of energy and is the most fun version I can find, but I've also been listening to a crisp remastered version of what I presume is the recording that was on the charts.

It's too bad those first 3 points I made have caused this song to be forgotten. It's really very enjoyable.

My verdict: Like it. The Byrds perform a piece of music solid enough to overcome silly lyrics and competing performances by more famous people.