Subterranean Homesick Blues is Bob Dylan's rapid-fire 1965 single, and his first Top 40 hit in the US.
He recorded it on January 14, 1965, and Columbia released it on March 8.
It reached No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 9 in the UK.
Table of Contents
- The Story Behind the Song
- Recording and Release
- The Cue Card Clip
- How It Charted and Was Received
- Legacy
- FAQ
The Story Behind Subterranean Homesick Blues
Where the Sound Came From
Dylan has credited Chuck Berry's "Too Much Monkey Business" and the scat songs of the 1940s as sources.
The title is often linked to Jack Kerouac's 1958 novel The Subterraneans, though that link is unconfirmed.
Dylan had fallen for the Beat writers at the University of Minnesota in 1959.
The result is often called a forerunner of rap.
What Is It About?
Chas Chandler of The Animals recalled Dylan playing it to the band in New York under the name "Those Old Subterranean Blues."
Dylan told them it was about people living after the Bomb exploded.
Others hear police, drugs, conformity and the generation gap.
One verse nods to the fire hoses turned on civil rights marchers.
Andy Gill wrote that "an entire generation recognized the zeitgeist in the verbal whirlwind of 'Subterranean Homesick Blues.'"
The Weatherman Line
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" became the most quoted line.
The radical group Weatherman took its name from it.
It later became the Weather Underground.
Recording and Release
The Session
Dylan cut the song on January 14, 1965, at Columbia's Studio A in New York City.
Tom Wilson produced the session, which ran from 2:30 to 6:00 pm and covered eight songs.
The track runs 2:20.
- Bob Dylan, vocals, acoustic guitar and harmonica
- John Hammond Jr., electric guitar
- Bruce Langhorne, electric guitar
- Bill Lee, bass
- Bobby Gregg, drums
Single and Album
Columbia issued the single in the US on March 8, 1965, with "She Belongs to Me" on the B-side.
The UK release followed on April 23.
The track opens Bringing It All Back Home, which most sources date to March 22, 1965.
The album reached No. 6 in the US and No. 1 in the UK.
The Cue Card Clip
Pennebaker's camera followed Dylan's 1965 England tour for the documentary Dont Look Back, released in 1967.
The film opens with Dylan flipping cue cards of the lyrics in an alley near the Savoy Hotel in London.
Dylan came up with the idea himself.
He, Donovan, Bob Neuwirth and Allen Ginsberg wrote the cards, and some are misspelled.
Neuwirth and Ginsberg stand in the background, talking.
Many fans call the clip an early music video.
How It Charted and Was Received
In a 1980 Playboy interview, John Lennon said the record so captivated him that he worried he could never write anything to compete with it.
The 1965 music year guide shows what else was on the radio.
| Measure | Detail | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Billboard Hot 100 | US peak | No. 39 |
| Official Singles Chart | UK peak, nine weeks on chart | No. 9 |
| Rolling Stone | 500 Greatest Songs of All Time | No. 187 |
| Rolling Stone | 100 Top Music Videos, 1993 (the clip) | No. 7 |
Legacy
Covers
Harry Nilsson covered it on his 1974 album Pussy Cats, produced by Lennon.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers recorded it for The Uplift Mofo Party Plan in 1987.
Homages
The cue card gag has been copied again and again.
- INXS, "Mediate" video, 1987
- Tim Robbins, the film Bob Roberts, 1992
- "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Bob" video, 2003
Radiohead nodded to it with "Subterranean Homesick Alien" on OK Computer in 1997.
What Came Next
Dylan went further into electric rock with Like a Rolling Stone and later Positively 4th Street.
His story runs on through the Folk Rock genre hub and our Bob Dylan biography.
FAQ
What is Subterranean Homesick Blues about?
Dylan never gave one meaning.
He told Chas Chandler of The Animals it was about people living after the Bomb exploded, and listeners also hear police, drugs, civil rights and the generation gap.
When was the song released?
Columbia released it as a US single on March 8, 1965, and in the UK on April 23.
Dylan had recorded it on January 14, 1965, with "She Belongs to Me" on the B-side.
Did the single chart?
Yes, it reached No. 39 on the Billboard Hot 100, his first US Top 40 hit.
In the UK it reached No. 9 on the Official Singles Chart.
Where was the cue card video filmed?
Documentary maker Pennebaker filmed the cue card clip in an alley near the Savoy Hotel in London in 1965.
It opens his 1967 documentary Dont Look Back.
Where does the weatherman line come from?
It comes from the lyric "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."
The radical group Weatherman took its name from that line, and it later became the Weather Underground.
A wordy, jumpy single turned a folk star into a pop-chart problem.
Wikipedia's entry on the song covers its lyrics, clip and covers in more depth.
Press play above and hear why Subterranean Homesick Blues still moves faster than most records made since.