Song of the Day: "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)", Bob Dylan

from Blonde on Blonde (1966)

"But, sooner or later, one of us must know
You just did what you're supposed to do
Sooner or later, one of us must know
That I really did try to get close to you"


I've been a huge fan of Bob Dylan for a couple of years now. Seeing him live during his baseball stadium tour of summer 2006 was an important moment for me, and to this day it seems a little unreal that I was mere feet away from the man. Going into the venue, I was fully aware of Dylan's current appearance, as well as the degeneration of his vocal skills (all those iconic photos of him smoking a cigarette eventually caught up to him). But perched over his keyboard, looking like an old cowboy, my mind still had trouble connecting the man before me to the image of Dylan I had in my mind. Eventually, I just became awed by him and his wrinkled face, trying to fully comprehend the life he has lived and the fact that he was right in front of me, if only for one night.

I distinctly remember the first time I listened to Dylan, sometime during my junior year of high school. On a lazy Sunday morning, I laid in bed with Blonde on Blonde and a pair of headphones, prepared to hear what all the fuss was about. I must have been up late the previous night, because I keep kept dozing off at intermittent points throughout the seventy-minute album. Having Dylan directly stimulating your brain as you sleep is an interesting experience, especially with the "thin, wild, mercury sound" found on Blonde on Blonde. I finished the album, not really picking up on the lyrical subtleties that make Dylan so great. Still, I had a sense that this music was something special.

The Dylan that wrote and recorded Blonde was a sick man. He was physically and emotionally exhausted from constant touring, with a steady supply of drugs being his main source of sustenance. The drugs also helped fuel his songwriting process, taking his wordplay to new, surrealistic heights. "Visions of Johanna" is a perfect example of this, but I want to focus on the song that follows it. "One of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" is the sound of a regretful man, offering up some consolation to a relationship gone sour. It's also one of his best songs.

Dylan was rumoured to have been having an affair with socialite Edie Sedgewick around the time of its writing. It would make sense that it's about her, it being a send-off ending Side A and "I Want You" starting up Side B as a love letter to Sara Lownds. Musically, "One of Us Must Know" is magnificent; Al Kooper and the Band (sans Levon Helm) brought excellent performances to back Dylan's vocals. Blonde on Blonde is one of my favorite Dylan albums, and most critics agree that it is one of the highlights of his career (I'll get to Blood on the Tracks, another personal favorite, another time). With the honesty and musical brilliance that Dylan displayed here, it's no big wonder why.