“MTV Unplugged” finds Dylan recasting 11 of his old songs, both famous and obscure. The most obvious example of how Dylan can transform his own songs is his new rendering of “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” When he first recorded it for the ’64 album of the same name, the song was a clarion call to action, a triumphant promise that better times were just around the corner. When he performed it for MTV, it became a dirge-like march, a prophet’s dire warning that the world is going down the tubes in a hurry. The new version opens with weepy dobro and funereal organ, and Dylan’s slowed-down, low moan gives an entirely different spin to such phrases as “The line it is drawn, the curse it is cast,” or “Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.”
Bob Dylan’s Classic MTV taping from 1995 featuring the standards “The Times They Are A-Changin'” and “Like a Rolling Stone.” Also included “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door,” “All Along the Watchtower,” “Rainy Day Women # 12 and 35,” plus “Dignity” that had just been released on his Greatest Hits Vol. 3 that previous November, as well as “John Brown,” a powerful antiwar song from 1963 + “Love Minus Zero / No Limit” which wasn’t available on the original release.
The Fat Angel Sings 