Bob Dylan's "Black Diamond Bay" Characters Poll

Side plot: who is the stranger who appears on the balcony to declare "My darling, je vous aime beaucoup"?

really love this song, glad it's getting attention

voting desk clerk

Shit! I forgot the dealer!

I go with the Greek just ahead of the woman (is she wearing anything besides the necktie and hat?) and the soldier with his lust for a forbidden love. But that he's called the Greek makes me laugh inexplicably, and I love his bare feet.

re: the dealer, let's just say he's the stranger - which would tidy things up a bit, since he's probably the voice from the gambling room who first speaks to the woman.

The Greek is great, especially since his last words are nothing lofty, just "Go away!"

Panama Hat lady 4EVA!!!!!!

^^^

Looking forward to follow-up ISIS poll.

is she wearing anything besides the necktie and hat?

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

I went with the loser, because even when he wins he loses!

Where do you think the soldier got the money from to buy the ring?

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

well..guess that decides this once and for all

Maybe I won't do that Isis poll after all...

Another hard luck story. I'm gonna go grab another beer.

Well, I never did plan to poll anyway.

How about a Romance In Durango poll? The baker's son rules!

would come down to a showdown between bloody-faced Ramone and the obsidian-eyed Serpent.

TS: Bob Dylan's old pony vs. new pony

Spending time in Mozambique c/d?

Man, I love the way he slurs half the lyrics in this. "The soldier sits beneath the fan / doINbidnesswIVATINYMAN who SALES HIM A RAY"

Also like how comfortable Dylan/Levy are here in just stock melodramatic scene-painting with barely any actual story. It's not like anybody survives or like any of the characters come into focus, which makes all of them more interesting. Like they watched Earthquake but slept through two out of every three scenes. Everyone seems haunted by old demons that are just waiting to come bursting out and crashing down in a crisis, even the desk clerk and the dealer: something very sinister in the insistence that volcanic eruptions happen every day, something almost Satanic in the dealer's "...spend it in the tomb!"

Of course, I never knew until just now that it's all taken from a Conrad novel I haven't read, which seems about right.

lol i missed this poll. would've voted "BOB DYLAN, beer-drinking TV watcher"
http://www.thewheatln2.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/05/tv.jpg

Isis is often my favorite Dylan song

Love desire like crazy

aside from "isis" i don't think i really *love* any of the songs on Desire, but I always love the whole vibe/sound of the album when i put it on

Yeah, as much as the sessions were apparently a huge mess, they sound like fun, laid-back songs to play on. "Isis" is kinda obviously head and shoulders above, but still depends on that same kinda lopey storytelling vibe.

I always picture Dylan watching Cronkite in a real shaggy 70s apartment, scratchy upholstery, lots of yellow and brown.