TRACK TALK #74 This Wheel's On Fire

THIS WHEEL'S ON FIRE
ALBUM : The Basement Tapes (1975)
Recorded : Octobre 1967
Released : 26 Juin 1975



Lyrics
If your mem'ry serves you well
We were goin' to meet again and wait
So I'm goin' to unpack all my things
And sit before it gets too late
No man alive will come to you
With another tale to tell
And you know that we shall meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode !

If your mem'ry serves you well
I was goin' to confiscate your lace
And wrap it up in a sailor's knot
And hide it in your case
If I knew for sure that it was yours ...
But it was oh so hard to tell
And you knew that we would meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode !

If your mem'ry serves you well
You'll remember you're the one
That called on me to call on them
To get you your favors done
And after ev'ry plan had failed
And there was nothing more to tell
You knew that we would meet again
If your mem'ry serves you well
This wheel's on fire
Rolling down the road
Best notify my next of kin
This wheel shall explode

***

Première performance live : Madison (13 avril 1996)
Dernière performance live : Bournemouth (14 octobre 2011)
Total : 121 fois.

- Un morceau co-écrit avec Rick Danko et enregistré avec le Band en 1967. Le groupe publiera leur version sur "Music From Big Pink", leur premier album en 1968, et Dylan attendra 1975 et la parution des "Basement Tapes".
- Reprises notables : The Band, The Byrds, Julie Driscoll, The Hollies, Elvis Costello, Charlie Winston, Phil Lesh, Atlas Sound.

Superbe chanson je trouve qu'on retrouve un peu l'ambiance mystérieuse de Ballad of a thin man. La reprise des Byrds somptueuse!

Tu la compares à "Ballad of a Thin Man", moi elle me fait surtout penser à "Senor". En particulier lors des versions live du NET où lorsqu'elles débutent, il est difficile de savoir laquelle des deux il va jouer. Même intensité, même mystère, même gravité. Un côté apocalyptique où Dylan excelle toujours autant. C'est avec "Going to Acapulco", ma favorite des Basement Tapes "officielles" (sans compter "Sign on the Cross" bien entendu).

Un tas de bonnes versions live, je vous conseille Lennox 1997.
Et la version de "Music From Big Pink" est grandiose, surtout l'intro.

voici mes 3 versions live favorites :

- west long branch 20/04/97
- stockholm 09/06/98
- nice 22/06/10