Today’s song is a sad little anti-war ditty by Jakob Dylan from his recent solo album Seeing Things.
Like his father, Dylan has a way with war songs. And also like his father, he does a nice job not singing about the specific skirmish in which we currently find ourselves. Though it was written during the Iraq war, it could just as easily be about World War II or the Civil War. There is something elemental about the experience of men (and women) at battle that transcends the politics of war.
Poor Jakob Dylan. While his lineage no doubt gave him a leg up in the music business, it has also prevented him from ever really being appreciated on his own merits. And that’s a shame, because he is a truly great artist.
I’m not sure if Dylan’s first solo outing, Seeing Things, marks the end of The Wallflowers. I hope not, because the band has put out several very strong rock albums that are quite different from this stripped down affair featuring mostly just Dylan and his guitar. To reference an artist they’re often compared to, The Wallflowers’ albums are to Bruce Springsteen’s Born in the U.S.A. what Seeing Things is to Springsteen’s Nebraska.
Meet Me In Montauk 