My Back Pages

About My Back Pages

"My Back Pages" is a song written by Bob Dylan and included on his 1964 album Another Side of Bob Dylan. It is stylistically similar to his earlier folk protest songs and features Dylan's voice with an acoustic guitar accompaniment. However, its lyrics—in particular the refrain "Ah, but I was so much older then/I'm younger than that now"—have been interpreted as a rejection of Dylan's earlier personal and political idealism, illustrating his growing disillusionment with the 1960s' folk protest movement with which he was associated, and his desire to move in a new direction. Although Dylan wrote the song in 1964, he did not perform it live until 1988. "My Back Pages" has been covered by artists as diverse as Keith Jarrett, the Byrds, the Ramones, the Nice, Steve Earle, and the Hollies. The Byrds' version, initially released on their 1967 album Younger Than Yesterday, was also issued as a single in 1967 and proved to be the band's last Top 40 hit in the U. S. more »

Year:

2002

4:08

53 Views

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Crimson flames tied through my ears 
Rollin' high and mighty traps 
Pounced with fire on flaming roads 
Using ideas as my maps 
"We'll meet on edges, soon," said I 
Proud 'neath heated brow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now 
Half-wracked prejudice leaped forth 
"Rip down all hate," I screamed 
Lies that life is black and white 
Spoke from my skull. I dreamed 
Romantic facts of musketeers 
Foundationed deep, somehow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now. 
Girls' faces formed the forward path 
From phony jealousy 
To memorizing politics 
Of ancient history 
Flung down by corpse evangelists 
Unthought of, though, somehow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now 
A self-ordained professor's tongue 
Too serious to fool 
Spouted out that liberty 
Is just equality in school 
"Equality," I spoke the word 
As if a wedding vow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now 
In a soldier's stance, I aimed my hand 
At the mongrel dogs who teach 
Fearing not that I'd become my enemy 
In the instant that I preach 
My pathway led by confusion boats 
Mutiny from stern to bow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now 
Yes, my guard stood hard when abstract threats 
Too noble to neglect 
Deceived me into thinking 
I had something to protect 
Good and bad, I define these terms 
Quite clear, no doubt, somehow 
Ah, but I was so much older then 
I'm younger than that now

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Steve Earle

Steve Earle ( /ˈɜrl/; born Stephen Fain Earle on January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author and actor. Earle grew up near San Antonio, Texas, and began learning the guitar at age 11. more »

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