Bob Dylan en español: Covers of Dylan songs in "the Loving Tongue”
I'm putting on my boots of Spanish leather.
“Ah, but I just thought you might want somethin' fine
Made of silver or of golden
Either from the mountains of Madrid
Or from the coast of Barcelona.”
Bob Dylan, “Boots of Spanish Leather”
A Complete Unknown is finally premiering in Spain. Next week I’ll be seeing it here where I live, in Dylan’s words, “on the coast of Barcelona.” After reading a lot about the Bob Dylan Movie on Substack and elsewhere over the past few months, I don’t have grand illusions about it, but I’m excited to see it, since a lot of it takes place in the New York neighborhood where I came of age. (We’ll go see it as a family: thanks to Timothée Chalamet for drawing in the teenagers.) And because it’s about Bob Dylan.
I was imprinted with early Dylan songs when I was a girl, and I love them for what they are and for the many things they represent to me. I’m not going to write about the movie here, but I do want to share some versions of Dylan songs in Spanish - or sung in English with an Argentine accent - that relate to other times and places of my life and that I’m listening to right now. Also read down for a retrospective glance at when Dylan himself has sung in Spanish or otherwise been inspired by the language, culture and geography of the “loving tongue.”
“Llegará la tormenta” (A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall), Amaral
I don’t know exactly how/why this happened, but “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” was the official song for the international Expo in Zaragoza, Spain in 2008. The theme of the Expo was Water and Sustainable Development. Dylan was asked to to choose an artist to record a Spanish-language cover of “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall,” a song that Expo Zaragoza president Roque Gistau described as representing Dylan’s “vindicative spirit,” according to Billboard. The pop-rock duo Amaral, who had opened for Dylan on a tour in Spain, met the challenge with their Llegará la Tormenta.
“Ese no soy yo,” Joaquín Sabina
Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina is eight years younger than Bob Dylan and shares with the maestro a blessed gift for social commentary. For Sabina, one of Spain’s best-known artists, the seeds of protests were sown when he went into exile in London in the early seventies to escape Franco-era authorities after he threw a Molotov cocktail into a government building. Here he sings his version of “It Ain’t Me Babe.”
“Soplando en el viento,” Sandro
Sandro, who started his career impersonating Elvis Presley in an elementary school show, became a sexy star throughout Latin America. He gained fame for singing songs in Spanish rather than in English in the sixties, when English was the language of rock-and-roll. Sandro’s 1966 “Soplando en el Viento” (“Blowin’ in the Wind”) departs from the Dylan song in its lyrics and mood. His is a darker take on Dylan’s philosphical warning about human foibles. “Stop talking because it’s the same as the wind blowing,” Sandro grouses in his song in Spanish. He talks about children in wheelchairs who “can’t play” and concludes that “I might have truths to express but who would care?”
“Un simple giro del destino,” Nacho Vegas
An artful and emotional writer of narrative songs, Spanish indie rocker Nacho Vegas is most often compared to Leonard Cohen, but he’s naturally a committed Dylan fan. Here’s his beautiful version of “A Simple Twist of Fate” in a live radio performance.
“El Huracán,” Maria José Cantilo
Maria José Cantilo was one of the few women at the center of the Argentine rock scene that exploded after democracy was declared in 1983 following the country’s horrific military dictatorship. Cantilo included this biting version of Dylan’s “Hurricane” on her debut album in 1984.
“Memphis Blues Again,” Kiko Veneno
In 1995, Kiko Veneno shot this video for his flamenco-tinged version of “Memphis Blues Again.” His homage to Dylan includes band members in Mexican hats, “hippies” and silly vintage MTV tropes.
“Positively 4th Street,” Charly Garcia and Casandra Lange
As grande as Dylan is to the United States, Charly Garcia is to Argentina. South America’s iconic rock star recorded “Positively 4th Street” in English with his band from the time, Casandra Lang. Hearing him spit the line “I wish there was just one time you could stand inside these fucking shoes” reminds of the time Charly threw his shoes at the audience during one his concerts that I went to in Miami. But that’s a story for another day…
I love Dylan’s imaginings of Spain (and its boots) on his evergreen, evocative love ballad, and the way he says “Baarcelona.”
I was also struck by this comment from a listener under the video: “When I traveled back and forth across the Mediterranean Sea onboard ship for 18 months 40 years ago I listened to this about 1000 times.”
This (bootleg?) album, titled “From the Coast of Barcelona” features live tracks from Dylan’s 1984 performance in Barcelona. The cover is by Salvador Dali, from an edition of Don Quijote that Dali illustrated in 1957.
And lest we forget, Dylan himself has been known to sing a few words in Spanish. Here’s a live version of “Romance in Durango” (1976): “No llores, mi querida, Dios nos vigila.”
And. because it’s a good time to listen to it, here is “Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)”. Live in San Francisco, 1980.
We seem to be in synch, I'm about to publish a piece on Dylan 🖤