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Change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
I'm gonna change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
Gonna put my best foot forward
Stop bein' influenced by fools
BOB: Why look, someone's coming up the road, boys
(Knock knock knock,knock)
MAVIS STAPLES: Hey, hey! Hey there, Bobby!
BOB: Hey, it's Mavis Staples!
MAVIS; Hey fellows! What's Up? Aw, it's good to see all of you.
My goodness, Bobby you got a nice place here!
BOB: Well, welcome to Califormia, Mavis!
MAVIS: Thank ya much! Whoa, you got a nice view!
BOB: Yeah, it is. You can sit on this porch,
and look right straight into Hawaii.
MAVIS: Yeah, I was over in them foothills.
BOB: (perplexed) Why?
MAVIS: I was looking for me some shoes.
I'm kind of hungry now. Don't you got anything to eat?
BOB: Well I'm sure we do. (Calls out) Momma, we have anything to eat?
WOMAN'S VOICE: Sure, we got plenty of chicken out there in the yard.
BOB: Well we're gonna go knock a few of em off and fry em up.
BOB: Well, Mavis, I've had the blues.
MAVIS: Aw Bobby, don't tell me you got the blues!
BOB: Uh hum I've been up all night laying in bed, had insomnia, reading Snoozeweek.
MAVIS: Oh, Snoozeweek! That ain't gonna get rid of no blues.
BOB: Umh umh
MAVIS: We gotta do some singing, let's do some singing
BOB: Aw well
MAVIS: Sing about it, you know.
Gonna sit at the welcome table
I'm as hungry as a horse
Sitting at the welcome table
I'm so hungry, I could eat a horse
I'm gonna revitalize my thinking
I'm gonna let the law take its course
Jesus is calling
He's coming back to gather His jewels
Jesus is coming
He's coming back to gather His jewels
Well, we live by the Golden Rule
Whoever got the gold, rules
The sun is shining
Ain't but one train on this track
The sun is shining
Ain't but one train on this track
I'm stepping out of the dark woods
Trying to jump on a monkey's back
Yes, I'm all dressed up
Goin' to the country dance
I said I'm all dressed up
Goin' to the country dance
Every day you got to pray for guidance
Every day you got to give yourself a chance
There are storms on the ocean
Storms out on the mountain too
Storms on the ocean
Storms out on the mountain too
Oh Lord
You know I have no friend without you
I'll tell you something
Things you never had you'll never miss
I'll tell you something
Things you never had you'll never miss
Tell you something else, a brave man will kill you with a sword
A coward with a kiss
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ~ OCTOBER 04, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ SEATTLE, WASHINGTON ~ OCTOBER 05, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA ~ OCTOBER 10, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ~ OCTOBER 13, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ~ OCTOBER 15, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ TULSA, OKLAHOMA ~ OCTOBER 24, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ CHICAGO, ILLINOIS ~ OCTOBER 31, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ COLUMBUS, OHIO ~ NOVEMBER 3, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS ~ NOVEMBER 15, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 19, 2009 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ TOKYO, JAPAN ~ MARCH 28, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 17, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS ~ NOVEMBER 19, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS ~ NOVEMBER 20, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 22, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 23, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK ~ NOVEMBER 24, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY ~ NOVEMBER 26, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ MASHANTUCKET, CONNECTICUT ~ NOVEMBER 27, 2010 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ BEIJING, CHINA ~ APRIL 6, 2011 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ SHANGHAI, CHINA ~ APRIL 8, 2011 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ CORK ~ JUNE 16, 2011 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ LONDON ~ JUNE 18, 2011 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ TEL AVIV ~ JUNE 20, 2011 ~
~ MP3 ~ GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING ~ ~ COSTA MESA ~ JULY 15, 2011 ~
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[45 performances in the USA from November 1st 1979 to February 9th 1980]
[STUDIO RECORDING] - 2002.03.04 - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
2009.10.04 - SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
2009.10.05 - SEATTLE, WASHINGTON
2009.10.10 - BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA
2009.10.13 - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
2009.10.15 - LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA
2009.10.24 - TULSA, OKLAHOMA
2009.10.31 - CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
2009.11.03 - COLUMBUS, OHIO
2009.11.15 - BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS
2009.11.19 - NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2010.03.28 - TOKYO, JAPAN
2010.11.17 - BINGHAMTON, NEW YORK
2010.11.19 - AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS
2010.11.20 - LOWELL, MASSACHUSETTS
2010.11.22 - NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2010.11.23 - NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2010.11.24 - NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK
2010.11.26 - ATLANTIC CITY, NEW JERSEY
2010.11.27 - MASHANTUCKET, CONNECTICUT
2011.04.06 - BEIJING, CHINA
2011.04.08 - SHANGHAI, CHINA
2011.04.10 - HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM
2011.04.12 - KOWLOON BAY, HONG KONG
2011.04.13 - KOWLOON BAY, HONG KONG
2011.04.15 - SINGAPORE
2011.04.17 - FREMANTLE, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.19 - ADELAIDE, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.20 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.21 - MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.23 - WOLLONGONG, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.25 - BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.26 - BYRON BAY, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.27 - DARLING HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.28 - DARLING HARBOUR, AUSTRALIA
2011.04.30 - AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND
2011.06.16 - CORK, IRELAND
2011.06.18 - LONDON, ENGLAND
2011.06.20 - TEL AVIV, ISRAEL
2011.07.14 - SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA
2011.07.15 - COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA
"GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING" was originally recorded in May 1979 for "Slow Train Coming".
A rewritten version of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING" was recorded in March 2002
for the long awaited covers compilation "Gotta Serve Somebody - The Gospel Songs Of Bob Dylan",
which was finally released in spring 2003 (for details see picture link below, which leads
to the website about this project).
On my first copy of Slow Train Coming, back in the old days, there was a huge gap before
‘Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking’, its length depending on the speed with which I could get
up, walk over to the turntable, and flip the vinyl so the needle could drop on side two of
my first and still favourite Bob Dylan record, kicking off this extremely underrated song.
It would have been a nice idea to have another huge gap, maybe 15 to 20 seconds, before
this raucous blues track by Bob Dylan and his 2002 touring band, indicating its stylistic
dissimilarity to the ten gospel songs preceding it. This however, to be honest, would have
been the only amendment I would have suggested. The song, which is the only song on the
album recorded and mixed by Chris Shaw, who also recorded and mixed “Love And Theft”, is
indeed a worthy contribution to the project.
One verse of the rewritten lyrics of the song, starting with ‘Jesus is calling, He’s coming
back to gather His jewels.’, somehow foreshadows ‘A Voice From On High’, which was performed
later that year. But my favourite lines of the rewrite would be ‘The sun (Son?) is shining,
ain’t but one train on this track’, and ‘Storms on the ocean, storms out on the mountain too.
Oh Lord, You know I have no friend without You’. And of course, I do find the staged dialogue
with Mavis Staples simply hilarious, in a good sense.
At the end of this 2002 studio performance of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING" there is a
reference to the seventh verse of Oscar Wilde's "THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL" (this verse is
also repeated slightly altered as the last of the 109 verses of this long ballad):
"Yet each man kills the thing he loves,
By each let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"
[seventh verse]
"And all men kill the thing they love,
By all let this be heard,
Some do it with a bitter look,
Some with a flattering word,
The coward does it with a kiss,
The brave man with a sword!"
[last verse]
And here is an interesting part from an interview with Mavis Staples:
Question: "According to what I heard on the CD, you arrived at the studio when Bob was singing
and he stopped to let you in and to welcome you. Was that what really happened?
Was that set up?"
Mavis Staples: "... Oh, this was Bobby´s idea, a slapstick kind of thing. So I knocked on
the door and he said "Oh, it´s Mavis Staples" and I said "What are you doing here?", you know,
and then we got to sing the song and it was a jam. We were there in O´Henry´s studio in Los
Angeles, California with Bobby´s band and this session lasted way over into the morning.
He wouldn´t stop! I said "Bobby, it´s down, it´s good", and he kept saying, "No Mavis,
no Mavis, we gotta do it some more". And I said "Well, we gotta eat first", so we went out
and got some Mexican food and then we got started again and we musta left the studio at about
four o´clock in the morning; for one song! It turned out really good though and we were
nominated for the Grammy. We didn´t win. Sting won that Grammy, but it was an honor to do that."
On October 4th 2009, in Seattle, Washington, after almost 30 years, "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING"
finally made its return to the stage, as Bob Dylan chose this gem as the opening song of the first
show of his 2009 fall tour. It appeared again already on the next evening as the opener of the second show,
also in Seattle. After that it was performed once in Berkeley and twice in Los Angeles.
Nine days later "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING" opened the show in Tulsa; and a week after that
"GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING" started the last of the three shows at the Aragon Ballroom in Chicago.
Three days later it was performed in Columbus, Ohio. Twelve days after that "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING"
opened the last of the three shows in Boston, and four days after this it kicked off the last of the
three shows in New York City, which was also the last show of the year. All ten performances in 2009
follow closely the 2002 studio version (minus the dialogue with Mavis Staples),
but have the last verse replaced with a repeat of the first verse, which had also been the first verse
of the original version from "Slow Train Coming" in 1979.
The first appearance of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING"
in 2010 was in Japan, opening the 13th show of the year, which was the penultimate of seven shows in Tokyo.
It was the first ever performance of any version of this gem outside the US. Unfortunately the song was not performed
in Europe at all in 2010, and back in North America it was not until the 95th show of the year, more than seven
and a half months later, in Binghamton, New York, that Bob Dylan chose to open again a concert with "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING".
Subsequently Bob Dylan chose however to begin all seven of the remaining shows in 2010 with extraordinary fine and focused
performances of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING", at first his two gigs in Massachusetts, then all three shows in New York City,
and finally the last two concerts of the year, in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and in Mashantucket, Connecticut.
In April 2011, in Beijing, Bob Dylan chose to open his first concert ever in China with a powerful version of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING".
Two days later, in Shanghai, he also started his second show in China with this song, and two days after that, it was also the first song of his first
concert ever in Vietnam. Next it was performed during both shows in Hong Kong and the concert in Singapore, before Dylan chose to open also all nine shows
in Australia with "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING", as well as his concert in New Zealand. After 16 consecutive performances of "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING"
in April it sure was great to see Bob Dylan open his next show as well with this gem, here in Cork on June 16th, which was the first European appearance ever of this fine song.
Two days later Dylan also started his show in London with "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING", and two days after that in Tel Aviv his first concert in Israel since 1993.
And a few weeks later, in mid July of 2011, Bob Dylan opened his first two US shows of 2011 with "GONNA CHANGE MY WAY OF THINKING", both of them in California.
Biblical references:
~ Mark 13:27 ~
And then he will send out the angels and gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of the earth to the ends of heaven.
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