10 Most Underrated Bob Dylan Songs
4. Long And Wasted Years
Tempest isn’t the cheeriest or easiest going of Dylan’s impressive run of ‘00s albums, with songs drenched with death, most of which sail close to the 10 minute mark. By far the highlight of the album, perhaps not coincidentally, is one of its shortest tracks, the lovely and particularly tuneful “Long And Wasted Years”/
It’s no less mournful than a lot of the songs on the record, with Dylan touching on an unhappy relationship, familial strife, ambitions unfulfilled and folk who just won’t understand one another. Musically speaking, though, it’s one of his best for many a year. The song is built around a descending, incredibly catchy riff which continues across the whole tune as Dylan free associates, weaves an aura of sadness, and cribs from “Twist And Shout”.
It doesn’t sound like much if anything else in his canon, and his continued musical invention at the ripe old age of (then) 71 is beyond impressive. It’s a quietly devastating tune in a collection that tends to go for quantity and gusto.