Thunder on the Mountain
"Thunder on the Mountain" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, released in 2006 as the first track on his album Modern Times.
| "Thunder on the Mountain" | |
|---|---|
| Song by Bob Dylan | |
| from the album Modern Times | |
| Released | August 29, 2006 |
| Recorded | February 2006 |
| Genre | Folk rock, Rock and roll, Rockabilly |
| Length | 5:55 |
| Label | Columbia |
| Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan |
| Producer(s) | Bob Dylan (as Jack Frost) |
The song, alongside "Someday Baby", had considerable success, garnering more airtime than any other track on the album. It spent nine weeks on Billboard's Adult Alternative Songs chart, peaking at #22 in January, 2007.[1]
Critical reception
Andy Greene, writing in Rolling Stone, where the song placed ninth on a list of "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century", noted an ironic counterpoint between the song's upbeat sound, "somewhere between rockabilly and Western swing", and its apocalyptic lyrics: "the song has some not-atypical judgment-day-is-coming, woe-to-mankind overtones, but this time Dylan seems pretty cheerful about it all."[2]
Cultural references
Dylan references his former residence, Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan and a former resident, Alicia Keys. He claims to have been inspired to write the song after admiring Keys' performance at the Grammys.[3] These lines, however, are themselves a veiled reference to the Memphis Minnie song "Ma Rainey".[4]
The song is studded with biblical allusions: The title, for example, evokes the divine presence at Mount Sinai in the Book of Exodus while the line "Today's the day I'm gonna grab my trombone and blow" sees Dylan himself playing the role of the archangel Gabriel blowing his horn.[5]
Music video
An official music video was made for the song, which consists entirely of archival footage of many of Dylan's film and television performances over the decades - from the mid-1960s through the early 21st century. The video premiered at Slate on December 8, 2006. Popsugar called the video "a great trip, chronicling the many guises of the formerly nostalgia-phobic Bob over the years".[6]
Live Performances
As of December 8, 2019, the date of Dylan's most recent concert, he has performed the song live 788 times. This makes it the most frequently played song from Modern Times by a significant margin.[7]
Other versions
The song was covered by The Grateful Dead's Phil Lesh and The Allman Brothers Band's Warren Haynes at a live charity concert benefiting the Music for Youth Foundation at Lincoln Center in New York City on November 9, 2006.[8]
American rockabilly singer Wanda Jackson, prompted by Dylan, recorded a country version of the song, produced by Jack White, that was released as a single in 2011. The name "Jerry Lee" was substituted for "Alicia Keys".[9]
Notes
- "Bob Dylan". Billboard. Retrieved 2020-12-09.
- Vozick-Levinson, Jon Dolan,Patrick Doyle,Andy Greene,Brian Hiatt,Angie Martoccio,Rob Sheffield,Hank Shteamer,Simon; Dolan, Jon; Doyle, Patrick; Greene, Andy; Hiatt, Brian; Martoccio, Angie; Sheffield, Rob; Shteamer, Hank; Vozick-Levinson, Simon (2020-06-18). "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-10.
- Margotin, Philippe; Guesdon, Jean-Michel (2015). Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Hachette UK. ISBN 9780316353533.
- "Pressing On, after the thunder, a declaration | Untold Dylan". Retrieved 2020-12-13.
- Lieb, Michael; Mason, Emma; Roberts, Jonathan (2013). The Oxford Handbook of the Reception History of the Bible. OUP Oxford. p. 365. ISBN 9780199670390.
- Entertainment (2006-12-11). "Music Video: Bob Dylan, "Thunder on the Mountain"". POPSUGAR Entertainment. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
- "Bob Dylan Tour Statistics | setlist.fm". www.setlist.fm. Retrieved 2020-12-14.
- glidemagazine.com https://glidemagazine.com/74/bob-dylan-tribute-great-tunes-less-mumbling/. Retrieved 2020-12-09. Missing or empty
|title=(help) - "Wanda Jackson "Thunder on the Mountain"". 2011. Retrieved 16 September 2017.