Dylan's "Desolation Row." After taking us on a surrealistic tour full of characters from fairy tales, mythology, literature, Hollywood and pop culture, he shares with us his modus operandi:

"All these people that you mention
Yes, I know them, they’re quite lame
I had to rearrange their faces
And give them all another name"

As writers, isn't that what we're supposed to do... pull events from our experience, our dreams, our perceptions and transform them into something else, i.e., art (hopefully).

Here's an early live version:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0onT5Us4Mk

Most "Americana" music is driven off of narrative. Especially country, folk, and blues.

Right now I'm listening to Brooks & Dunn's "My Next Broken Heart". It's got a great story about a guy moving on from a girl to the next one to break his heart. As, obviously, stated by the title. But the narrative shines so clear not only through the lyrics but the way they incorporate the music as well.

Sent out a few query letters last week....

"The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway" by Genesis pretty much sums up the way I've felt of late...

"... and I'm hovering like a fly, waiting for the windshield on the freeway."

But I digress...

From "Moving Pictures" by RUSH...

"Limelight"

"Cast in this unlikely role, ill-equipped to act
With insufficient tact
One must put up barriers
To keep oneself intact"

"Living in the limelight
The universal dream
For those who wish to seem
Those who wish to be
Must put aside the alienation
Get on with the fascination
The real relation
The underlying theme"

And the video...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKpn0esJ73w

"I Go To Extremes" by Billy Joel

"Call me a joker, call me a fool Right at this moment I'm totally cool
Clear as a crystal, sharp as a knife
I feel like I'm in the prime of my life"

and then-

"Sometimes I'm tired, sometimes I'm shot
Sometimes I don't know how much more I've got
Maybe I'm headed over the hill
Maybe I've set myself up for the kill
Tell me how much do you think you can take
Until the heart in you is starting to break?
Sometimes it feels like it will"

( but pretty much the whole song is perfect: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6j5V7hJeoM )

The sand could be the bits of your story that other people take with them, the bits that resonate and cling, the way sand sticks to you after a walk on the beach, the way you can never get back into your car without getting some of it on your floormats, no matter how careful you are. The mountain is huge, the island can be formidable, but you are extremely lucky and blessed if you create just a little bit of sand. That's the best you can hope for, really.

~ Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
~ Once I rose above the noise and confusion
Just to get a glimpse beyond this illusion
I was soaring ever higher
But I flew too high
~ Though my eyes could see I still was a blind man
Though my mind could think I still was a mad man
I hear the voices when I'm dreaming
I can hear them say
~ Masquerading as a man with a reason
My charade is the event of the season
And if I claim to be a wise man, well
It surely means that I don't know
~ On a stormy sea of moving emotion
Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean
I set a course for winds of fortune
But I hear the voices say
~ Carry on, you will always remember
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor
Now your life's no longer empty
But surely heaven waits for you
~ Carry on my wayward son
There'll be peace when you are done
Lay your weary head to rest
Don't you cry no more
- Kansas, "Carry On Wayward Son", 1976