Love in the Time of Swine Flu: Bob Dylan's "Together Through Life"

Interesting that Bob Dylan should release Together Through Life, a Mexican-flavored album, as Swine Flu makes its way from a five year-old Mexican boy towards a worldwide pandemic proportions. Virtually every song on this bluesy, loose new record is seasoned with the south-of-the-border accordion of Los Lobos' David Hidalgo.

But then again, Bob has never been one to shy away from apocalypse. His early masterwork "A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall" was written in the throes of the Cuban Missle Crisis. And his greatest "late period" record, “Love and Theft,” was released on September 11, 2001.

Of course these are coincidences, and Together Through Life is at least as evocative of Chicago as it is of the Mexican border, but here as always Bob has his toe dipped in the wellspring of America's collective unconsciousness.

The guitars and vocals on Together Through Life have a sting on them that was missing from the more Western Swing-y Modern Times (A pretty record I must admit I found a little dull at times). Dylan digs down deep and delivers some of his most brutal vocals ever, especially on "My Wife's Home Town" where he shouts and guffaws like B.B. King on "How Blue Can You Get?" And much of the fine guitar work here is courtesy of Tom Petty's ace collaborator Mike Campbell.

Many of Together's songs deal with one of Bob's favorite subjects: love gone wrong. On Modern Times, he pledged to stay with his lover when the deal goes down, here it seems like the deal has gone down, and now it's time to get out while you can. As he (and co-lyricist Robert Hunter) says in "Forgetful Heart":

The door has closed forevermore
If indeed there ever was a door

Some have faulted Together Through Life because it is not "profound" like say Time Out of Mind. There are no proclamations on aging, or prophesies of doom, so Together Through Life is not what one would call a "major work." And that's one of the best things about it.

For all of his protests, visions and poetry, a good amount of Dylan's music from the beginning, from "Bob Dylan's 115th Dream" to "Thunder on the Mountain," has been a hoot, an excuse to dig into the blues with fellow musicians, and Together Through Life seems to fall into this category. Sure, Blood on the Tracks may be a "better" record, but sometimes you just want to throw on Planet Waves.

Big politician
Tellin' lies
Restaurant kichen
All full of flies
Don't make a bit of difference
Don't see why it should
But it's alright
'Cause it's all good

Bob's heavy message to the world in 2009, a world of Obama, Bernie Madoff-with-all-my-money, bailouts, White House photo shoots that re-enact 9/11 and swine flu? Here's another record, some of the songs are fast, some are slow. Hope you like it. And if you don't, there'll be another one sooner or later. With everything that's going on right now, it's nice to hear.