In praise of CD/Game Exchange (Again)

I realize I've written a lot about Silver Spring's own CD/Game Exchange here, but as long as they keep giving me reasons to do so, I'll keep doing it. This time, it (again) involves technology, some great deals/finds and me finally getting my hands on The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan that I've been looking for since... well, since I started collecting records.

It started Thursday morning when I got a direct message on Twitter from Sam at CD/Game Exchange letting me know they had some new items in. This, of course, was less than a week after Record Store Day, during which I spent way too much money on records and had pledged to take a break. I was going to pass it up. Then Sam, who later told me he had saw a post of mine about searching for Freewheelin', said they had that record in, and he'd hold it for me for a day or two.

It was a matter of hours -- after work, to be precise -- and I was biking over to CD/Game Exchange to take a look at the new acquisitions and pick up Freewheelin'. I know it's like a broken records (PUNS!) but this is yet another example of the benefit of small, independent businesses, particularly record stores, and the wonders of technology. The end result? Some great new records, and one I had been looking for for far too long.

Thursdays' pick-ups (pictured above):

• Santana - 'Amigos'
• Elvis Costello and the Attractions - 'Imperial Bedroom'
• Bob Dylan - 'Nashville Skyline'
• Bob Dylan - 'The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan'
• Eric Clapton - '461 Ocean Boulevard'

Freewheelin' Bob Dylan - Talkin' World War III Blues

A great song in its own right, Bob Dylan's 'Talkin' World War III Blues' has to be up there as one of my favorite Dylan songs ever, and definitely one of his best from his protest-y/folk/Woody Guthrie-like era. Remember, it came out in 1963. I could quote the entire song, but I'll just select a portion or two and strongly suggest you take the time to listen to it. Basically, it's a folk freestyle, and Dylan recorded five versions off the cuff, live in the studio. Number 5 made it on the album, and basically it tells a tale of Dylan's day post-World War III.

Here's a great portion:

Down at the corner by a hot-dog stand
I seen a man
I said, “Howdy friend, I guess there’s just us two”
He screamed a bit and away he flew
Thought I was a Communist

Well, I spied a girl and before she could leave
“Let’s go and play Adam and Eve”
I took her by the hand and my heart it was thumpin’
When she said, “Hey man, you crazy or sumpin’
You see what happened last time they started”

Well, I seen a Cadillac window uptown
And there was nobody aroun’
I got into the driver’s seat
And I drove down 42nd Street
In my Cadillac. Good car to drive after a war

Here's another section that end the song:

Well, now time passed and now it seems
Everybody’s having them dreams
Everybody sees themselves
Walkin’ around with no one else
Half of the people can be part right all of the time
Some of the people can be all right part of the time
But all of the people can’t be all right all of the time
I think Abraham Lincoln said that
“I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours”
I said that

Classic Dylan, and one of my favorite tracks off one of my favorite Dylan albums: The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan.