Agent Palmer

It’s hard to believe that there’s someone out there who hasn’t heard some version of “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door.” My cursory research revealed almost 100 official covers of the song and I believe that to be soft. 

But GNR’s version along with Warren Zevon’s edition got me thinking about what else is out there. I’m not talking about Dylan’s own preoccupation with playing his own songs at different tempos and phrasings live, never performing the same things twice. After all, that could be its own thing for almost anything Dylan sang.

Hit Man is based on an article. That article is based on a true story written by a journalist, as is the documentary Radical Wolfe. So too are the movies Almost Famous, Live Free or Die Hard, Argo, and Top Gun.

It was those first two that I mentioned that were both released in 2023 and most importantly credited the articles they were based on. And the whole thing got me thinking…

Photograph,as defined by my trusty Funk & Wagnalls, is a noun: “A picture taken by photography.” Ok, sometimes the simplest definitions just work. But I start there because we’re about to undertake a very photograph-heavy playlist with 15 songs simply titled “Photograph.”

The first two songs from Def Leppard and Nickelback were a kernel of an idea that started this playlist.

I used to have a massive box of fortune cookies. I “used” to. It’s gone now. 

I didn’t eat them, but I did open them. You see, for a while, when I was single, I would order enough takeout for a few days, especially over a weekend when I planned on doing a project. And when you do that, you get enough fortune cookies for the four people that they think are going to be eating the goods.

Bobs, as I’ve always known them, are people called Bob. It’s how you would call out to them at a party or on the phone.

A few examples to illustrate the point from this list: I would call Bob Dylan Bob, not Robert. The same is true for the late Bob Uecker. These are great examples because both of their legal names are Robert, but that’s not what they go by.