"Dignity" | ||||
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Song by Bob Dylan | ||||
from the album Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 | ||||
Released | November 15, 1994 | |||
Recorded | March-April 1989 (original recording); 1994 (mixing and overdubbing) | |||
Genre | Folk rock | |||
Length | 5:58 | |||
Label | Columbia | |||
Songwriter(s) | Bob Dylan | |||
Producer(s) | Brendan O'Brien | |||
Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 track listing | ||||
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"Dignity" is a song by Bob Dylan, first released on Bob Dylan's Greatest Hits Volume 3 on November 15, 1994 and also released as a CD single a month later. It was originally recorded in the spring of 1989 during the Oh Mercy studio sessions, but was not included on the album.
The difficulties recording the song during the Oh Mercy sessions are described by Dylan in his autobiography, Chronicles, Vol 1. It was originally recorded with Dylan accompanied by Brian Stoltz and Willie Green. Though they managed to complete a polished performance, producer Daniel Lanois suggested something more ambitious with a Cajun band. Curious to see what Lanois had in mind, Dylan agreed to recut the song. The next evening, a session was held with Rockin' Dopsie and His Cajun Band, but the results were disastrous. The group experimented with different keys and tempos, but according to Dylan, everyone was frustrated with the results.
Dylan still preferred the original version recorded the previous day, but neither he nor Lanois considered it finished. As the session continued into the early morning hours, the group gave up and began playing old standards like "Jambalaya", "Your Cheatin' Heart", and "There Stands the Glass". The next day, they listened to every take of "Dignity" recorded with Dopsie and his band, and all of them were rejected. "Whatever promise Dan had seen in the song was beaten into a bloody mess", Dylan recalled. "Where we had started from, we'd never gotten back to, a fishing expedition gone nowhere. In no take did we ever turn back the clock. We just kept winding it. Every take another ball of confusion." "Dignity" was set aside, never to be revisited for the remainder of the sessions.
The song as released in 1994 was remixed and overdubbed by Brendan O'Brien (who also played organ on the song on MTV Unplugged the same year). Although this particular re-recording is compositionally similar to the 1989 session (despite extended lead guitar interludes between verses and the outro in the 1994 version), the only element retained from the 1989 session was Dylan's lead vocal. A fresh rhythm track (bass guitar and drums), keyboards, guitars (electric and acoustic), banjo and tambourine were added during the 1994 session for "Dignity". The driving slide guitar heard throughout the original was omitted.