91. 2 x 2

Track 2 on Side 2 of Under the Red Sky—2 x 2.

David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young is here, but he’s not very important. As in most of the Was-masterminded superstar appearances on Under the Red Sky, the guest’s contributions are submerged in the river of Dylan’s vision, which flows across 2 x 2 as pure and assured as it ever has. The only thing Crosby contributes that I would miss if he hadn’t been invited to the party is the “yeah” he lets out, without anything from Dylan to prompt him, after the second chorus. But in its role as a background voice—a smooth and easy counterpoint to Dylan’s rasp, which flames holy and forbidding like the sword at the entrance to the Garden of Eden—as a single instrument in the arrangement’s rich blend, then, Crosby’s singing does just fine.

Like Wiggle Wiggle, 2 x 2 opens with a flourish that has a different mood from the main body of the song. It’s a beautiful, eastern and ‘mystical’-sounding riff, complemented by chords from a second electric guitar. Both guitars sound warped and dreamy. Once this fanfare has pulled the listener in, it gives way to the drums and the voices, which lead the way for the rest of the band, “one by ONE” and we’re rolling.

I like the way the two voices are spaced in the verses, Crosby counting along with Dylan but holding off as Dylan concludes the rhyme with the unpredictable, counterintuitive phrasing that’s one of Under the Red Sky’s attractions.

What in the world is this song about? I can catch the spirit and the feeling but not the exact gist. And I’m glad it’s that way. Robert Christgau, the eloquent, calls Under the Red Sky “evocative,” “fabulistic,” “biblical” and, in all these regards, “kind of like John Wesley Harding.” Right on. It’s the aspects that, in whatever fashion, make a song inexhaustible, that keep us coming back to it.

What I've gathered: the story is related to Noah’s ark via the titular reference and the overt “they step in the ark.” The ark may be more mental than physical here, but in any case it seems to be a conveyance that weathers widespread depredation. The characters being counted are salvation seekers. Their procession towards the ark is buoyed by the song's pretty melodies and the rhythm’s unwavering forward motion. The tenderness of the lyrics, as of Bob’s singing, suggests that they will attain or are near to attaining their goal, and that some kind of salvation is or soon will be theirs. The refrains emphasize the hardships they have undergone already and those that may still be ahead of them—“How many [tomorrows] without any reward? How many more can they afford?”

Somewhere in the words or the music, somewhere I can’t quite place, there’s a plaintiveness that undercuts or at least complicates the pending salvation. I’m not sure whether that’s because the salvation is somehow elusive or poisoned (I love the intensity of “How much poison did they inhale?”) or whether all that they’ve suffered during their journey is, despite the joy and celebration ahead (“they dance on the sea,” “they dance on the shore”), not so easily left behind.

Although the number-rhymes are not unduly daring, I retain a clear memory of the way I hung on them the first time I heard 2 x 2. I put this up to Bob’s phrasing, the way he caresses and teases and stretches out the rhymes. 

The bass guitar, mixed loud and clear, is the heart of the arrangement, sticking mostly to root notes in a way that suggests the walking or marching motion of the characters; and because the bass cleaves to the root notes while everything else is swirling, the moments when it veers away from the root or adds a whole run of notes are captivating. The drumbeat complements the bass, adding a succession of fills. Paulinho Da Costa’s percussion helps keep the rhythm steady when the drums dance. The keyboards and guitars fill the upper half of the song’s register with melodies, leaving room for Dylan’s beautifully wavering voice to occupy the middle chamber, between the melody instruments and the heartbeat bass.

My favorite stretch of music is the brief but overflowingly full instrumental break that precedes the second chorus. It starts with catchily coordinated rhythmic notes from keyboard and guitar, then moves into an exquisite keyboard solo, while the drums and the bass get fanciful. Following this interlude, the refrain is doubly good. And I love the runs of plucky guitar that accompany the fade-out.