My Own Version of You

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"'''My Own Version of You'''" is a song written and performed by the American singer-songwriter [[Bob Dylan]] and released as the third track on his 2020 album ''[[Rough and Rowdy Ways]]''. Influenced by [[Mary Shelley]]'s novel ''[[Frankenstein]]'', the darkly comical song features a narrator who describes bringing "someone to life" using the body parts of disparate corpses in what has been widely interpreted as an elaborate metaphor for the songwriting process.<ref></ref><ref> Untold Dylan|url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/15413|access-date=2021-02-15|language=en-GB}}</ref>

== Critical reception ==
Some critics have noted that, even apart from the lyric, the music to "My Own Version of You" is "spooky".<ref></ref> This is due primarily to [[Tony Garnier (musician)|Tony Garnier]]'s descending bass line and a pedal-steel guitar part by Donnie Herron that resembles the sound of the [[theremin]] parts frequently heard on science-fiction and horror-movie soundtracks.<ref></ref> The song's overall "feel" has also been compared to that of [[Screamin' Jay Hawkins]]' 1956 novelty-horror single "[[I Put a Spell on You]]".<ref> SoundStageAccess.com (GoodSound.com) - Bob Dylan: "Rough and Rowdy Ways"|url=https://www.soundstageaccess.com/index.php/music-and-movie-reviews/featured-releases/1070-bob-dylan-rough-and-rowdy-ways|access-date=2021-02-16|website=www.soundstageaccess.com}}</ref><ref></ref>

The lyrics prominently feature gothic-horror imagery, which can be found to a lesser extent on other songs on ''[[Rough and Rowdy Ways]]'' (including "[[I Contain Multitudes]]", which references the story "[[The Tell-Tale Heart]]" by [[Edgar Allan Poe]], and "[[Murder Most Foul (song)|Murder Most Foul]]", which alludes to the movies [[The Wolf Man (1941 film)|''The Wolf Man'']], [[The Invisible Man (1933 film)|''The Invisible Man'']] and ''[[A Nightmare on Elm Street]]''). A number of lyrics in "My Own Version of You" explicitly reference ''[[Frankenstein]]'', including the opening verse ("I've been visiting morgues and monasteries / Looking for the necessary parts")<ref></ref> as well as lines about studying "Sanskrit and Arabic"<ref></ref> and needing "one strike of lightning" and a "blast of 'lectricity"<ref></ref> to bring the song's creature, the "you" of the title, to life. A number of critics see the notion of stitching together "body parts" in order to create new life as analogous to the way Dylan stitches together lines from diverse sources (e.g., songs, poems, movie dialogue, etc.) in order to bring a ''song'' to life. Chief among these critics is Dylan scholar Laura Tenschert who posits "My Own Version of You" as part of a diptych of songs, along with "Mother of Muses", that explore the "myth and mystery of creation" on ''Rough and Rowdy Ways''.<ref></ref>

Sam Sodomsky, writing in [[Pitchfork (website)|''Pitchfork'']], called the song a "macabre narrative" in which Dylan sings "about playing god as he scavenges through morgues and cemeteries to reanimate a few notable corpses and absorb their knowledge...slapstick horror rendered as existential comedy."<ref></ref> Writing in ''[[Rolling Stone]]'', critic [[Rob Sheffield]] described Dylan's vocal performance on the track as "marvelously nimble and delicate" as he sings the song's humorous lyrics.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> Critic [[Sanjoy Narayan]], who hailed ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' as a "masterpiece", cited "My Own Version of You" as the one song "that really stood out" to him on the album.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2) Bob Dylan's rough and rowdy return|url=https://www.livemint.com/mint-lounge/features/opinion-bob-dylan-s-rough-and-rowdy-return-11593137698596.html|access-date=2021-02-16|website=mint|language=en}}</ref>

== Cultural references ==
Two of the song's lyrics reference famous lines in plays by [[William Shakespeare]]: "Well, it must be the winter of my discontent" paraphrases the opening line of [[Richard III|''Richard III'']]<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref> and "Tell me what it means / To be or not to be" alludes to the most well-known line in ''[[Hamlet]]''.<ref>Liquid error: wrong number of arguments (given 1, expected 2)</ref>

"I'll take the [[Scarface (1983 film)|''Scarface'']] Pacino and the [[The Godfather|''Godfather'']] Brando / Mix 'em up in a tank and get a robot commando" refers to two of the most famous performances by American "[[Method acting|Method]]" actors [[Al Pacino]] and [[Marlon Brando]].

A line about getting "gunpowder from ice" is a reference to a line in Chapter 5 of ''[[Gulliver's Travels]]'' by [[Jonathan Swift]].<ref></ref>

As in "[[Goodbye Jimmy Reed]]", the line "You can bring it to [[Saint Peter]], you can bring it to Jerome" humorously juxtaposes the sacred and the secular by referencing an apostle of [[Jesus]] alongside [[Bo Diddley]]'s maracas player.<ref> Untold Dylan|url=https://bob-dylan.org.uk/archives/15413|access-date=2021-02-16|language=en-GB}}</ref>

== References ==


[[Category:2020 songs]]
[[Category:Bob Dylan songs]]
[[Category:Songs written by Bob Dylan]]

== External links ==

*
* [https://ift.tt/2OHuU3j Lyrics]

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