Here are 10 Philly songs we think Bob Dylan should sing at the Fillmore this weekend
Songs for the Bard to consider: from Bruce Springsteen and Elton John, to Sister Rosetta Tharpe and The Hooters.
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When Bob Dylan kicked off a new leg of his “Rough and Rowdy Ways” tour last month, the legendary songwriter introduced an element of surprise.
Dylan — who plays the Fillmore in Fishtown on Sunday, 60 years after his first Philadelphia appearance at the Ethical Society on Rittenhouse Square in 1963 — started the tour with an unchanging set list. He has been opening with his 1971 single “Watching the River Flow”; closing with “Every Grain of Sand,” from 1981′s Shot of Love; and mixing in plenty from 2021′s stunningly sharp Rough and Rowdy Ways.
But on opening night in Kansas City, Dylan threw a geographical curveball by playing Wilbert Harrison’s “Kansas City.” On subsequent tour stops, he’s added a cover of an artist or song strongly identified with whatever city he finds himself in.
In St. Louis, that meant Chuck Berry. In Chicago, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Waters, and Paul Butterfield. Leonard Cohen was covered in Montreal, and Dwight Yoakam’s “South of Cincinnati” in Cincinnati.
The unpredictable 81-year-old Bard, however, hasn’t held to the strategy every night. But it made me wonder: What are the most iconic Philadelphian songs Dylan could use to shout out the city?
We know Dylan boxes in his spare time, but Bill Conti’s “Theme from Rocky” doesn’t really have words, and he probably hasn’t had time to learn the Kelce Brothers’ “Fairytale of Philadelphia.”
The list of Philly songs to imagine Dylan interpreting is long. Hall & Oates “I Can’t Go for That (No Can Do)”? DJ Jazzy Jeff & the Fresh Prince’s “Parents Just Don’t Understand”? Chubby Checker’s “The Twist”? The mind boggles.
I’m guessing Dylan’s not going to do any of those. So here is a (mostly) serious short list of Philly songs that he might consider performing.
1. Bruce Springsteen, ‘Streets of Philadelphia’
An obvious choice. Dylan has mocked the Boss on the 1988 Traveling Wilburys song “Tweeter and the Monkeyman,” but he’s also a fan. He once turned up in Long Branch, N.J., thought to be looking for the house where “Born to Run” was written. Springsteen has covered Dylan many times, from “I Want You” to “Chimes of Freedom.” Here’s an opportunity to turn the tables, with the ghostly meditation from Jonathan Demme’s 1993 movie, Philadelphia.
2. Woody Guthrie, ‘Philadelphia Lawyer’
As Dylan is to Springsteen, Woody Guthrie is to Dylan — an essential influence. “Philadelphia Lawyer” isn’t really a Philadelphia song — it was inspired by a 1937 newspaper article about a slick attorney killed by a jealous husband in Reno, Nev. — but the “Song to Woody” songwriter reveres Guthrie. If I were a gambler, I’d take odds on this one.
3. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, ‘If You Don’t Know Me By Now’
In the 2022 book The Philosophy of Modern Song, Dylan penned short, strange essays about 66 songs, including one Sound of Philly classic: this 1972 hit written by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff and sung by Teddy Pendergrass. Dylan calls it “beautifully arranged and performed to perfection ... a song of self-pride, self-admiration.”
4. Billy Paul, ‘Me & Mrs. Jones’
Mr. Jones stars in “Ballad of a Thin Man.” Equal time should be granted to Mrs. Jones, the married woman who Billy Paul’s protagonist sneaks around with in this adulterous 1972 hit, also penned by Gamble and Huff. I can already hear Bob confessing, “We got a thing … going on.”
5. Sister Rosetta Tharpe, ‘Strange Things Happening Every Day’
The gospel singer and trailblazing electric guitarist buried in Northwood Cemetery in West Oak Lane was a primary influence on Dylan. He’s called her “a powerful force of nature, a guitar playing, singing evangelist.” Covering this metaphysical wonder of a song from 1944 would be a masterstroke.
6. The Hooters, ‘All You Zombies’
Loosen up, Mr. Nobel Prize winner. Dylan songs are filled with Biblical imagery, and what could be more Philly than covering this Old Testament throwdown by the band who played the same Live Aid stage as Dylan at JFK Stadium in 1985?
7. The War on Drugs, ‘I Don’t Live Here Anymore’
This would be seriously meta. The imprint of Dylan is everywhere on the War on Drugs’ Adam Granduciel’s vocals. On this title cut to the band’s 2021 album, Granduciel sings about seeing one of his heroes in concert and dancing to “Desolation Row.” Just imagine: Bob Dylan singing about going to see Bob Dylan.
» READ MORE: Bob Dylan played dodgeball in the Northeast and other stories from his half-century playing Philly
8. The O’Jays, ‘Backstabbers’
“If you need somebody you can trust,” Dylan once sang, “trust yourself.” This O’Jays 1972 hit was written by Leon Huff with Gene McFadden and John Whitehead with a string arrangement by Thom Bell and a dose of Dylanesque paranoia.
9. Marah, ‘Christian Street’
Traveling down a South Philly commercial corridor where “the corner pay phone is for bettin’ the numbers” and “the pizza joint is for peppers and eggs” is a gem from brothers Dave and Serge Bielanko’s band’s 2000 album, Kids in Philly, where the lyrics tumble out with a Dylanesque love of language.
10. Elton John, ‘Philadelphia Freedom’
Dylan is a tennis fan once photographed playing with George Harrison. But his fandom can’t match Elton John’s, who wrote this 1974 song with Bernie Taupin to celebrate Billie Jean King’s World Team Tennis squad, the Philadelphia Freedoms. The thumping hit became a bicentennial anthem in 1976 and is set to come back in fashion 50 years later.