Bob Dylan / 3:59
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, piano
Ron Cornelius: guitar (?)
Buzzy Feiten: guitar
David Bromberg: guitar (?)
Harvey Brooks: bass (?)
Charlie Daniels: bass (?)
Al Kooper: organ
Russ Kunkel: drums (?)
Billy Mundi: drums (?)
Recording Studio
Columbia Recording Studios / Studio E, New York: August 12, 1970
Technical Team
Producer: Bob Johnston
Sound Engineer: Don Puluse
The song “Day of the Locusts” takes its title from Nathanael West’s 1939 novel, a ruthless satire of human relationships and the pretenses and broken dreams of Hollywood. It is also an opportunity for Dylan to discuss the “strange day” he spent at Princeton University on June 9, 1970, when he was presented with an honorary doctorate. Dylan’s wife Sara and his friend David Crosby of Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young worked hard to convince Bob to go to Princeton University to accept this honor. After hesitating a long time, due to the respected institution’s very conservative image, he finally agreed to go to New Jersey. In Chronicles, he recalls, “In short time the officials led me into a crowded room and put me in a robe, and soon I was looking out over a crowd of well-dressed people in the sun.”1 Things went wrong when the speaker introduced the songwriter as “the authentic expression of the disturbed and concerned conscience of Young America.” Dylan continues in Chronicles, “Oh sweet Jesus! It was like a jolt. It shuddered and trembled but remained expressionless… I couldn’t believe it! Tricked once more… After whispering and mumbling my way through the ceremony, I was handed the scroll. We piled back into the big Buick and drove away. It had been a strange day.”1 The locusts singing off in the distance recall the book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. As for the Black Hills, where the narrator wants to take his beloved, they are a place sacred to the Lakota people (Sioux tribes) in the Dakotas, and may be seen as an evocation of the superiority of mysticism over materialism, one of the main themes of this album.
There were seven takes and just one session devoted to “Day of the Locusts” on August 12, the last recording day dedicated to New Morning. The last take was selected. Dylan plays piano and provides a very good vocal performance. He has made obvious progress at the keyboard. The other musicians are unidentified, except for Buzzy Feiten on the guitar and, perhaps, Billy Mundi on drums. Note that locusts are heard in the introduction and at several points during the song! Dylan has never performed the song live.