Bob Dylan / 5:26
Musicians
Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar
Clydie King: backup vocals
Mark Knopfler: guitar
Mick Taylor: guitar
Alan Clark: keyboards
Robbie Shakespeare: bass
Sly Dunbar: drums, percussion
Recording Studio
The Power Station / Studio A, New York: May 2,
Technical Team
Producers: Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler
Sound Engineer: Neil Dorfsman
With this song written in 1983, Dylan gives another example of his visionary gift. Here he produces a manifesto against globalization of trade that transformed human beings into mere consumers. The songwriter balances humor and derision. Shoes from Singapore, flashlights from Taiwan, tablecloths from Malaysia, shirts from the Philippines, silk dresses from Hong Kong, dog collars from India… It all adds up to a protest against imported consumer goods. This globalization “from Broadway to the Milky Way” was initially intended to benefit the West, but it is the developing countries that are reaping the benefits.
Dylan is firmly on the victims’ side. The Americans are helpless witnesses of a system beyond their control, seeing their jobs go to Argentina and El Salvador: “Well, the job that you used to have / They gave it to somebody down in El Salvador.” However, Dylan also scrutinizes American hypocrisy: “Lots of people complainin’ that there is no work / I say, ‘Why you say that for? / When nothin’ you got is US-made?’ / They don’t make nothin’ here no more.” He no longer recognizes the America of the pioneers: “Well, it’s sundown on the union / And what’s made in the USA / Sure was a good idea / ’Til greed got in the way.” Dylan’s song is genuinely reactionary. “Union Sundown” is not a political song, but rather a fierce diatribe against politicians. As Dylan stated in an interview with Martin Keller, “Political songs are slogans… Show me an honest politician, and I’ll show you a sanctified whore.”
With a rock delivery wrapped in a pronounced delay, Dylan leads a crusade against unbridled capitalism. Accompanied by Clydie King in the choruses, a backup vocalist since the album Saved, the songwriter has composed a blues-rock song that is tailor-made for his two guitarists. Mark Knopfler plays the basic riff, but Mick Taylor has the bigger role with his great, lithe slide guitar. The first two takes were recorded on April 27, but Dylan was not totally satisfied. He was not even sure if the song would fit the album and considered excluding it. On May 2, he returned to the tune, pushing through five additional takes, rerecording a new vocal, and including a rhythm guitar part. The last cut was chosen as the master. He performed “Union Sundown” for the first time in Houston on June 20, 1986.