Bob Dylan / 4:07
Musicians: Bob Dylan: vocals, guitar, harmonica; Waddy Wachtel: guitar; Al Kooper: organ, piano; Don Was: bass; Kenny Aronoff: drums / Recording Studios: The Complex Studios (?) / The Record Plant (?), Los Angeles: February–March 1990; Ocean Way Recording, Hollywood, California (Overdubs May 3–4, 1990) Producers: Don Was, David Was, and Jack Frost (Bob Dylan) / Sound Engineer: Ed Cherney
Far from Dylan’s major works of the 1960s, “Unbelievable” is nonetheless a poetic song full of contempt for materialism and misinformation. In the second verse, Dylan sings, “They said it was the land of milk and honey / Now they say it’s the land of money.” The narrator’s regrets are painful and ironic. He no longer recognizes the pioneers and does not particularly appreciate the America of Wall Street: “It’s unbelievable you can get this rich this quick.” According to Dylan, the evils of society, as it has drifted, are greed and lies, and since there is no real answer, the only way out is nonsense. The song echoes the main idea of “I Shall Be Free No. 10” (Another Side of Bob Dylan).
“Unbelievable” is an excellent boogie song with a very strong rhythm section. Don Was and Kenny Aronoff (who played with Santana, John Fogerty, and on Oh Mercy) give the song its irresistible groove. Al Kooper plays great keyboard parts, reminiscent of Steve Winwood’s work with Traffic. Waddy Wachtel, the talented guitarist who had played with the Everly Brothers and the Rolling Stones, provides a good rockabilly guitar phrase, the only saturated guitar part of the song. Dylan plays acoustic. The guitar riff in the introduction bears a slight resemblance to “Honey Don’t” by Carl Perkins (1957). Dylan delivers a fine vocal performance, maybe lacking energy in his bluesy harmonica solo (in A).
The song, unfortunately, lacks something. The base rhythm track was taped in February or March, and keyboard and guitar overdubs were done on May 3 and 4. Until the last moment before recording, Dylan constantly changed the lyrics, just as he did in the majority of his songs. “Unbelievable” was released as a single with “10,000 Men” on the B-side in September 1990. The single reached the very respectable number 21 on the US Billboard charts the year of its release. Dylan has sung “Unbelievable” onstage twenty times since a concert at Lansdowne Stadium in Ottawa, Canada, on August 22, 1992.