Bob Dylan Approximately

How many characters appear in the seven verses of Dylan’s High Water (For Charley Patton)?Can Englishmen pronounce “panties” without raising a larf? Do we finally nail the meaning of “I’m no pig without a wig”? Is sardonic “2001” Bob cooler than snarky “1965” Bob? Who is sexier: 2001 Bob or 1965 Bob? Is “Love and Theft” bleaker than Time Out of Mind?

Is Dylan the Master of Terror? In My Own Version of You, what exactly is a robot commando? Is there no success like failure? Why does yer man call electricity ‘lectricity? What are the numbers between 1 and 2? What did Paul McCartney bring to Jerome? And who is Jerome?What’s the difference between Vincent Price and Stewie Griffin?

Song 1: High Water (For Charley Patton) https://open.spotify.com/track/1r6IfDCKm3YqPo5UyFvSMv?si=d728e33bac794f35

Song 2: My Own Version of You https://open.spotify.com/track/3BQnez3qUm6hdKwxXly7Rw?si=f6af6b99454044f9

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel's other podcast where he and Kerry met. It's called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and follow it on Instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcasts/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Record at Lipsync Post, Soho, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Engineer: Roisin King

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today we offer you a free bonus episode, on us here at Bob Dylan Approximately. This was Bonus Episode 6 that came out in early November 2025. Listen as we start out our 3-part epic deep dive into Bob Dylan's 'memoir' 'Chronicles (Volume One').

If you enjoy our bonus content, please consider becoming a Bobsessive over on our Patreon. We release episodes weekly to our Patrons, as well as early access to all regular episodes, and ad-free listening. For less than the price of a pint per month you can support us in making the podcast as good as it can possibly be. Thank you.

Recorded at Cathouse Studios, Islington, London.

Produced by Robin Guise

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a teaser of Bonus EP#11 - That Dylan Scorsese Netflix Thing (BDA Film Club III). The full episode is available to our Bobsessives over on Patreon right now, for just £5 a month.

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

How does Martin Scorsese pronounce “Martin Scorsese”? Is Allen Ginsberg really a fantastic dancer? What’s the point of leaving a legacy? Which London drama school did “Stefan Van Dorp” get kicked out of? Did the Rolling Thunder film dent the Netflix charts? Who is the mystery woman in the “mental marriage” sequence? (seriously, let us know…)

Recorded at Cathouse Studio, Islington, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Theme music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was America Great when Dylan wrote The Ballad of Hollis Brown? What links the song to Othello’s pal, Iago? What’s the difference between being broke and having nothing? How did Dylan make that stabbing sound on his guitar? Who stole Ronnie Wood’s duvet? Which Bluegrass band named themselves after a brand of bib overalls?

How does Talkin’ World War III Blues make use Shakespeare’s iambic verse? How does Donovan feature in the live version of the song? What’s with the lyrics on the official Dylan website? Is Dylan registered to vote? Does he prefer answers or questions? Is sex dirty? Did Abraham Lincoln say that? Where does Daniel Day-Lewis fit in?

Song 1: Ballad of Hollis Brown https://open.spotify.com/track/3Si9u9FVlUTcUXVcawnstJ?si=d65b1bd2cf644d25

Song 2: Talkin' World War III Blues https://open.spotify.com/track/0ePDsEDDIPZNpbwRUEXKoX?

si=6f8119025584499d

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel's other podcast where he and Kerry met. It's called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and follow it on Instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcasts/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Recorded at Lipsync Post, Soho, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Engineer: Roisin King

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a teaser of Bonus EP#10 - Yea! Heavy & A Pack of Wild Geese (The Second Pilot Episode). The full episode is available to our Bobsessives over on Patreon right now, for just £5 a month.

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

What is it with Dylan and Rome? How did The Band's version of the song come to feature Coca-Cola? Why did the Romans keep a pack of wild geese? Who are the real mighty kings of the jungle? What’s the song’s possible connection with drug addiction? What’s the definite connection with Tommy James and the Shondells?

How did Dylan manage to stay in Woodstock? Is Yea! Heavy & A Bottle of Bread about Bob re-joining his pirate buddies on the road? Which is more disgusting, blood or pus? What quality do Levon and Bob have in common? How do foreign cover versions open up Dylan’s songs? Has Dylan ever left his absurdist period?

Our bad: “Crimson and Clover was released in ’68, not ’65

Song 1: Yea! Heavy & A Pack of Wild Geese https://open.spotify.com/track/4daGDsq2Gv4qeGR3uYpQoy?si=45162d6aaba84103

Song 2: When I Paint My Masterpiece https://open.spotify.com/track/2AvzdZW3p6eouVGk2F9QnV?si=50406b06ede740fb

Hank Shizzoe’s cover version of “Yea, Heavy & A Bottle of Bread”.https://open.spotify.com/track/4wZmAqa0vGqWsgtOSKhB7J?si=bdd9d43eaf5b4785

Recorded at Cathouse Studio, Islington, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Edited by: Daniel Crespin

Theme music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Has our special guest, comedian Nish Kumar, officially entered his “Every Grain of Sand” era? What does screenwriting guru Robert McKee have to say about the song? Which small seed-eating bird was used as a cheap source of protein in Biblical times? Why did Nish try to avoid seeing Dylan in concert after 2002? Does he think Bob and Nick Cave have a duty to engage more fully with politics? Why does Nish owe Kerry a thank you? Is Daily Show guest host Jordan Klepper listening to (or watching) BDA?

We are delighted to welcome Nish to the podcast this week. Nish has achieved huge success on the stand-up circuit with five rave reviewed solo stand-up shows at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, two of which have been nominated for the prestigious Comedy Award for Best Show in both 2015 & 2016.

Alongside stand-up Nish is a frequent voice and face across both television and radio, following a successful pilot in 2016, Nish completed two series of his own topical show for BBC Radio 4, Spotlight Tonight, which he also hosts as well as hosting both The News Quiz, Newsjack and Pod Save the U.K.

Link to the Guardian article Nish references: https://www.theguardian.com/theobserver/2001/mar/25/features.review7

Nish’s song Choice: Every Grain of Sand https://open.spotify.com/track/6MfOFYmw1TD9QDFSu0TEN1?si=b4c8ef59b605493a

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel's other podcast where he and Kerry met. It's called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and follow it on Instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcasts/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Recorded at Lipsync Post, Soho, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Engineer/Editor: Rob Hughes

Additional Editing by Daniel Crespin

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a teaser of Bonus EP#9 - Floating and Wiggling (The First Pilot Episode). The full episode is available to our Bobsessives over on Patreon right now for just £5 a month.

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast. Thanks for your listenership!

This was our first ever pilot episode, recorded back in March 2025.

Who is this Floater guy? Does his second cousin realise he’s in love with her? Who sang ‘I saw you Talkin’ with Christopher Walken’? What do Dean Martin and the Stanley Brothers have in common? What do fans of Dylan and Tom Waits have in common? Is it too much to ask what ‘too much to ask’ means? 

Has ‘Wiggle Wiggle’ been correctly reviled by fans and critics? Or is it an unfairly maligned gem, detailing in code the secrets of his creative process? Do you find it sickening? Sexual? Embarrassing? All of the above? Then why did Bob choose to play it in concert 100 times? Most importantly, can a bowl of soup actually wiggle?

Recorded at Cathouse Studios, Islington, London

Producer: Robin Guise

Editor: Daniel Crespin

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel’s other podcast where he and Kerry met. It’s called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, or follow it on instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Was Dylan’s voice “at its peak of nasality” on I Want You? How does it figure in A Complete Unknown? Why was the lonesome organ grinder crying? Who was Joni Mitchell’s biggest influence as a songwriter? What’s the possible Brian Jones connection? Who said, “love and sex hang everybody up… it’s just whatever two souls happen to be.”

Which album is worse: Knocked Out Loaded or Down In the Groove? Which song is superior: Brownsville Girl or New Danville Girl? Which 80’s Road movie do they remind you of? Who doesn’t love Ruby? What’s the difference between a flea market and a swap meet? Was Jimmy Ringo (Gregory Peck) standing in for Bob Dylan in The Gunfighter?

Song 1: I Want You https://open.spotify.com/track/7tJQ4Ekp2vN3NlI3vJJW3v?si=61eec8b108004c47

Song 2: New Danville Girl https://open.spotify.com/track/2mtFuEkmXvFFirYgkPZqGQ?si=65093657eb9d40d9

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel's other podcast where he and Kerry met. It's called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and follow it on Instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcasts/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Recorded at Lipsync Post

Engineer: Roisin King 

Producer: Robin Guise

Editor: Daniel Crespin

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is a teaser of Bonus EP# - Chronicles: Volume One (Part III) (BDA Book Club III). The full episode is available to our Bobsessives over on Patreon right now for just £5 a month.

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast. Thanks for your listenership!

Is America still “wrapped up in a blanket of rage”? Which Mohawk/Jewish guitarist stupefied Dylan? What if Bob had played the Woodstock Festival? Who were the “buncha dickheads on autostroke”? Is BD the opposite of Bill Maher and James Joyce? Who was Sun Pie and which Dylan lyric did he write? Why did Allen Ginsberg force Kerry to buy his book?

Bob Dylan Book Club Recommendations:

Dan / Ghost Rider by Neil Peart

Kerry / A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel’s other podcast where he and Kerry met. It’s called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, or follow it on instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Dylan’s Lenny Bruce an execrable song, or actually quite good? Which chat show host interviewed both Bob and Lenny? Which seminal album cover featured both of them? What links Peter Cook, Robert de Niro and Bob Fosse? Who is Dylan talking to when he describes Lenny as “more of an outlaw than you ever were?”

Was Rubin Carter ever the Number One contender for the Middleweight crown? Who was the portly Irishman who cried out “My God! They’ve killed them all” in Dylan and Levy’s Hurricane? How many lawsuits were initiated by the song (and the movie)? Which Hollywood actress climbed into the ring with Bob? Who is Winston Watson?

Song 1: Lenny Bruce https://open.spotify.com/track/5d59AKrvfX5vA4gVQAaEBq?si=5542ab3688874259

Song 2: Hurricane https://open.spotify.com/track/1lqMLr9Wj7SM2F9AikGcxN?si=2a74dbf502234f8e

Are you a Bobsessive? If so, please consider joining us over on Patreon patreon.com/BobDylanApproximately for bonus episodes, early access to all episodes and much more. To further support the podcast, please rate and review via whichever platform you are listening to the podcast, and hit that follow button. Thanks for your listenership!

Follow us on Instagram @bobdylanapproximately

Follow us on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@BobDylanApproximately

If you like this podcast, you may also enjoy Daniel's other podcast where he and Kerry met. It's called Starving Artists, and you can find it wherever you get your podcasts, and follow it on Instagram @starvingartists_pod

Or you might want to check out some of the 80 episodes of Is It Rolling, Bob? Talking Dylan, the podcast Kerry previously co-hosted, with guests including Billy Bragg, Stewart Lee and Nish Kumar. https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcasts/is-it-rolling-bob-talking-dylan/id1437321669

Recorded at Lipsync Post

Engineer: Roisin King 

Producer: Robin Guise

Editor: Daniel Crespin

Theme Music: The Haze by Daniel Crespin

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.