恶人谷

For instance, what in the world is Dylan doing riffing on Alicia Keys in the opener, "Thunder on the Mountain"? Is the craggy folk singer and bluesman actually lusting after the young R&B starlet? Is she a metaphor for something or somebody else? Does Dylan have Keys's wondrous song "Fallin' " on his iPod Shuffle? (And does he even own an iPod? One moment, he's railing in a Rolling Stone interview against the quality of modern recordings; the next he's starring in an iTunes commercial on network TV.)

"I was thinking about Alicia Keys, couldn't help from crying / When she was born in Hell's Kitchen, I was living down the line," Dylan croaks on the rollicking, Chuck Berry-style blues number. "I'm wondering where in the world Alicia Keys could be / I been looking for her even clear through Tennessee."

All aboard the mystery train!

Later in the song, Dylan is less cryptic: "I want some real good woman to do just what I say / Everybody got to wonder what's the matter with this cruel world today."