The Bob Dylan and Johnny Thunders Connection

Can Zimmy put his arms around a memory?

When it comes to music, Bob Dylan is the original punk, or at least one of the original punks in music. His defiance of folk music’s restrictions changed the genre, as well as the ways in which a lyricist could convey ideas and concepts. Dylan appreciated the “frustration” and “anger” of punk music, but never created any punk-genre music of his own, and instead created a trilogy of Christian-rock albums during the peak of punk. In many ways, Dylan had already gone through his punk phase and was ready to try out some old time religion.

One of the original punks of punk rock was Johnny Thunders. He was one of the guitarists for the New York Dolls, who then co-founded the Heartbreakers (not Petty’s) and dropped the seminal album L.A.M.F. which is punk canon. It was the track, on his debut solo album So Alone, called “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” that showed the lyrical depth of Thunders.

“You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” is universal in its message and it’s right there in the title. We miss the scars of love, even if they used to hurt, because they reminded us of what we had. Like memories, scars will fade. Depending on your experience in life and love, that message can be melancholy or liberating, but most likely, both.

According to an interview with New York Dolls’ guitarist Sylvain Sylvain in the biography, Looking for Johnny, Bob Dylan once told him that he wished he had written the track. Dylan has neither confirmed nor denied this, but it’s not a far-fetched story to imagine.

Just a few years before “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” was written, Dylan was writing songs like “Tangled Up in Blue” and “If You Say Her, Say Hello” which came from what many consider to be his divorce album, Blood on the Tracks. These songs and others show Dylan at from a more vulnerable angle than past breakup songs like “Positively 4th Street” or “Don’t Think Twice It’s All Right” that posture with angst and resentment. “You Can’t Put Your Arms Around a Memory” brings the wistful regret that Dylan gave us when he said, We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view.”