After making a surprising return last month with the JFK assassination-referencing song “Murder Most Foul,” Bob Dylan is back again today with “I Contain Multitudes.” The song’s title references the famous line from the Walt Whitman poem, “Song of Myself.”
In the poem, Whitman writes:
Do I contradict myself?
Very well then
I contradict myself
I am large,
I contain multitudes
Dylan borrows the last line to portray himself as a “man of contradictions”:
Pink pedal-pushers, red blue jeans
All the pretty maids, and all the old queens
All the old queens from all my past lives
I carry four pistols and two large knives
I’m a man of contradictions, I’m a man of many moods
I contain multitudes
Whitman’s 1855 poem is often hailed as an American literary classic, not unlike some of Bob Dylan’s work.
The singer-songwriter announced “I Contain Multitudes” with a tweet containing some of its lyrics:
Dylan’s last album of original material was 2012’s Tempest, although he’s continued releasing cover and live albums.
Read all the lyrics to Bob Dylan’s “I Contain Multitudes” on Genius now.
