Had I taken this class this time last year, all of my work – my reviews, my infographics, my podcasts, everything – would have been about Led Zeppelin. At that time, they were the artist of the moment for me. Right now, though, I am on such an overwhelming Dylan kick that in everything I do which is even slightly music-related he is impossible to ignore. My friends get sick of me talking about Bob Dylan. While I AM a fanatic, I might as well go the predictable route. It’s what’s most enjoyable to me, and I think it results in the best possible work.

So anyway, I came up with the idea several days ago to create my infographic about Desolation Row. It’s very dense, which is to say that where other Dylan songs are very symbol- and motif-heavy, this song is character-heavy. There’s a lot to unpack here, and it’s easily unpackable. I just read the 33 1/3 book on Highway 61 Revisited, and while I admit that this had some bearing on the topic I decided, I can assure you that the opinions and interpretations of the song expressed in the infographic are mine. I thought some of the author’s ideas were kinda hare-brained anyway.

I wanted my infographic to loosely resemble a building, the dilapidated variety you’d expect to find in a place like Desolation Row. It was a bit difficult to figure out how best to orient the descriptions in relation to the pictures and everything else, but all things considered, I’d say it came out very well.

That’s it, really. If you, too, are sick of Bob Dylan after seeing this, I advise you to avoid my podcast.  : )