"Soon After Midnight" is a song written and performed by American singer-songwriter

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...

that appears as the second track on his 2012 studio album ''Tempest''. Like much of Dylan's 21st-century output, he produced the song himself using the pseudonym

Jack Frost Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow, sleet, winter, and freezing cold. He is a variant of Old Man Winter who is held responsible for frosty weather, nipping the fingers and toes in such weather, coloring the foliage in autumn, a ...

Composition and recording

"Soon After Midnight" is a

love song A love song is a song about love, falling in love, heartbreak after a breakup, and the feelings that these experiences bring. Love songs can be found in a variety of different music genres. They can come in various formats, from sad and emotion ...

murder ballad Murder ballads are a subgenre of the traditional ballad form dealing with a crime or a gruesome death. Their lyrics form a narrative describing the events of a murder, often including the lead-up and/or aftermath. The term refers to the conten ...

hybrid. At less than three-and-a-half minutes, it is the shortest of the 10 songs on ''Tempest'' and the only example of the pre-

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

pop ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner. Ballads ...

genre to be found on the album. The title is a reference to "fairy time" in

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

's play ''

A Midsummer Night's Dream ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...

''. In their book ''Bob Dylan All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track'', authors Philippe Margotin and Jean-Michel Guesdon note that the song's intro owes a debt to "A New Shade of Blue" by

The Bobby Fuller Four The Bobby Fuller Four (sometimes stylized as Bobby Fuller 4) was a popular mid-1960s American rock & roll band started by Bobby Fuller. First formed in 1962 in Fuller's hometown of El Paso, Texas, the group went on to produce some of its most ...

and discuss how Dylan's vocal is "sweet and gentle", taking on a "new patina that makes it less aggressive" than on other recent songs. They also praise the "excellent" playing of the band, "especially Donnie Herron's steel guitar solo, doubled by a six-string guitar". The song is performed in the key of

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

Reception

A 2015 ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'' article that ranked "all of Bob Dylan's songs" placed "Soon After Midnight" 40th on the list (out of 359), citing it as the "best song" on ''Tempest'' and comparing it to Dylan's earlier "

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

" as a memorable song on the theme of "lost love". Music journalist Patrick Doyle, writing in a 2020 ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' article on "The 25 Best Bob Dylan Songs of the 21st Century", where it placed 18th, commented on the track's unique, shape-shifting nature. He describes it as beginning as "Fifties

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a subgenre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, ...

before it turns into a

" and calls the end result "soulful". Dylan scholar Jochen Markhorst also wrote an online essay in which he greatly expounded on this murder ballad conceit. ''Spectrum Culture'' included the song on a list of "Bob Dylan's 20 Best Songs of the '10s and Beyond". In an article accompanying the list, critic Ian Maxton writes that it "elides the border between tale and metaphor like one of those optical illusions where the picture changes depending on what details you fix your eyes on: it’s both. '''It’s soon after midnight / And I don’t want nobody but you is maybe the most terrifying line Dylan ever wrote – and all the more so for its tenderness". ''

The Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a United Kingdom–based street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer ho ...

'' placed it at #67 on a list of the "80 best Bob Dylan songs – that aren't the greatest hits".

Cultural references

In addition to the song's title, the line "I've got a date with the fairy queen" also refers to

's ''

.'' In the play, the character Bottom has an encounter with Titania, the fairy queen, shortly after midnight.

Live performances

Between 2012 and 2021, Dylan played the song live over 470 times. This makes it the third most frequently performed song from ''Tempest''. The song's live debut occurred at the Verizon Center in

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, on November 20, 2012, and the most recent performance occurred on the

Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour (referred to by some journalists as part of the ongoing Never Ending Tour) is a concert tour by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan in support of his 39th studio album ''Rough and Rowdy Ways'' (2020). The tou ...

in 2021.

Cover versions

Irish-American singer

Aoife O'Donovan Aoife Maria O'Donovan ( , ; born November 18, 1982) is an American singer and Grammy Award-winning songwriter. She is best known as the lead singer for the string band Crooked Still, as well as one-third of the supergroup folk trio I'm with Her ...

, of the bands

Crooked Still Crooked Still is an American band consisting of vocalist Aoife O'Donovan, banjo player Gregory Liszt, bassist Corey DiMario, cellist Tristan Clarridge and fiddle player Brittany Haas. They are known for their high energy, technical skill, unusu ...

and I'm with Her, released a studio recording of the song in 2016 and covered it live in concert in 2017.

References

External links

Lyrics
at Bob Dylan's official site
Chords
at Dylanchords {{authority control 2012 songs Bob Dylan songs Songs written by Bob Dylan Song recordings produced by Bob Dylan