We bring you Bob Dylan’s My Back Pages performed at the 1993 Bob Dylan Tribute Concert. Click on the link here, or watch below and go to the 24:27 mark.

Why is this song on this blog? Well for starters, this performance includes a Beatle (George Harrison), a Byrd (Roger McGuinn), not to mention Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, and Neil Young all playing together. It’s a great version of the song, which you really need to see.

What’s this song about? It’s not self-evident. As Wikipedia explains, “In the song’s lyrics, Dylan criticizes himself for having been certain that he knew everything and apologizes for his previous political preaching, noting that he has become his own enemy ‘in the instant that I preach.’ Dylan questions whether one can really distinguish between right and wrong, and even questions the desirability of the principle of equality. The lyrics also signal Dylan’s disillusionment with the 1960s protest movement and his intention to abandon protest songwriting. The song effectively analogizes the protest movement to the establishment it is trying to overturn. One of the song’s most famous lines is the refrain:

“Ah, but I was so much older then / I’m younger than that now” – because that’s what we were 20 years ago in 1993, as opposed to now……