There are many wonderful covers of Bob Dylan songs, but not a lot of artists cover his song “Jokerman.” Vampire Weekend, however, did an excellent live cover of the song during their 2019 Father of the Bride tour for an unusal reason. The band’s lead singer decided to cover this Dylan song out of a fascination with a printing font.
Dylan’s “Jokerman”
“Jokerman” appeared as the lead track on Dylan’s 1983 album Infidels, and what a great opening track. At the time, many hailed Infidels as Dylan’s return to secular music following his albums largely devoted to his Christianity. But “Jokerman,” like many Dylan songs to come, still incorporated Biblical imagery. Many have struggled to get a handle on Dylan’s meaning in “Jokerman.” And as in the case of many of his songs, different interpreters hear different things.
Many of us love the sound of the song and navigate through the twists of the lyrics because its melody is so beautiful. Dylan scholar Michael Gray explained in his Bob Dylan Encyclopedia that “Jokerman” is not “a sermon or a pop song but a real creation, a work you can wander inside, explore, breathe in, pass through, wrap around you. It looks different in different lights.”
The Odd Reason Vampire Weekend Covered “Jokerman”
Vampire Weekend adds another light with which to see the song. The video below is from 2019 at the Down the Rabbit Hole music festival. The band’s cover is largely consistent with Dylan’s Infidels version with some instrumental variations near the end.
But why did Vampire Weekend choose “Jokerman” from the Dylan canon? Vampire Weekend lead singer Ezra Koenig has a particular fascination with the Jokerman font. He has posted about the font on his Instagram account. And interviewed the creator of the font, Andrew Smith, on his podcast.
Of all of the interpretations of Dylan’s “Jokerman,” Koenig’s performance connecting the song to his fascination with a type font from the 1990s may be the most unusual connection. But it is a fun performance of a great song.
What is your favorite version of “Jokerman”? Leave your two cents in the comments.
