Expecting Rain

http://youtu.be/aKShNYsclLU

Congratulations for breaking my heart
Congratulations for tearing it all apart
Congratulations you finally did succeed
Congratulations for leaving me in need

This morning I looked out my window and found
A bluebird singing but there was no one around
At night I lay alone in my bed
With an image of you goin' around in my head

Congratulations for bringing me down
Congratulations now I'm sorrow bound
Congratulations you got a good deal
Congratulations how good you must feel

I guess that I must have loved you more than I ever knew
My would is empty now cause it don't have you
And if I had just one more chance to wind your heart again
I would do things differently but what's the use to pretend

Congratulations for making me wait
Congratulations now it's too late
Congratulations you came out on top
Congratulations you never did know when to stop

One song that seems like a Basement Tapes entry, this pretty ditty from the first Wilburys album always struck me as a fantastic Dylan song. In fact, all of Bob's songs from that first album are truly under-rated. But this one strikes the perfect tender chord. The boys Greek chorus singing backup adds another layer to a very cool song. It's especially enlightening to hear the original demo of the song as compared to the final product. It's so rudimentary with its Casio drum beat and Daniel Johnson style keyboard playing... It's a great example of how strong the song is even in its rough draft, but also a testament to Jeff Lynne's genius production:

Check out the demo:
http://www.sendspace.com/file/mkhlwl

Anyone else a fan of this one??? There's gotta be some admirers of the Wilburys out there???

One of my favorite Wilburys song... it's beutiful.

hadn't heard this one before, i have yet to give the Wilburys a serious listen. but thanks for sharing, it's a great tune!

Great tune pulled right out of the air.

I'm sure this took him about three seconds to throw together, but I always enjoyed the sour sarcasm of this song and vocal. 'Congratulations for leaving me in need' always cracks me up. An obscure song that somebody really should cover, it'd be great with a real country and western treatment.

One of the best Wilbury tracks, IMHO, and also one of the five different songs I have with that title! The other four are sung by Paul Simon, Cliff Richard, the Rolling Stones and the Turbans. Anyone know of any more?

I like also this song, and Dylan's plaintive vocal.

It comes across as Oh Mercy but much, much better.

i always liked this one too (cheers for the demo which i'll hear in a minutes time). the very fact that it probably took less time to write than to sing is it's charm - simple greatness, great simplicity. That's what's great about good 'Pop', it aint disposable, just not 'artfully constructed' (Spector excepted of course...)

I really like this song for what it is. It's too novelty and/or cheesy to be a really great break-up song but sometimes one needs cheese. And come on, guys, it probably took at least half a day to write the song - you can't rush art.

Cliff's is best.

Great yes, but I rather think he might've had the Stones song rolling around in his head rather than plucking the hook out of thin air.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2R8mNPMFhA

we had our own version of that...

Conrgatulations, Hallucinations, I want the world to know how tripped out we can be...
I used to think that LSD was just for hippies
But very weekend me and my friends go on trippies
we take a tab or two and go out to the count-try
and see what we see
for 50pee
... da dee da dee dee

Good eh? and it scans!

Nice song on the Wilburys collection. I keep hearing the live Toad's Place trainwreck, need to get that out of my head and go back to the original. *shudder*

Excellent. Ah, Cliff... the UK's very own Elvis.

Concur, and that's the charm. The lyric's kind of a bumbler but the vocal's quite good. Love Georgie's sign off, too. Plus this follows that bereft Orbison tune, at least on the CD. That first record was fiendishly clever.

1st played at Glasgow SECC, Scotland, 6th June 1989 as per bobdylan.com

I was there!

5th row, dead centre.

1st Dylan gig.

Set list
Subterranean Homesick Blues
Congratulations
Stuck Inside Of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again
Ballad Of A Thin Man
Just Like A Woman
All Along The Watchtower
Barbara Allen
Mr. Tambourine Man
It Ain't Me, Babe
Silvio
I Shall Be Released
Like A Rolling Stone
The Times They Are A-Changin'
Knockin' On Heaven's Door
Maggie's Farm