Hearts of Fire is Bob Dylan’s Elvis movie. In this little-seen work from 1986, Dylan plays retired rock star Billy Parker. Following Presley’s film formula, Dylan sings a couple of songs and becomes involved with a young woman trying to make it in music, Molly McGuire (played by actress/singer Fiona). But Hearts of Fire also marks its own path.
“I always knew I was one of those rock ‘n’ roll singers that was never gonna win any Nobel Prize,” Dylan’s character disparagingly says, while expounding on the pitfalls of fame. In retrospect – a fascinating quote. It’s uncertain what drew him to the Hearts of Fire film project, but scriptwriters Scott Richardson and Joe Eszterhas give his character lines that mirror attitudes often associated with Bob Dylan. He frequently dismisses the notion of success, warning Fiona: “The music business is a trap. The better you are, the bigger the trap.”
The filmmakers include a few touches for professional Dylan watchers, like when his character drives away from a music club. As the car leaves, the camera pans up to show a movie marquee reading Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid — the 1973 film featuring Dylan in a small role. Later, he is in a studio watching the playback of a live performance. The audio is Dylan’s “When the Night Comes Falling from the Sky,” while murky video monitors show footage from Dylan’s Concert for Bangladesh appearance.
As with Elvis Presley’s movies, the best thing about Hearts of Fire is watching a younger incarnation of the film’s star just walking around and occasionally performing a tune. There are some fun, Elvis-worthy elements in the movie: We see Bob Dylan dive from a bar’s stage into a hostile audience, punch-out an adversary, jump into a lake, and plant an on-screen kiss. His character vandalizes a hotel room and hurls several items out a window. For those Dylan watchers wishing to go deep, this hotel scene could be viewed as a parallel to the famous glass-throwing incident in the Don’t Look Back documentary from 1965.
A handful of unexpected moments briefly pique a viewer’s interest: Richie Havens is cast as a cynical veteran of the music business. There is also a concert sequence where Havens uncharacteristically rocks-out on electric guitar. Ron Wood occasionally plays bass, and there is a studio sequence where Dylan seems to be talking about Clash bassist Paul Simonon, but the audio is indistinct.
The song that attracts character Molly McGuire (Fiona) to Billy Parker (Dylan) is the character’s hit, “The Usual.” This song was written by John Hiatt and, in the movie, is performed by Dylan and Fiona. Dylan’s studio version of “The Usual” (without Fiona) appears on the soundtrack to the movie, which also includes Dylan’s own composition “Night After Night.” These two recordings are unique to the Hearts of Fire soundtrack.
Also on the soundtrack is “Had a Dream About You, Baby.” A different take on this song appears on Bob Dylan’s next album, Down in the Groove. The Hearts of Fire soundtrack was released in October of 1987; Down in the Groove arrived seven months later, in May 1988. Based on release dates, the soundtrack version of “Had a Dream About You, Baby” could be considered the song’s official version, making the Down in the Groove recording an alternate take. But I will leave this distinction to be sorted out by others.
The payoff for fans comes at the end of Hearts of Fire. Bob Dylan and Fiona are lounging in the hay of a barn, surrounded by chickens, as Bob serenades her on acoustic guitar with “A Couple More Years.” This song, written by Shel Silverstein, has not been officially released by Dylan.
“I always knew I was one of those rock ‘n’ roll singers that was never gonna win any Nobel Prize.” The movie Hearts of Fire was probably not part of the selection committee’s reason to award Dylan the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature. It is worth seeing, though, to witness a visual time capsule of the mid-1980s and to watch Bob Dylan walk the movie path so often trod by Elvis.
Tom Wilmeth is a freelance writer who lives in Grafton, Wisconsin — former home of the Paramount Records label. He is the author of ‘Sound Bites: A Lifetime of Listening’ (Muleshoe Press, 2016). Available at Amazon.
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