On May 28, 2006, at 11:08 AM, andie nachgeborenen wrote:
> In my right-wing days, we thought that
>> Dylan's "My Back
>>> Pages" was a great conservative song
>> <http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/
>>> backpages.html>:
>
> Of course it is really more of an anti-political song,
> or any way an anti CP-popular front, "I'm not Woody
> Guthrie, Jr. song, a "don't box me into singing Peter
> Seeger-Phil Ochs-type topical protest music + classic
> folk songs" sort of song. You know, the sort of thing
> that makes Carl Remick mad and made that guy shout
> "Judas" at the "Royal Albert Hall" concert (actually
> the Manchester Free Trade Hall concert, but who cares
> about details -- did you hear that recently someone
> outed that guy? He's a bit ashamed of his 30 seconds
> of fame now.) He has more of that sort of stuff; it's
> possible to read Positively Fourth Street in that vein
> as well.
>
> http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/positively.html
>
> or at least as a response to people who got pissed off
> that he was bored with topical protest music.
>
> Dylan has had strange politics at various types,
> particular in his Jesus phase when he was immersed in
> Hal Lindsay types, and it's led to questionable songs
> like the pro-Zionist "Neighborhood Bully" (which he
> doesn't sing any more and rarely did even them). He's
> been rock solid on racial justice all his life,
> although he's no feminist; he's consistently antiwar
> -- still does "Masters Of War" in very powerful
> versions, but basically he's come to see politics as a
> dirty, corrupt business in which it is best (at least
> for him) not get get too mixed up -- listen to
> "Political World" or watch "Masked And Anonymous"
> (actually a pretty good movie.) He's done his share of
> benefit concerts and (alas) sang at Clinton's first
> inauguration (a ringing version of Chimes of Freedom).
>
>
> But basically his vision is not right wing or left
> wing, it's intensely personal and spiritual. He's a
> great tragic poet/singer whose constant themes (really
> from the very start) are loss and death; that's his
> muse. If you want to say it's bourgeois individualism,
> feel free. But there is little comfort any political
> orientation can draw from his work, except by
> wrenching it out of context, except, as I said,
> antiracism and antimilitarism. He's always resisted
> attempt to put him in a box or to keep him to doing
> the same thing; he's still doing it.
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around
> http://mail.yahoo.com
> ___________________________________
> http://mailman.lbo-talk.org/mailman/listinfo/lbo-talk