[lbo-talk] Bob Again (Was National Review's Top 50 )

Louis Kontos lkontos at mac.com
Sun May 28 15:08:01 PDT 2006


Dylan is like a screen onto which people can (and do) project their own trials, misgivings, longings, failures, neuroses, etc. For those that don't have the songs, take a look at some of the Dylan videos posted on YouTube. E.g., 'Hurricane' -- none of his 'early' songs are more 'political' than this song. Look at 'Isis' -- none of his early poetry, not even during the so-called 'surrealist' phase -- compares to this sublime song. There's no way to redo what Dylan did in the 60s primarily because there's no way to recreate the same audiences. But Dylan's art, since the sixties, has only deepened. It's better and more significant. But I wouldn't expect any more 'anthems' from him. He's too world-worn and weary. Who would he sing them to anyway?

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.
>
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