October 2, 2012
Bob Dylan performs "Blowing in the Wind" live on TV in 1963.
How many times must a man look up before he can really see the sky?
Really.
AND: Check out Bob Dylan TV! And, good lord, buy the new album "Tempest."
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47 comments:
Uh...just once?
I get him mixed up with Arlo Guthrie.
Bobby was a folk singer with few fans 8 months before JFK was assasinated.
Much has happened since then. But Dylan's words are all still as powerful as if they come from an eternal dimension.
A sexier Dylan.
http://thevintagent.blogspot.com/2009/01/highway-61-revisitedon-triumph.html
Maggie's Farm noticed this Dylan cover.
I am just so pleased that Dylan is putting this stuff up on his YouTube channel, making it embeddable. This means he gets the internet and appreciates what new media people like me do for him. It's a good thing, not ripping him off. I very personally feel gratified.
Dylan was smarter than Baez, he knew where it was all leading, think Pol Pot.
Joan Baez said: …He’d given us, by that point [1963], the greatest songs in our anti-war, civil rights arsenals. Thirty some years, whenever I go to a march or a sit-in, or a lie-in, or a be-in, or a jail-in, people’d say, 'Is Bob coming?’ I’d say, 'He never comes, you moron…you know, when are you gonna get it?—never did, never will.' link
Check out Bob Dylan TV! And, good lord, buy the new album "Tempest."
I did! He wrote a 14 minute song about the Titanic!
The backdrop is so distracting. It's amazing how little in the way of production they got away with on those early shows.
Funny video until 'shiate got real, yo!'
And this:
How do they get 'Doo-cane' out of
'Du-ques-knee'?
'Brownsville Girl' ftw.
How many times must a man look up before he can really see the sky?
One of the dumbest lyrics in the history of Rock 'N' Roll,...
How many times must a man look up before he can really see the sky?
Is that a self-referential question?
I only ask because of your constant teasing about conservative vs. politically-liberal values.
I'm reading a fascinating book by Albert Nock, "The Theory of Education in the United States." Now, Mr. Nock was educated in the late 19th century according to the classical style.
The book consists in a lecture he delivered in the 1930's after the revolutionary upheaval in the American education system that took place during the early days of the Progressive Era.
What really caught my eye, though, was his definition of intelligence. I've never been satisfied with our definitions of it.
Nowadays, someone is considered intelligent if he gets good grades; or if he's witty; or, maybe, if he shows a flair for riffing off ideas.
Nock finally closed the loop for me.
The person of intelligence is the one who always intends to "see things as they are," the one who never permits his view of them to be directed by convention, by the hope of advantage, or by an irrational and arbitrary authoritarianism. He allows the current of his consciousness to flow in perfect freedom over any object that may be presented to it, uncontrolled by prejudice, prepossession or formula; and thus we may say that there are certain integrities at the root of intelligence which give it somewhat the aspect of a moral as well as an intellectual attribute."
I think you're intelligent. Don't spoil it for me.
My friend Crack: Dylan is a deeply emotional subject for me. So I will say to you that there are times when humans see more into the eternal spiritual realms than they do other times. They "see the light". So it's best not to criticize what you don't yet understand.
@rh, that was great. And, btw, Buddy Larsen has been a gem of a commenter over at Maggie's for years. As have you.
traditionalguy,
I like how your comment came right after Craig Howard's excellent description of my own approach to the world.
Sorry, but being blinded by the "light" is not intelligent,...
I've been listening to Tempest for the last several days. Very interesting. Also the RS interview, and then right before that I picked up "Who's That Man" a recent bio. So I've been immersing myself.
He certainly is an original, an all-American original. I have a lot to thank him for personally.
Some of his best work has come in his later years. Time Out of Mind, and Love and Theft might be my all-time favorite. Modern Times had some really interesting songs.
I have Tempest and have been listening to it quite a bit. Some very good songs. The usual clever lyrics. Very nice plays on traditional forms (e.g. Early Roman Kings - adds a change to the IV to the traditional Manish Boy riff that's just the right length to preserve the tension while giving a bit of release.)
One I can't quite come to terms with is the title track. Some of the verses are well written, but 45 of them? The simple waltz tune can't sustain the song that long. Did Gordon Lightfoot bribe him to take over the title of most interminable shipwreck song ever?
Did Gordon Lightfoot bribe him to take over the title of most interminable shipwreck song ever?
Ha! Good catch. Doesn't seem that long to me when I'm listening to it though. I have to say I've listened to the album only in my car while driving.
One thing that's notable is the violent imagery - something that's crept into his lyrics in recent years. Definitely gives me pause.
~~Got something in my pocket make your eyeballs swim
Got dogs that could tear ya limb from limb~~
I'm trying to remember if that started with Modern Times or was it earlier? This album it's full blown though.
This guy is really overdone.
"I think you're intelligent. Don't spoil it for me."
Something else overdone as well.
Buddy Larsen.
Should be President Larsen.
We'd all be better off.
One of the dumbest lyrics in the history of Rock 'N' Roll,...
From one of the dumbest commentators of rock'n'roll.
Crack: Please trace the route from the Four Tops to WTF rap guys you think were the BFD without Dylan.
You're lying.
I heard that Tempest song Ann featured on the radio and, though it sounded better the second time, it was still too long, meandered, and went nowhere. I think the guy's cruising on fumes and legend this time.
I'm finding a few interesting things out there, most on TV commercials, though, which is never a good sign.
I've started work on my own album, finally, which ought to do well if things stay like this, culturally.
It appears to be wide open and waiting for me,...
One thing that's notable is the violent imagery - something that's crept into his lyrics in recent years. Definitely gives me pause.
Hadn't observed that myself, but you may be right.
Funnily enough, I was struck by the very violent imagery in the first two "Favorite videos" on Bob Dylan TV: this one (for "Beyond Here Lies Nothin'") and this one (for "Duquesne Whistle").
They're great videos, but they sure are disturbing. Guy's got a dark, sick sense of humor. Especially about love/ desire.
Greetings yashu. Hope you are well.
Greetings phx, I'm doing OK. Political winds howl outside, but tonight I'm curled up on the couch, with a glass of Scotch, listening to Dylan. I feel fine. Could be worse.
Hope all's swell with you.
LOL oh, man that does sound great! You should be in the thread I am in - you'd hate me LOL!
I always say, suspend the war to listen to the new Dylan album.
I'll be interested to hear more what you think of Tempest if you care to share sometime.
phx, I (and others) shared a few thoughts on Tempest in this Althouse thread. If I'm up late tonight and feel like it, maybe I'll babble a little more in this one. I'd be interested to hear more of your thoughts on Tempest too (and anyone else who's interested).
I'll see that... and raise you this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DaJHgA-rLgk&feature=related
Like the Duquesne Whistle video at the link.
It's a fractured fairy tale, like some of Dylan's songs. You start out thinking that the young guy will charm his way into the pretty gal's pants with his antics. But, in a more likely real world scenario, he gets maced and the crap beaten out of him for stalking a woman and messing with people on the street.
Hey Amexpat, I followed your suggestion (thanks!) and got Chronicles Vol. 1, which I really enjoyed.
If I wasn't so sleepy right now I'd pull out some choice quotes for discussion. Maybe tomorrow or in future Althouse Dylan threads.
"Buddy Larsen.
Should be President Larsen.
We'd all be better off."
Nothing against Buddy, I like his posts too but there's a lot of people you could say that about.
I'm sorry but after 42 years I still don't get why people think Bob Dylan is so great. I'm not a big "lyrics guy" but I've never scoffed at poets. I've always felt like people that idolized Dylan were playing a practical joke on me. "Really? You're telling me this is great?"
@Rich Hill - The pop song is a small art form. Calling Dylan "great" means putting him in the same category as Berlin, Arlen, Mercer, Holland/Dozer/Holland, Robinson, Lennon, McCartney, [insert favorite pop sogwriter here]. You can argue that he doesn't belong in that group, but if you consider the number of covers that are out there it's clear that people who MAKE music don't agree with you.
Crack-
Flying Lotus is beautiful, and transcendent.
Narratively weak, yes, but directed by someone who could make a nice living as a DP or cinematographer.
Dylan were playing a practical joke on me. "Really? You're telling me this is great?"
Dylan himself is the practical joker.
How many times must a man look up before he can really see the sky?
42.
This is exciting! At long last, thanks BOB!
There is a nice ongoing discussion of the meaning of the song "Tempest" here. Check out the clickable lyrics and the comments embedded therein. I was surprised at the discussion under the "watchman" reference and I think the old Carter Family song is key.
The commenters actually seem to have the best of whomever hosts/runs that site. lol!
chickelit is a Dylan fan, eh?
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