March 26, 2019

"I gotta say, I don’t know any 23-year-old that cares about any of this stuff: Homer, Charley Patton, Grant... How did you get into this stuff?"

"Again, I got my eye on being one of them. To me, Edgar Allen Poe, Robert Johnson, Abraham Lincoln, it’s really three sides of the same coin to me. It’s the American canon. This is what our country is. I hope the Republic lasts forever, but if it doesn’t, this is the stuff we will be judged by by future generations. Look, Lincoln was the first writer, Twain after him, to write American as if American was a language itself. And I actually studied Lincoln’s writings a lot. And the reason is because every line says something. Every line is important. There’s never any stuff that’s not supposed to be there."

From "Bob Dylan’s Grandson Pablo Explains Why He Went From Hip-Hop to Folk-Rock/He’s just 23, but Pablo Dylan already says he wants to be 'the biggest star in the world'" (Rolling Stone).

21 comments:

Wince said...

They always, eventually come back to the family business.

dustbunny said...

I was wondering if he was the model, but guess not. So many grandchildren with so much money. However, lightning rarely strikes twice

Maillard Reactionary said...

He sounds like his grandfather, but more coherent.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

...it’s really three sides of the same coin to me.

That's a really odd coin.

tim in vermont said...

"And the reason is because every line says something. Every line is important. There’s never any stuff that’s not supposed to be there."

Just a sign of a high IQ.

Fernandinande said...

I hope I'm not the only one primitive enough to think Homer -> Simpson.

Amexpat said...

I saw the same article and listened to some of his songs. He's not very good. Certainly not anywhere near his ambitions.

In the article he talked about how the Beatles had Hamburg and Robert Johnson had the graveyard. If he truly was interested in being among the greats, he would do as his grandfather did, drop his family name and make a name for himself.

tim in vermont said...

"Even Bill Shakespeare’s kid never made it.” - Somebody in Hollywood

Sigivald said...

If he wants to be the biggest star in the world, he needs to stop doing folk rock.

Maybe in 1967 folk rock could make you the biggest star in the world, for a month.

But not in 2019.

CJinPA said...

And I actually studied Lincoln’s writings a lot. And the reason is because every line says something. Every line is important. There’s never any stuff that’s not supposed to be there.

I don't know if he has talent, but understanding this concept is a big deal for a writer.

FullMoon said...

Look, Lincoln was the first writer, Twain after him, to write American as if American was a language itself.

If memory serves, both were white nationalists.In Twain's Innocents Abroad he traveled the world mocking the old masters in comparison to America.
Basically, only things European artists had that was special was that their paintings were older in age than America's.
And, anything they could do, we could do better.

jeremyabrams said...

Benjamin Franklin was the first writer to employ the American plain style.

traditionalguy said...

Both writers that Dylan admires are Scots-Irish Americans.

stephen cooper said...

Fernandistein - no you weren't

AZ Bob said...

They say that genius skips a generation. But not here. The kid is copping musical mannerisms from the Highway 61 Revisited album. It seems calculated.

rightguy said...

Pablo talks a good game but he has a lot of room for improvement : what he is doing is very similar to what Grandpa Bob did when he first hit New York in 1961- hitting the books, reading substantial works of literature and history, instead of hanging out & yakking about current events with the other communist folk singers. But his singing is dull and the first two numbers are monotonous musically.

chillblaine said...

Be careful what you wish for. He wants to be the biggest star in the world. Remember what scripture says about the stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone.

Guildofcannonballs said...

Micahel Jackson had said things he had to say, but does everone gotta say things he got to be sayin' yo?
The burden of being that wonderful must have been previously expounded upon, yes?Why? In a world of ugly faces
Should I be allowed to be so hot
So many people without talent
Yet I was born with all the magical gifts, I got
The perfect body, the perfect face
It's like Gods best work all in one place
But the haters hate perfection, can't you see?
It's the burden being wonderful like me
How in a world that's so imperfect
Did I wind up with so much cool?
Friends never stick around too long
Never feel like they belong
Next to me they feel like a fool
I got the grace of a dancer, golden voice
People seem to hate me like I had a choice
Being this blessed is a lonely way to be
It's the burden being wonderful like me.. Like me
So you say you wanna hang around
Don't ever ask me to dumb it down
I'm a diamond, I'm gonna shine
Compared to everyone else
I'm like a whole damn diamond mine
Ohh yeah..
I'm just a Maserati in a world of Kias
Genius would describe any of my ideas
If I was born i 1453 Leonardo Da Vinci would be jealous of me
But a world of Stevie Wonders would never see
It's the burden being wonderful like me
Steel Panther Wonderful Like Me notice no spaces emulat4

I've learned from great men like M.S., S.C., B.H., R.H., and L.M.

Guildofcannonballs said...

http://www.woodpilereport.com/photos/Herbert-Draper-Golden-Rays.jpg

Quite impressive.

Guildofcannonballs said...

This is a link to real art.

Amexpat said...

They say that genius skips a generation. But not here. The kid is copping musical mannerisms from the Highway 61 Revisited album.

That was my thought as well. The same with being inspired by Homer and civil war figures, which the young Bob was. There's nothing wrong with copping musical mannerism if you do it well or add something to it. Young Bob did that with Woody Guthrie. Julian Lennon did it with Valotte. This kid has no discernible talent.