Althouse: "Life isn't about finding yourself — or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself."

June 5, 2019

"Life isn't about finding yourself — or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself."

64 comments:

Carter Wood said...: That was an intriguing tour. Mick Ronson!

German television played Renaldo and Clara, which featured scenes from the tour, when I was in college there. The German students were excited but then the movie started and they drifted away. It was admittedly dull.; 6/5/19, 2:04 PM
eddie willers said...: "The nation was so divided"

When is it not?; 6/5/19, 2:09 PM
traditionalguy said...: Like Trump, Bob Dylan was a showman that always entertained the audience... and like Trump, Bob had half of the people hating him for the aggressive style. But many loved him for the intelligence word creations they experienced, including Baez and Althouse. And both also have a feminine side underneath the aggressive side.; 6/5/19, 2:12 PM
eddie willers said...: Like Trump, Bob Dylan was a showman that always entertained the audience

He's said he was a song and dance and wanted to be Elvis. I believe him.

I've just finished reading Robbie Robertson's autobiography, Testimony (ends at "The Last Waltz"), and Dylan comes through as maybe the best friend you could ever have. A real stand up guy.; 6/5/19, 2:19 PM
Bilwick said...: I don't think it's an either/or proposition. For me, like many Baby Boomers, the 1970s was a decade of about self-discovery and self-creation. It helped immeasurably that I was living in Manhattan at the time, a place (at least in that era) was almost set up to support young people on a similar "trip." I had a glimpse in that era being over when a young, foreign-born woman I met came to Manhattan to become a punk. It was like she just sent in a box top and got the Complete Clone-Yourself Kit (Punk variety). To her, life wasn't so much about self-discovery or self-creation, but becoming one of a group of interchangeable members of a tribe.; 6/5/19, 2:24 PM
tim in vermont said...: “He's said he was a song and dance and wanted to be Elvis. I believe him.”

Paul McCartney wanted to be Fred Astaire.; 6/5/19, 2:32 PM
Laslo Spatula said...: Scorsese should stick to documentaries at this point in his career.

His narrative pieces have gotten sloppy and uninspired over the last decade (or more, depending how generous one wants to be), but his eye is still sharp, and he knows how to use cinema to present a world.

Or he could do "Taxi Driver 2." Either / or, really.

I am Laslo.; 6/5/19, 2:50 PM
rehajm said...: Everyone measures success in terms of profit. Especially true of the people of Bob Dylan's generation. None of them will admit they do. They sure do talk about it a lot, though. Too much.; 6/5/19, 2:50 PM
Otto said...: What bs. This putz was a maladjusted , under achieving scholastically teen( couldn't face the pressure) who became popular because he was the voice(a horrible one at that) of malcontentism rife with the teenagers of the day. The malcontentism wasn't because of great injustices but because they couldn't cope with a war. Thankfully they were given cover by the media which deciding that it was an unjust war. He even looks like a girl.; 6/5/19, 2:54 PM
rehajm said...: Whiteface. Racist.; 6/5/19, 2:58 PM
madAsHell said...: It's got a good beat. It's easy to dance to. I'll give a 75.; 6/5/19, 3:21 PM
madAsHell said...: I'll give IT a 75.

aaarrrrrgggghhhh; 6/5/19, 3:22 PM
madAsHell said...: Reynaldo and Clara is available on YouTube; 6/5/19, 3:28 PM
JackWayne said...: “Life isn’t about finding yourself - or finding anything. Life is about creating yourself.”

Yes, if you want to appear to be pretentious. Life is simpler than that for most people.; 6/5/19, 3:33 PM
PM said...: Dylan shifted my musical life.; 6/5/19, 3:35 PM
Howard said...: Otto: Did Bob also give Trump cover from serving in Viet Nam? Donnie admits to Piers that he was against the war and implied that's why he didn't serve. No mention of the phony bone spurs. Then he says he made up for the sin of his non-service in the military during war time by pouring billions of tax dollars into the coffers of the Military Industrial Complex. My hero!; 6/5/19, 3:40 PM
Howard said...: JackWayne: not pretentious, but to achieve great fame, wealth, power, status, etc. Us normal peons are not driven to that level.; 6/5/19, 3:41 PM
susan.h said...: "Paul McCartney wanted to be Fred Astaire."

I guess that explains the Your Mother Should Know sceen from The Magical Mystery Tour TV show.; 6/5/19, 3:43 PM
narciso said...: Zimmerman was creative, even with his enunciations, kind of an iconoclast, in his own way,; 6/5/19, 3:50 PM
Churchy LaFemme: said...: Paul McCartney wanted to be Fred Astaire.

He's still never recorded anything as bad as "The Yam".; 6/5/19, 3:53 PM
Lance said...: Only on Netflix?; 6/5/19, 3:54 PM
Ice Nine said...: >>Otto said......because he was the voice(a horrible one at that) of malcontentism rife with the teenagers of the day.

Idiotic Post of the Day from someone who obviously wasn't there - or if he was, was in deep coma. A tedious "those goddam Baby Boomers" whine.

>>The malcontentism wasn't because of great injustices but because they couldn't cope with a war.

And the proof of the not-there idiocy is that he has no idea that Dylan sang much more about the "great injustice" of segregation and Jim Crow than he did about the Vietnam War. And that those "malcontent" teenagers were in the front ranks of the Civil Rights Movement, one of the top tier momentous events in American history - Trust me, I was one of them.

>>Thankfully they were given cover by the media which deciding that it was an unjust war.

More proof: The majority of Americans were against the Vietnam War throughout its entire course, definitely including many of those serving in Vietnam - Trust me, I was one of them.

>>He even looks like a girl.

Sigh, even more proof...if you still need it.; 6/5/19, 4:00 PM
Amexpat said...: He not busy being born is busy dying; 6/5/19, 4:06 PM
GingerBeer said...: This guy could make a living writing bland cliches for Nike ads.; 6/5/19, 4:29 PM
dustbunny said...: Poor Otto, never understanding the genius in his midst. Always a palindrome never a bride; 6/5/19, 4:38 PM
Otto said...: "from someone who obviously wasn't there - or if he was, was in deep coma"

already had my masters degree and deisgniing advanced military avionics equipment before the war really started in 1964 . In fact our radar was used on the A6A intruder, a critical a/c during the war. So I was engage heavily with the war.

"And that those "malcontent" teenagers were in the front ranks of the Civil Rights Movement"

They were mostly at anti-war protests in the safe confines of college campuses.

"The majority of Americans were against the Vietnam War throughout its entire course"
False, the majority of americans were for the war until late 68-69. In fact after Tet the majority of Americans wanted a troop increase as requested by Westmorland.

"definitely including many of those serving in Vietnam"

A overwhelming majority of Vietnam vets say they were proud to serve in Vietnam and a majority said they would do it all over again.

Sigh, even more proof...if you still need it.; 6/5/19, 4:44 PM
Howard said...: Flush out your headgear, Otto; 6/5/19, 5:13 PM
JackWayne said...: Howard, sorry not buying it. Someone with that talent does not need to create himself. Consider this, did Audie Murphy and tons of other famous people create themselves or did they just live life as they found it?; 6/5/19, 5:19 PM
Rory said...: "Scorsese should stick to documentaries at this point in his career"

His next movie,"The Irishman", is apparently ballooning in cost because it's taking forever to CGI out the wrinkles from his stars' (Deniro, Paccino) ancient faces.; 6/5/19, 5:24 PM
Howard said...: Jack: Audie Murphy certainly created himself via Hollywood. Talent, looks, brains, bravery are all a dime a dozen. The difference between the average moderately successful Joe and the uber successful is unrelenting ambition to create a persona that rises above everyone else. Just look at how the rich dress themselves. The facade and the acting is a huge part of their success.; 6/5/19, 5:26 PM
CWJ said...: It is a total coincidence that Hollywood has decided that now is the time to do music biopics.*

* - extra credit to "A Star is Born" for melding a remake with an actual current star.; 6/5/19, 5:31 PM
narciso said...: well audie murphy, like sgt. York was a self effacing fellow, I guess carlos hathcock, (the model for bobby lee swagger) and chris kyle of American sniper fame were similar, but the latter was the Vietnam narrative translated to the sandbox, on film,; 6/5/19, 5:39 PM
CWJ said...: "And that those "malcontent" teenagers were in the front ranks of the Civil Rights Movement, one of the top tier momentous events in American history - Trust me, I was one of them."

And that's how we know. What was your encore?; 6/5/19, 5:43 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: Looks good, I'll definitely watch it. Part of our Americana history.

The tour was in 1975?

Hmm. I don't think many folks were listening to Dylan in the 70s (could be wrong).

As a youngster in the 70s, my rough perspective was that the country really settled down after the Vietnam war, many less protests and riots. Many less hippies.

In the 70's, my rough thought was that Saturday Night Fever and disco and the Village People and John Travolta and that kinda jive had supplanted Dylan and the hippies and the poets.

I know for a fact that in the late 70s/early 80s San Francisco was thunderstruck by the Moscone/Milk murders, the Jim Jones massacre and then the AIDS epidemic. I don't recall Dylan being at the forefront then. I thought his time had passed, until later nostalgia revived him again.; 6/5/19, 5:46 PM
William said...: I don't often understand the imagery in Dylan's lyrics, but I understand, in a low intuitive way, that they're describibing something significant and momentous. His songs made you feel that your life and all its banal processes were significant and momentous. The trick of an artist is to not to create a significant and momentous life but to convince others that he is describing something significant and momentous in his or their lives......Whether you find yourself or create yourself, you will surely die and be forgotten. At the present time, there are no winning hands. I keep misplacing myself. Something to do with years and memory loss. Farewell, Angelina.; 6/5/19, 5:50 PM
traditionalguy said...: You mention Audi Murphy, and you have said it all. He was a Dylan-Trump creative type who could not escape the Draft. He instinctually created himself again in every infantry battle. His autobiographical movie , To Hell and Back, cannot be downloaded digitally but can be purchased as a compact disc.; 6/5/19, 5:51 PM
Pete said...: Exactly right.; 6/5/19, 5:56 PM
narciso said...: well from just a quick scan, murphy was like the real life captain America, he couldn't wait to join, so I don't see the parallel, but what was the argument was the enemy in Vietnam, so noble, or was the leadership of our forces so poor, I think the men acquitted themselves fairly well, what was the ultimate objectives but the culture decided they were the villains, since they themselves had so little at stake,; 6/5/19, 6:13 PM
narciso said...: surprise:

https://www.dailydot.com/debug/facebook-lawyer-no-expectation-of-privacy/; 6/5/19, 6:17 PM
narciso said...: the latest tarantino spectacle ostensibly about the manson murders, but more about his bloated egos, is in the other category,; 6/5/19, 6:20 PM
Otto said...: We never lost a set piece battle in Vietnam! We owned the air! The NV lost all of their SAM missiles in the span of 2-3 weeks during operation LinebackerII. Over 75% of the Viet Cong was destroyed during Tet in 68, never to be a viable force. After that it was all the NV.; 6/5/19, 6:21 PM
Otto said...: The tragedy of the VW was that over 2 million Vietnamese people were killed. I am constantly amazed that the vietnamese people are not more resentful of America.
I remember reading that a poll taken in 90s in vietnam indicated that the person they admired the most was Bill Gates.; 6/5/19, 6:32 PM
narciso said...: the short anwer is china and the soviet union were the quartermasters and suppliers of this conflict, on one end, and lbj had basically telegraphed we wouldn't move aggressively west through Cambodia, and west through laos, prince sihanouk didn't allow the latter, and subsequently provided the umbrella for the khmer rouge,; 6/5/19, 6:40 PM
JackWayne said...: Don’t strain your back moving those goalposts....; 6/5/19, 6:57 PM
rehajm said...: I don't recall Dylan being at the forefront then. I thought his time had passed, until later nostalgia revived him again

My earliest memories are from the early 70s, singing Don Mclean but I don’t have memories of Dylan on the radio until Shelter From the Storm was worn out on the radio- would that have been mid 70s or late 70s? Live Aid was the first time I realized Dylan was as big and important as he was and only because Jack Nicholson introduced him.

Fun fact: I had my first bar drink sitting in a booth at Tin & Lint where Dylan played one of his earliest gigs. T&L’s other big claim to fame is Don Mclean wrote American Pie there on cocktail napkins. Mclean says it didn’t happen but the legend persists...; 6/5/19, 7:31 PM
tim in vermont said...: the latest tarantino spectacle ostensibly about the manson murders, but more about his bloated egos, is in the other category,

Just goes to show you that while Harvey Weinstein may have been a creep, he was a *talented* creep.; 6/5/19, 7:34 PM
Marcus Bressler said...: I really did not begin to appreciate Dylan until The Concert for Bangladesh. After that, I went out and bought both (?) Greatest Hits albums. Enjoyed them. Some of his stuff is classic. Some is junk. Seems like a nice guy, especially after hearing that story about the cops picking him up walking around a bad neighborhood...

THEOLDMAN; 6/5/19, 8:24 PM
BJM said...: @rehajm

Dylan's fan base never left, his 70's studio albums Blood on the Tracks & Desire went 2x platinum. Street Legal and the Basement Tapes also platinum. Dylan's Live at Budokan (tour) and Rolling Thunder Review (tour) were also successful album releases and large venue tours.

It was also timing...the Compact Cassette was replacing AM radio in our cars and homes by the mid 70's and the Walkman in '79 pretty much sealed radio's fate as a driver of music sales. In the 1970s and early 1980s, as many listeners abandoned AM music formats for the high fidelity sound of FM radio, the talk radio format began to catch on. Late night AM listeners who once tuned in to Wolfman Jack switched to Coast to Coast.; 6/5/19, 9:12 PM
Bay Area Guy said...: At some point Dylan joined The Travelling Wilburies with Roy Orbison, George Harrison & Tom Petty. Wiki says 1988. That was way past the Hippie era.; 6/5/19, 9:58 PM
alanc709 said...: "Slow Train Coming" was a fabulous album, plus Mark Knofler's guitar was perfect for Dylan. That album rekindled my love for Dylan, which had waned after Planet Waves. Blood on the Tracks and Desire were good, but I thought he was going through the motions on those 2.; 6/5/19, 10:01 PM
alanc709 said...: Audie Murphy was a creation of the draft? You couldnt have that more wrong. He tried enlisting early by lying about his age, but was so small no one would take him.; 6/5/19, 10:03 PM
Molly said...: (eaglebeak)

Dylan had (and has, I guess) a strong connection to Elvis. And apparently, from the several songs of Dylan's which Elvis recorded, the sense of a strong connection went both ways.

https://www.needsomefun.net/when-elvis-presley-died-it-deeply-affected-bob-dylan/; 6/5/19, 10:35 PM
Nichevo said...: And the proof of the not-there idiocy is that he has no idea that Dylan sang much more about the "great injustice" of segregation and Jim Crow than he did about the Vietnam War.

Does anyone here have proof, a direct quote, demonstrating that Bob Dylan opposed the Vietnam War? I bet you don't. He gave an interview in which the reporter attempted to get such statements out of him and he declined. In fact, if you think that Dylan is elliptical and not inclined to speak plainly, you might conclude that he did support the war. I don't know if anyone else here knows what I'm talkin about, I'll have to find the links for you sometime.; 6/5/19, 10:57 PM
Nichevo said...: This seems a stab at it:

https://www.expectingrain.com/discussions/viewtopic.php?p=1661803&sid=ddc1f4cbabb5d8f5edb69bf958ed7f66

Did Dylan ever clarify his position on the Vietnam War? I can't find much more than the July 1968 Sing Out! interview with Happy Traum -- hard to tell if he's sincere or just pulling Happy's leg:

-------------------------

Traum: Probably the most pressing thing going on in a political sense is the war. Now I'm not saying any artist or group of artists can change the course of the war, but they still feel it their responsibility to say something.

Dylan: I know some very good artists who are for the war.

Traum: Well, I'm just talking about the ones who are against it.

Dylan: That's like what I'm talking about; it's for or against the war. That really doesn't exist. It's not for or against the war. I'm speaking of a certain painter, and he's all for the war. He's just about ready to go over there himself. And I can comprehend him.

Traum: Why can't you argue with him?

Dylan: I can see what goes into his painting, and why should I?

Later in the interview:

Traum: My feeling is that with a person who is for the war and ready to go over there, I don't think it would be possible for you and him to share the same values.

Dylan: I've known him a long time, he's a gentleman and I admire him, he's a friend of mine. People just have their views. Anyway, how do you know that I'm not, as you say, for the war?; 6/5/19, 11:01 PM
narciso said...: That's a very intriguing interview, nichevo; 6/5/19, 11:35 PM
grackle said...: "Slow Train Coming" was a fabulous album, plus Mark Knofler's guitar was perfect for Dylan.

Sort of in that same vein just today I was viewing this video and it struck me how much the vocal was obviously influenced by the Dylan vocal style. The phrasing, the dry ironic tone – it’s definitely Dylanesque; 6/6/19, 1:56 AM
tim in vermont said...: Now I'm not saying any artist or group of artists can change the course of the war, but they still feel it their responsibility to say something

That question is almost guaranteed to set off Bob Dylan. Ha ha ha! That’s why he dumped Joan Baez! She was still singing about this side of Bob on Diamonds and Rust.; 6/6/19, 3:59 AM
dustbunny said...: Bay Area Guy, nostalgia didn’t revive Dylan, Dylan revived Dylan. Blood on the Tracks was in the 70s and it is one of his greatest albums. He has continued to evolve never giving into the nostalgia of being just a 60s act. But I’m not impartial. I think there is Dylan and then several rungs below, there is everyone else.; 6/6/19, 5:51 AM
dustbunny said...: Although I do think Renaldo and Clara is shit. Dylan wasn’t much of an actor or director.; 6/6/19, 5:54 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: "Ha ha ha! That’s why he dumped Joan Baez!"

That's the accepted version.

The truth is she wouldn't do anal.

A booth in the midwest, indeed.

I am Laslo.; 6/6/19, 7:07 AM
Nichevo said...: The truth is she wouldn't do anal.

Who told you that?!?; 6/6/19, 7:53 AM
PM said...: Molly said: "Dylan had (and has, I guess) a strong connection to Elvis."

That may be, but in his book, Dylan said the singer he really liked was, if you can believe it, Ricky Nelson.; 6/6/19, 10:27 AM
gerry said...: Everybody must get stoned.

Yawn.; 6/6/19, 12:32 PM
Charlie said...: I've always thought 1974-76 Dylan is the best Dylan.; 6/6/19, 3:15 PM