"I am no Bob Dylan aficionado, but this strikes me as being a potent metaphor for what this country is going through."
Writes Kenneth Dickerman in "'Infinity Goes Up on Trial': A personal exploration of U.S. turmoil" (WaPo). The book he's talking about, “Infinity Goes Up on Trial,” by Alan Chin, is a collection of photographs that show the United States as a "powder keg" of "white supremacism, misogyny and the increasing gap between the have and have-nots."
A glancing reference? The title is entirely composed of a quote from the song. It's nice of Dickerman to inform readers who might be puzzled by the otherwise weird title, and as someone who'd had the words of that song seared in my brain for more than half a century, I don't mind seeing it explained for other people, but it's irritating to see it declared "a potent metaphor" for what's in this book, which doesn't seem to have the slightest connection to the what's in "Visions of Johanna."
What would it mean for infinity to go up on trial? Dylan fans have contemplated that mystery for many decades. The trial of infinity, in the song, is something that happens not on violent streets but inside the museums:
Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
Voices echo, "This is what salvation must be like after a while"
In museums, things are solidly and quietly preserved, so it's a place where you might naturally inquire into the value of permanence. It's the opposite of chaos breaking out on the street. But maybe the book does a better job of justifying the title. In the lyric, the disembodied thought is maybe you don't want the same thing frozen in place forever and ever. It's the question that occurs at some point to everyone: Isn't Heaven tedious?
But Mona Lisa musta had the highway blues
You can tell by the way she smiles
You're in the museum, you're looking at the painting, and you're thinking this is awful. Infinity is guilty! The permanence is freaking me out. Come on, Mona! Let's get out of here.
See the primitive wallflower freezeDon't get me started on the wallflower freeze/frieze.
When the jelly-faced women all sneeze...
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All of those Jean Jeanne Jane Jan June Joan Joanne Johanna names are a lot less common now than they used to be, aren't they? Jane may be doing a little better than the others because of Jane Austen. Also my impression is that people didn't used to pronounce the "h" in Johanna and are pronouncing it now. Is that true, or is my limited contact with the outside world deceiving me?
"Isn't Heaven tedious?"
No.
Lurker21 said...
All of those Jean Jeanne Jane Jan June Joan Joanne Johanna names are a lot less common now than they used to be, aren't they?
That's Because... Jen has taken over the world.. All Hail Jennifer!!!
Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens.
I would agree about the rich-poor gap, but are "White supremacy" and "misogyny" really major problems now? Isn't it more that our current rulers label any opposition illegitimate and malevolent? Isn't that what they said Trump was doing?
Written during a black out in New York, while he was dating folk singer Joan Baez, but was falling in love with his first wife Sara. “Visions of Johanna” is one of Dylan’s most beloved, debated and surreal epics yet it all boils down to one simple truth: he misses Johanna.
One of them is Louise and the other is Johanna? Does it all boil down to that?
Speaking of permanence, the link in the post that's inside the 'wallflower' link no longer goes anywhere: "404 error".
I guess the Internet ≠ infinity.
"It's the question that occurs at some point to everyone: Isn't Heaven tedious?"
I agree - that's a question that eventually occurs to just about everyone; it certainly did to me. But I believe that this idea of tediousness comes from our distorted vision of heaven as sitting on clouds and singing some hymns from the hymnal - forever. "I don't like singing! I'd be bored with nothing to see but clouds".
Take the best of earthly experiences and multiply x100. What is the most exhilarating concert (rock, jazz, classical...) you've ever attended? Felt really great, right? Now try to imagine feeling that way x100 non-stop. And you wouldn't have the physical fatigue you would eventually have in this world. Where have you been that inspired great awe and wonder? A cathedral? A mountain top? In a glider flying over the herds of the Serengeti? Now imagine that breathtaking feeling x100 wherever you look around - non-stop.
I think maybe you would feel like singing (especially if you had a voice like Pavarotti in heaven!).
What a great Dylan riff! One of the great joys of your blog is these popping up from time to time.
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
Glory be to God for dappled things –
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced – fold, fallow, and plough;
And áll trádes, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BSWpgB5BZU
Whenever I see a reference to Bob Dylan, I wish he had stuck to songwriting and hadn't tried to sing because then maybe I'd know more about his music, But in my youth there were so many other performers who didn't grate on my years, I skipped him unless someone who could sing was performing his music. I guess I get why he's a cultural icon to some, but it doesn't surprise me so many people need reminding a reference is to him when it's not "Blowin' in the Wind".
Isn't Heaven tedious?
The heaven described by John in Revelation sounds awful. The Talking Heads describe it as a place where nothing ever happens because, if it’s perfect and will always be perfect, then nothing can happen because change will mar the perfection. Theologians throughout history have waxed poetic about the sufferings of hell (in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, it goes on for about 20 pages), but have very little to say about the joys of heaven. Because how could they? Heaven can only be boring, inevitably becoming its own hell.
I find that funny. I’m not sure which to fear more—an afterlife, or no afterlife.
Is this heaven? No, it's the Napa Valley and gas is more expensive here.
Alan Chin's book looks like a confirmation for all Manhattanites and Brooklynites that their worst fears about America are true. May they enjoy their holiday weekend.
Dickerman: "...the powder keg that the U.S. became in the aftermath of a multiplicity of stunning events that brought the most ignoble aspects of the country to light: white supremacism, misogyny and the increasing gap between the have and have-nots."
Dylan: "Hear the one with the mustache say, 'Jeez, I can't find my knees.'"
Bobby pegged him.
Some say that "Johanna" was Johanna van Gogh-Bonger, Theo van Gogh's wife and Vincent's sister-in-law. She worked assiduously after Vincent's death to elevate him into the ranks of painting's immortals and was crucial to establishing his modern reputation.
Here's a Van Gogh song by Dylan (there was also another, performed in 1976 during the Rolling Thunder Revue), recorded in a Denver hotel room in April 1966:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IV7g9GTtHSw
Positively Van Gogh (aka Spuriously Seventeen Windows)
When I'd ask why the painting was deadly
Nobody could pick up my sign
'Cept for the cook, she was always friendly
But she'd only ask, "What's on your mind?"
She'd say that especially when it was raining
I'd say "Oh, I don't know"
But then she'd press and I'd say, "You see that painting?
Do you think it's been done by Van Gogh?"
The cook she said call her Maria
She'd always point for the same boy to come forth
Saying, "He trades cattle, it's his own idea
And he also makes trips to the North
Have you ever seen his naked calf bleed?"
I'd say, "Oh no, why does it show?"
And she'd whisper in my ear that he's a half-breed
And I'd say, "Fine, but can he paint like Van Gogh?"
I can't remember his name he never gave it
But I always figured he could go home
Til when he'd gave me his card and said, "Save it"
I could see by his eyes he was alone
But it was sad how his four leaf clover
Drawn on his calling card showed
That it was given back to him a-many times over
And it most definitely was not done by Van Gogh
It was either she or the maid just to please me
Though I sensed she could not understand
And she made a thing out of it by saying, "Go easy
He's a straight, but he's a very crooked straight man."
And I'd say, "Does the girl in the calendar doubt it?
And by the way is it Marilyn Monroe?"
But she'd just speak softly and say, "Why you wanna know about it?"
And I'd say, "I was just wondering if she ever sat for Van Gogh."
It was either her or the straight man who introduced me
To Jeanette, Camilla's friend
Who later on falsely accused me of stealing her locket and pen
When I said "I don't have the locket"
She said "You steal pictures of everybody's mother I know"
And I said "There's no locket
No picture of any mother I would pocket
Unless it's been done by Van Gogh."
Camilla's house stood on the outskirts
How strange to see the chandeliers destroyed
While beneath the velvet carpet
Of fox hunts and love far before
"... the United States as a "powder keg" of "white supremacism, misogyny and the increasing gap between the have and have-nots."
What absolute bollocks! White supremacists are numerically insignificant. Misogyny, where it exists, is triggered occasionally by wacked out, man-hating activists in pussy hats and the like. Both are overplayed by leftmediaswine for political purposes.
The "gap between the have and have-nots" is a product of elitist manipulation and graft - mostly fomented by Democrats. It is turning us into a "shithole" of corruption.
Another title falls off the summer reading list.
“ Speaking of permanence, the link in the post that's inside the 'wallflower' link no longer goes anywhere: "404 error".”
Yeah and I tried to reconstruct it but couldn’t.
Leftists should get out more or at least talk to the deliverymen and the doorman.
I clicked on the link to buy the book from the publisher. This is what they chose to highlight:
“The heft, the paper, the thickness and the size all remind me of a novel. There’s a lot here. And I love that the cover design uses artwork from @alanschin‘s daughter.” — Kenneth Dickerman, The Washington Post
Dear publisher: That's a kick to the groin, not a pat on the back.
Ms. Althouse writes, "It's the question that occurs at some point to everyone: Isn't Heaven tedious?"
Yes, thank you - good summary. There was a Black Mirror episode titled "San Junipero" ---
SPOILERS
--about a same-sex couple who spends eternity in simulated reality on the beach together. Wikipedia says "San Junipero is revealed to be a simulated reality where the deceased can live and the elderly can visit, all inhabiting their younger selves' bodies in a time of their choice."
The couple is euthanized and, like I noted, spend every day going through the same scenario for eternity. Wikipedia characterizes the show as having an "uplifting tone (atypical for the show)" and a "happy ending." But to me it always seemed to be tedious, as you stated (at best) or horrific at worst as their consciousness is trapped repeating the same thing for all eternity - in the memory banks of a computer.
I always saw Dylan’s museum lyrics in Visions of Johanna as part of his declaration of freedom first announced in It’s Alright Ma”. The latter was written in 1965. Dylan’s two most important declarations in that song are: “I’ve got nothing, Ma, to live up to” and the last line: “But it’s alright, Ma, it’s life, and life only”. Dylan declares himself free from society’s rules but does not express interest in replacing those rules (as Marxists/Progressives do). He accepts life but is keenly aware of society’s rules that he rejects.
Flash forward to Visions written in 1966 where Dylan turns his eye to a museum of fine art. I understand his lyrics about “infinity goes up on trial” as a reaction to Christian-inspired art with themes joining heaven and earth, idealizing saints and their connection to God, etc. Assuming infinity means heaven, then Dylan is reacting to the portrayals in paintings that have been judged and approved for display and that reflect the sanctioned view of society’s wise men. But Dylan has rejected the wise men and does not see the verdict decided for him so the paintings and their views are still on trial. In a way, he commends the museum for raising an important topic. The other museum lyrics are pure Dylan wit and sarcasm - he’s having fun. Dylan does this a lot in songs - redirecting from a serious point to something light and frivolous to avoid being pedantic (creating his own rules).
Visions actually has several themes - his passion for a new lover while with the current lover, his disrespect for the boring guy who brags about his life, the excruciating boredom of a quiet night indoors without stimulating discussion, his museum revelations on infinity and the humor in the art, and his need to look out the window to keep his head from exploding from lack of satisfaction with anything that night, especially the uncertainty of his love life going forward and his attraction to and struggle with God. It’s a tour d’force without peer in rock music. One of my favorite songs.
I've been around for a long time, and listened to all the stuff that a guy my age is supposed to have listened too. I'm a Dylan fan, too, although often of someone else doing his songs- as I've always said, "when Jerry Garcia sings your songs better than you do..."
Anyway about 15 years ago I was on my way back to Massachusetts after a couple weeks in Northern Minnesota- not as far up as Hibbing, mind you, but...
It was a rainy afternoon somewhere between Utica and Albany on the Thruway, when Dylan's "Visions of Johanna came on the satellite radio- I was entranced, and surprised, too, because I'd never heard the song before- that just didn't seem possible. Anyway it's now, better late than never, one of my favorite Dylan song, even though my favorite version is not Dylan's, but rather this one by the Grateful Dead, recorded a couple month before Garcia died, which makes it all the more poignant.
https://youtu.be/JKhM-Ed8R8k
The book he's talking about, “Infinity Goes Up on Trial,” by Alan Chin, is a collection of photographs that show the United States as a "powder keg" of "white supremacism, misogyny and the increasing gap between the have and have-nots."
No pictures of the BLM rioters destroy black neighborhoods, or assaulting police stations / courthouses?
I guess he likes that particular "powder keg"
The Talking Heads describe it as a place where nothing ever happens because, if it’s perfect and will always be perfect, then nothing can happen because change will mar the perfection.
There are many people who hate sameness. Therefore perfection for them would always be changing.
Perfection for me would be always growing, always learning more, always getting better. Again, not static.
Theologians throughout history have waxed poetic about the sufferings of hell (in Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, it goes on for about 20 pages), but have very little to say about the joys of heaven. Because how could they? Heaven can only be boring, inevitably becoming its own hell.
Infinite life without regular new inputs must always become a boring hell. Which means that Heaven must either not grant infinite life, or must not be unchanging
The idea that heaven is boring goes back along way. At least as far back as Billy Joel.
You can perhaps save heaven and God by arguing that the most complete knowledge of reality, of everything all at once with all its connections and secret harmonies, would be the ultimate psychedelic trip.
It is hard to believe this book would have attracted any attention at all without its title, a perfectly pointless and meaningless rip off of Dylan. As for that line, a "powder keg of white supremacism, misogyny and the increasing gap between the have and have-nots." That is truly rich, really. "White Supremacy and misogyny" are now the big boogie men exploited by all the rich and powerful working feverishly now to DISTRACT us from the increasing gap between the haves and the have nots. Classic divide and conquer. Not that I am big on the Marxist take on things either, but I will take that any day to the constant distractions by the likes of the WaPo with their endless obsessions about race, gender, and all the rest.
Oh, and as to heaven being boring, etc. I often wonder about those 72 virgins promised by some hadith, or so we are told. It's hard to imagine even the horniest teenager thinking that would be fine for more than the first few hours or so. But all of infinity?
There is no time in heaven so it's impossible to be bored. Infinity is unlimited time while eternity is outside time. Christian theology holds that God is both Eternal outside of time and Immanent within people and time.
The original title of the song was "Seems like a Freeze-Out" so the word freeze could be a remnant left over original idea. Or it could reflect his mood at the time beginning to obsess on Sara frozen in repetitive thoughts that are like an infinite tableau. Has Sara frozen him out because of Joanie Baez? Little boy lost pisses him off talking about his misery when Dylan's actually suffering with visions that won't go away he even sees them on Louise's face. They conquer his mind and are all that remain.
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