Tweets Bob Dylan (who writes his own tweets, obviously and reportedly).
I love the way Bob endorses the movie and the book without assuring us that the story they tell is the truth. In fact, I hear him saying that they are not the truth. The book is a "fantastic retelling." And Timmy's portrayal is "going to be completely believable" not because he really is like Bob, but because "Timmy’s a brilliant actor." And there isn't even one Bob: there's Bob, younger Bob, and some other Bob. Who is Bob? He's teasing us to think that he isn't really anyone in particular. It ain’t no use a-talking to him/It’s just the same as talking to you. That's why "A Complete Unknown" is a great title. We don't know him and we won't know him, but I'm sure Timmy'll do a fine job. He's brilliant. You can believe him as the lead character in the fantastic retelling of The Fiasco at Newport. That was something like The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald, I believe.
The word "believe" only appears in 1 Bob Dylan song. I'm not counting "I Don't Believe You," because "believe" is only in the song title. It's this song, "I Believe in You":
UPDATE: A reader emails that there are plenty more Dylan songs with the word "believe." Redoing my search, I see the fine print, in faint aqua:
Clicking that "SONGS (42)," I get to the additional "believe"s — "I couldn't believe after all these years that you didn't know me any better than that" "If you really believe that, you know you've got nothing to win and nothing to lose," "I believe I'll go see her again," "I'm going back to New York City/I do believe I've had enough" — etc. etc.
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18 comments:
It would be awesome when I’m 83 to have a taller, better looking actor portray me in a movie. They can say whatever they want about me if they make me look good.
I love how Dylan advises us to read the book after we’ve seen the movie. He’s still cool
Based on some of his other writing; I'd bet the story Wald tells is about as close to the truth as you're ever going to get.
This is just a comment to tell you how much I liked the post. That is all. Over and out.
We were expecting a full review of the movie by Ann Althouse.
The recording of Dylan’s “Serve Somebody” tour has him going song and dance man on a few songs. Cracked me up when I saw it. Also has the superb Fred Tackett and Tim Drummond on guitar and bass, respectively.
What Jaq said.
Actually, there's more:
As I was reading this post, I remembered a conversation I had with a high school friend a number of years ago. We had both read a collection of pieces by the late, great Lester Bangs, including his obituary of Presley. Bangs's concluding line was "We will never again agree on anything as we agreed on Elvis." I said to my friend, how about Dylan? There was a long pause, and he finally said, "I'll have to think about it." I recently learned that my friend had had a heart attack. He's recovering, thankfully, but I'd better check back and see if he has an answer yet.
Do we agree on Dylan, the way we agreed on Elvis? Would we still agree on Elvis, if he'd made it to 83?
Elvis's 90th birthday is a month from next Sunday.
"I love how Dylan advises us to read the book after we’ve seen the movie."
I know. What does he care which order we consume these things? The fact is, the book can be read now and the movie can't be seen until Christmas. Maybe he has some idea — which I think is true — that if you've read a book, the movie bothers you because it leaves things out and misses half the depth, but if you've seen the movie, the feeling of going into more depth is relatively pleasant.
BTW, that book is available at Spotify and included in a premium subscription.
"We were expecting a full review of the movie by Ann Althouse."
Really? Quite aside from the fact that the movie isn't out yet, when have I ever done full movie reviews? I can't remember ever doing that.
Thanks, Jaq. And John.
"The recording of Dylan’s “Serve Somebody” tour has him going song and dance man on a few songs...."
It's worth remembering, now that Bob is calling Timothee Chalamet "Timmy," that in the song "Gotta Serve Somebody," Bob tells us that we can call him "Timmy":
You may call me Terry, you may call me Timmy
You may call me Bobby, you may call me Zimmy
You may call me R.J., you may call me Ray
You may call me anything but no matter what you say
You’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes indeed
You’re gonna have to serve somebody
Well, it may be the devil or it may be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody
Yes, indeed. Saw Devo open their New Year’s Eve ‘79 show as “Dove the Band of Love” with an upbeat, tight “Serve Somebody”.
A smart-assed homage of sorts.
Not to brag, but I went to college with a guy who knew Dylan before he was Dylan. I feel special.
I'm entertained by him calling it the Newport Fiasco. Very amusing. He knew exactly what he was doing when he plugged that geetar in. It was really the release of thoughtful commentary songs from their acoustic prison. You can amplify an acoustic instrument, via microphone or directly, but it just doesn't have the potential power of an electric guitar. I love my Bluegrass music and like playing it with guitar and mandolin but even this most powerful of acoustic genres can't compete with electric. It's why the Elvis version of Blue Moon of Kentucky, just kills Bill Monroe's (the writer) Bluegrass versions (and I mean the re-recorded version at Elvis tempo).
Since we’re in the “I saw Dylan when” mode, I saw Bob Dylan in concert in 1965 in Columbus, and then 43 years later in Aspen in 2008. The 1965 event thrilled me because I was young and knew all his songs; the 2008 was interesting because he was still going (but with a lot of help from the other musicians).
Quite a compliment, coming from the guy you’re portraying. Dylan is not one to offer unwarranted praise, looks like the film and Chalamet will be winners.
I saw Dylan in 2009. The second worst show - trailing only the Clash - who were an mind numbing disappointment in my extensive concert experience.
I think Dylan is underestimating Movie-goers who know that Docu-dramas almost never resemble their source material. A bit patronizing to think that audiences have no idea what an adaption is.
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