24 May '22 20:52:4213
BOOK REVIEW
MAY 24, 2022 (BOB DYLAN’s BIRTHDAY)
has come and gone
for the eighty-first time
. . he’s still on the road
since we were young
through the air waves
gramophone speakers
then cassette tapes
CD’s
and now Spotify
his Rough and Rowdy Ways
(39th studio album)
and his quiet days
in this earthly realm
may soon be over
sad to say
for as we are told
in the Psalms
we are given but three score and ten
or if strong, fourscore
then we cross the Rubicon
into the Great Beyond
. . . how he has enriched our lives
with his wacky turn of phrase
striking a chord
In our reflection
about what it means
to be human
. . . I read this book the other day
‘Why Dylan Matters’
the author a professor of classics
who had a thesis:
Dylan is steeped in tradition
going back to the Roman poets
to the Bible
going back to Virgil
to Ovid
and then stealing
from great and obscure poets
Robbie Burns in the Highlands
Rimbaud and Verlaine
and Italian poets
from the 13th century
‘Dylanology’ has now become a thing
taught in university seminars
trying to find the source of his words
. . . this was the subject
of the professor’s book
he quoted T.S.Elliot
who said
“a poor poet copies
. . a mature poet steals”
so now we guess
to what is meant
by the puzzling name
of his 31st album
’Love and Theft’
. . . you gotta read the book to understand
Dylan’s reported quote
about all this academic study
into the source of his verse
often beyond interpretation
“the world of research
has gone berserk.
Too much paperwork!”
- Bob Dylan
——
THE BOOK
”Why Dylan Matters” by Richard Thomas
Published in 2017
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
see
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_F._Thomas
Attached image: the audio book from Scribd
AUDIOBOOK DESCRIPTION FROM SCRIBD
At last an expert classicist gets to grips with Bob Dylan’ Mary Beard
When the Nobel Prize for Literature was awarded to Bob Dylan in 2016, the literary world was up in arms. How could the world’s most prestigious book prize be awarded to a famously cantankerous singer-songwriter in his seventies, who wouldn’t even deign to make a victory speech?
In Why Dylan Matters, Harvard professor Richard F. Thomas answers that question with magisterial erudition. A world expert on classical poetry, Thomas was initially ridiculed by his colleagues for teaching a course on Bob Dylan alongside his traditional seminars on Homer, Virgil and Ovid. Dylan’s Nobel prize win brought him vindication, and he immediately found himself thrust into the limelight as a leading academic voice in all matters Dylanological.
This witty, personal volume is a distillation of Thomas’s famous course, and makes a compelling case for moving Dylan out of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and into the pantheon of classical poets. The most dazzlingly original and compelling Dylan book in decades, Why Dylan Matters will amaze and astound everyone from the first-time listener to the lifetime fan. You’ll never think about Bob Dylan in the same way again.
—ooOoo—
← See Less
Born May 24, 1941 - Bob Dylan, 80 today.
Fifth Estate Press
As a commemoration of Bob Dylan’s 80th birthday today, May 24th, we’ll post this story from the July 2011 edition of ROLLING STONE magazine. Enjoy. --ooOoo--
Everything you say is valid and I agree with you, however I should note a few things which interfere with the appreciation of Mr. Dylan in the present day.
Firstly, he is seen as one of the principle cultural influences of the so-called "counter-culture' of the 60s. As we know, most of the followers of "counter-culture" of the 60s are now liberals who probably voted for Joe Biden.
Contemporary conspiracy theorists are rightly sceptical of anyone associated with that era, and they are generally very suspicious of Bob Dylan.
When you look at the recent obnoxious authoritarian outbursts of Neil Young and Joni Mitchell, who are also icons of that era, you can see there is good reason to be suspicious of all these people.
You and I know that Bob is different, but I would hazard to guess that most of the people who use this platform see him as fake and merely a puppet of the establishment.
This may surprise you, but that is my experience. I'm a huge fan, but my fellow truth seekers despise him, and the fact that he won the Nobel prize for literature merely increases their hostility.
People are prejudicial due to their tendency to fall into identitarian modes of thought which block their perception and inhibit their personal development.
We live in odd times.
Thanks boss, for that take on the broader context of attitudes to the prolific singer-songwriter
-who some of us have grown up with since we were young.
I appreciate your comments and feedback.
What I like about Dylan is the inability of most to categorize him in accordance with their politically correct mindset
He broke with the counter-culture of the 60’s big time. “Equality - I spoke their word as if a wedding vow - but I was older then - I’m so much younger now”
And when he put out those Born Again albums in the early ‘80s, your friends probably assumed he has lost his mind and gone completely bonkers
But that seems to have been his schtick - always elusive and one step ahead of his critics and followers
I don’t think you are saying in your comments that Dylan was a part of, or inspiration for the 70s sex drugs and rock ‘n roll new age hippie counter culture that fucked up the lives of so many baby boomers
At some prize giving function he was introduced as “the conscience” of that movement. He just froze and was disgusted with being put in that category. I think mentioned that incident in his Chronicles
However I don’t give a damn what others think of Dylan. Because what is more important is how the impact of words and flights of expressionist poetry on the subconscious- something that is “the same but different” for every listener
Depending of different depth of experiences and emotions between different people - the same song might bring one to shed a tear - and the other one to feel no emotion out of the ordinary.
I was often told I need to broaden my musical playlist - and I have done that. I was a late starter listening to The Rolling Stones. And now agree they are the greatest Rock band. Your observation in an earlier post that Dylan respected the Stones more than the Beatles because they lifted many of their songs from tradition, that rings true especially after reading Why Dylan Matters That book by the classics professor says the same about Dylan - that he draws from the past i.e. from tradition
Anyway - let’s not quibble - there are many books on Dylan - as there are on other poets. At the end of the day, it’s all about personal taste that is not about truth and falsity
Bob Dylan discography - Wikipedia
Wikipedia
I have just re-read your comments. Yes it does surprise me.
I suggest you run a poll on this platform to confirm/refute my proposition. I would be pleased to be wrong on this.
It's very hard for "right-wing" people to like a musician who has been adopted and owned by the left. Even if he tried to wriggle out of that label - he never really succeeded.
Joan Baez, who worshipped him and helped him get a larger audience is a rusted on leftist. She's probably a three mask 4-jab person today lol 🥳
"People are prejudicial due to their tendency to fall into identitarian modes of thought which block their perception and inhibit their personal development." WTF ...ROFL!
All I can say is "Lay Lady Lay ..lay across my big brass bed today."
"identarian modes of thought"? Can you elaborate?
Is "identitarianism" the belief in the supremacy of the "self" over external realities? In other words, we can choose out own identity rather than having our identity determined by others?
The Oxford English Dictionary defines identitarianism as
An ideology or political agenda which seeks to defend or promote the interests of a particular social, racial, or religious group, nationality, etc. Hence: advocacy of an ideology or a political agenda specific to one’s particular religion, race, nationality, etc.
https://medium.com/a-universalist-in-an-identitari…
What Is Identitarianism? Why Do Neoliberals Love It? Why Won’t Wikipedia Define It Fully?
Medium
The Oxford English Dictionary defines identitarianism as
It's interesting to note that wikipedia associates this exclusively with right-wing political ideologies, whereas in reality this is also very much a left-wing thing...