It's like that joke about the definition of a gentleman: someone who can play the bagpipes but doesn't. I can play the Dylan bore, but try my bestest not to.

Everyone knows the song, probably the video too as it's the second one that pops up after a google. But it's magnificent. I had the chance to see Dylan in Taipei last summer, but unfortunately it conflicted with other plans.

https://youtu.be/YwSZvHqf9qM

*Excuse me, two summers ago. I'm getting old.

Hey, I would never be bored by another Dylan obsessive. You're right about Rolling Thunder being the white face tour. But he also rearranged his songs on the Never Ending Tour.

I don't know why you're toying with everyone, Mark. Dylan is nice, sure. Only a pawn in their game is not only a protest song, but an unapologetic nod to the game of chess. But come on, we both know The Pixies rule.

It's funny that the thing you can't abide is one of the things I love most about Dylan, i.e., his ability and inclination to change tempos, lyrics, arrangements, etc., to experience the songs in a new and often equally satisfying way. By contrast, what I can't abide is going to a concert and hearing an exact reproduction of the studio version of a given song off the record, so the only added value I am getting is that I can listen to a familiar recording with the artist himself standing on the stage moving his lips.

Not all his change-ups are equally successful, of course. But sometimes they are quite powerful. For example, his original recording of "The Times They Are A-Changing" came across as a young person's dressing down of the older generation, a sort of angry anthem. His version in old age takes on a more lugubrious tone, more an acknowledgement that times are a-changing out from under him. He still respects the generational transition, but from the other side of the tracks.

Yeah, that's right, Roger. I think it's pretty cool. God, popular music is a corporate wasteland at present.

What if you went to hear Rubinstein play your favorite sonata and he played it backwards? Or what if Frost gave a recital and he dispensed with rhyme and meter, rendering all his classics as free verse? I'm a purist in these things, but maybe you're more flexible.

Ha! Oh absolutely James, The Pixies rule. Along with The Velvet Underground, Tom Waits, Dinosaur Jr, Jenny Lewis, Flaming Lips, Belle and Sebastian, The Kinks, Scott Walker, The Violent Femmes, Sandy Denny, The Replacements, The Pogues, Kevin Coyne, Syd Barret, The Dresden Dolls, The Smiths, Joanna Newsom...

It doesn’t end. I know far more about slightly oddball pop and rock music than I’ll ever know about poetry. I’m resigned to that.

But people rarely start threads about them ha.

I'm not sure whether this is a coincidence or whether the original clip or its posting here is somehow tied to the documentary, but here is a review of a new Band documentary. The review calls into question the storytelling of the film, which the reviewer sees as speaking for RR.

https://slate.com/culture/2020/02/on...-subtitle.html

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I don't think Dylan has ever felt comfortable in his skin. I think he was very early on —pretty much when he moved to NYC — derailed from his innocence and natural artistic instincts and sent on a different trajectory.The people who so vehemently disagreed with his switch to rock knew that it meant the death of the Dylan that had been a folk poet. He managed, for a time, to stay connected to his muse (or maybe he found a new one), but it pretty much faded, to my ear, after Blood On The Tracks. But it's rare that an artist remains constantly fruitful over a long period of time. Dylan has produced an impressive catalogue that, for better or for worse, musically blueprints his life. I remember reading once that he never felt religious in the sense of being connected to any particular institutionalized faith (although he certainly explored them). Ultimately he sees music as his true religion. I like that. I think it can be expanded to be seen as art being religion and the artists as preachers (for lack of a better word). It means that I can be multi-faithful and combine genres to gain a better view of the invisible world. : )

Max, yeah I see what you mean about the sudden re-emergence of the myth-legend that is The Band. I am not nearly as tuned-in to the history of the differing versions of their role in Dylan's career as others here might be... I never knew of the conflict between Levon Helm/his wife and RR and never realized how RR-centric The Last Waltz was/is. There are always multiple versions of the truth I guess. (It reminds me of Lennon/McCartney and their struggle with each other to get their own versions of the truth out.)

Mark, thanks for the list of artists you follow. I've only heard of a few and am enjoying the discoveries. As I aged and became pre-occupied by my realities, my musical tastes went semi-dormant/stagnant. It's good now to have been roused into listening again to new artists.

I saw Dylan only once, in the early 80's —perhaps the worst period during which to see him perform. He was hip-deep in his Christianity phase and not making much sense. I went in hopes of hearing some of the songs that, even to this day, blow me away. To this day, when I hear the opening chords/notes to "Like A Rolling Stone" I practically rise out of my seat and salivate. When I first heard it, listening to "Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands" was like smoking opium (which I've never done but imagine to be dreamy).

James, fantastic vid of Dylan performing "Tangled Up In Blue". That song, too, has a catalytic effect on me.

Btw, I love his early folk music and still consider it to be some of the best music/poetry he's written.
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