BOB DYLAN AT LUCCA SUMMER FESTIVAL, ITALY – 1st JULY 2015
Same man – different mask. Bob Dylan – then and now.
Why does Bob Dylan still play live and why do people still pay good money to see him?
The second question is easier to answer than the first. It is something of a cliché to refer to an artist as a living legend but Dylan surely merits this label. It’s therefore only natural that many will flock to pay homage (and cash!) to a man whose vast body of work is second to none.
When he exploded onto the folk music scene in the 1960s, an adoring public would sit in rapt silence to hear the words of this poet come visionary. On his Song For Bob Dylan, David Bowie got it about right when he sang: “you sat behind a million pair of eyes and told them how they saw”.
Robert Zimmerman’s ‘protest’ songs articulated the mood of a nation and helped fuel movements opposed to the Vietnam War, institutionalised racism and the dearth of moral /political values that causes like these symbolized. Yet, Dylan has always diligently avoided aligning himself to political or religious movements, stubbornly following his own path. “Don’t follow leaders” he advised in Subterranean Homesick Blues and he has never set himself up as a spokesman for any generation. Think for yourself has always been his message. Continue reading
‘Bring Up The Bodies’ by Hilary Mantel, which I blogged about yesterday, has much to say about the nature of political manoeuvring and power games that seem as relevant now and as in the 16th century.
