Bob Dylan - 83 brilliant years. Let's hope that there are many more yet to come.
No, I don't have a problem with where you were born, raised, have been, having done or currently live.
I do have a problem with Joe Biden and the US Administration's continued hypocritical stance in support of the undeniable and indefensible atrocities being committed against Palestinians by Israel. I especially have a problem with the US using its Security Council veto in a prejudicial way to favour Israel in contradiction to reality. Biden is a long, long way better choice than Trump but I can't help but fear that he is, whether under pressure or not, failing to denounce a crime against humanity & thus endangering our only hope that there won't again be a democracy destroyer in a 2nd term Trump.
I can't know what Bob Dylan thinks about all this. I can only surmise. Perhaps it is difficult for him because of his Jewish legacy. However, given the prolific and clear support of equity and compassion and clear condemnation of perfidy, injustice and hypocrisy within his catalogue, I tend to consider that he would feel very much as I and millions of university students do throughout the USA and the World, including many that are, themselves, Jewish.
That I feel this way may be a result of my genetics or learned personality traits. In my view it is a result of having cherished, admired and followed the work of Bob Dylan since I bought his first album in England in 1960.
Bob Dylan's words have enlightened me in so many ways, raising my awareness, challenging my conditioning, enlarging my World view and not a little enhancing my understanding of human psyche. To add that he has given me countless hours of pleasure and entertainment through his continued development, experimentation with genres, variations in style and amazing collaborations, is a given.
I don't know if Bob Dylan has changed my life but I do know he has made it more full, more honest and more worthwhile. He has seen me through joyful and hard times, relieved me from depressive periods and given me insights as deeply and well considered as those discovered through a love of reading.
Bob Dylan's award of a Nobel Prize for Literature is truly deserved and those who see it differently have my sympathy for it is sad that they clearly miss or fail to understand his contribution not just to music but to humanity and life.
In my view, his legacy will be favourably considered and applauded for as long as this race manages to survive.
Thank you for your article and thank you to Bob Dylan for all he has given us.
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Favourites? - Almost impossible to pick but some tracks of particular significance to me:
* Black Cross
* To Ramona
* It's allright ma, (I'm only bleeding)
* It's all over now, baby blue
* Lily, Rosemary & the Jack of Hearts
* Masters of war
* Everything is broken
* Positively Fourth Street
* Oh Sister
* Ballad of Ira Hayes
* The Lonesome death of Hattie Carroll
* Not dark yet
* A Hard rain's a-gonna fall
*Desolation row
* License to Kill
* The Ballad of Frankie Lee & Judas Priest
* I'll be your baby tonight
* Tears of rage
* With God on our side
*Take me as I am (Or let me go)
*Tempest
* Only a pawn in their game
* Boots of Spanish leather
- As I said, how can you pick???
Take care. Stay safe. ☮️
