Bob Dylan

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bookslover

Puritan Board Doctor
Bob Dylan is 75 today. He still plays about 100 shows a year. He spent all of April in Japan, for example and, starting in June, he begins his American tour that will probably keep him on the road for the rest of this year. Amazing.

I've heard that he's been nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature at least twice. An interviewer once asked someone who's plugged into the Nobel process if he thought Dylan had a chance. His reply boiled down to: "If I had to guess, I'd say no, for two reasons: (1) Dylan is an American, and for many Leftists on the Nobel committee, Americans are, you know, evil. (2) The Literature prize is rarely awarded to poets in the first place. And Dylan would be considered, by some, as a lyricist, not a poet. So, probably: no. But, never say never, because the Committee just might surprise us one day."

Someone once wrote that the key to understanding Dylan is to remember that, in fact, he's NOT "the voice of a generation." He's (1) not a baby-boomer (born in 1941), (2) not a suburbanite (Hibbing, Minnesota, where he mostly grew up, is 200 miles north of Minneapolis, in the Iron Range), and (3) is not a university graduate (he spent just one semester at the University of Minnesota). So, he's not all those things the Baby Boom generation was, of which he supposedly is the voice of.

Just some rambling thoughts on his birthday.
 
Thanks for posting that, Richard. The generation Dylan was "the voice of" is the 60's counterculture, and some generations after that. In the remarkable book, The Political World of Bob Dylan, authors Jeff Taylor and Chad Israelson make a very strong case for the continuation of Dylan's faith in Christ, consulting numerous interviews, articles, the songs Dylan sang at various concerts (up till 2014 or 15), and remarks from his own mouth. They go into the nuances of Dylan's faith and spiritual life from back around 1978-79, the formative (or deformative) influences on said spiritual life, and they exemplify real investigative journalism in this endeavor.

The first half of the book is mostly about Dylan's youth, and his growth as a songwriter; the second half is pretty much all about Dylan, his music, and his faith. At $80 for the book on Amazon it was too pricey for me to buy, so I got it from Inter-library Loan and, having less than 3 weeks to read it (plus finishing up my own book, and teaching), read only the second half about his spiritual life. It was a riveting read for one deeply interested in him and his life.
 
Born already ruined

Here are several verses from what is probably his most Calvinistic lyric:

I was blinded by the devil
Born already ruined
Stone-cold dead

As I stepped out of the womb
By His grace I have been touched
By His word I have been healed
By His hand I have been delivered
By His spirit I Have been sealed.

I've been saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved
By the blood of the lamb
Saved
Saved
And I'm so glad
Yes, I'm so glad
I'm so glad
So glad
I want to thank you, Lord
I just want to thank You Lord
Thank You Lord.
 
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Any pretense of Dylan's being the voice of a generation was gone after his motorcycle accident in 1966 and subsequent hiatus. After that, he seemed to go out of his way to be contrarian and get out of that box. This was years before his "born again" phase. (One could argue that this actually started somewhat earlier, after "The Times They Are a-Changin," with the next few records being less overtly political. This was accompanied by his going electric.) I remember reading that at least once in response to a question in an interview in the late 60s he said something like "How do you know I'm not FOR the [Vietnam] war?" Then he went to Nashville and cut a country record, something that couldn't have been less hip at the time. This was during the time of the assassinations of MLK and RFK, Nixon's Southern Strategy and calls for Law and Order, and apparently he had little to nothing to say about it when the "generation" was battling at the 1968 Democratic Convention, burning draft cards, etc. He's also a defender of Israel, (e.g. "Neighborhood Bully") which is another unpardonable sin in their eyes. Other than a few political songs here and there like "Hurricane," Dylan's career after "Blonde on Blonde" has been seen as a mixture of disappointment and an outright betrayal politically by 60s leftists. While the excellence of some of his later work is acknowledged, he obviously abdicated the role that so many wanted for him.

For what it's worth, your criteria on his date of birth also disqualifies John Lennon, who was born in 1940. If Lennon wasn't "the voice" of the flower power generation, then who was? I'd argue that the "Voice of a generation" can be a role for someone who is a little older than the ones being influenced when they are in their teens or early 20s. So maybe such a pop culture voice could be five or even as much as ten years older.

But you never know. Just before he died, the renowned director Elia Kazan was given an honorary Oscar, although not without considerable controversy from those who thought that blacklisting avowed communists was a great evil and that those who spoke to the HUAC should basically be blacklisted instead. But that award wouldn't have happened without the advocacy of men like Scorsese. I don't know that there is anybody who would fill that role in the Nobel decision making process.
 
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Dylan is cleverly ambiguious enough to "make what you will" of him.
I remember when "Infidels" came out, it left us all scratching our heads, has Dylan renounced his faith?
If Dylan is regenerate then he is definitely keeping his light under a bushel.

I did really like his last album with the Titanic song on it. :)

Proverbs 30:7-9
Two things have I required of thee; deny me them not before I die:
Remove far from me vanity and lies: give me neither poverty nor riches; feed me with food convenient for me:
Lest I be full, and deny thee, and say, Who is the LORD?
or lest I be poor, and steal, and take the name of my God in vain.
 
Although I don't know that he ever formally repudiated his faith in Christ, Dylan has also been associated with Chabad in recent years, which is rather strange for a Christian to say the least. As John said, Dylan's spirituality is somewhat of an enigma. He has said that he believes the songs, etc. and doesn't follow any preacher or organized religion. But from what can be discerned, he may continue to accept the facts about Christ, if nothing else. Several years ago, he recorded a Christmas record. An interviewer said that Dylan sounded almost like a believer. His response was that he was a believer.
 
My dad, who is FAR from a 60's counter culture person, in the late 80's put his Dylan records onto tape and I listened to them on trips etc. when I was in College in the mid 90s, Dylan came to Jacksom MS and I went to see him. Because I liked his stuff, and just to say I did. If I wouldn't have known the words before, I sure wouldn't have learned them there...
 
With regard to his faith, check out the book I mentioned in post #2. A lot of concerns re his Jewish contacts, and "keeping his light under a bushel" are examined and answered. I had to return the book to the library so I can't quote from it.
 
With regard to his faith, check out the book I mentioned in post #2. A lot of concerns re his Jewish contacts, and "keeping his light under a bushel" are examined and answered. I had to return the book to the library so I can't quote from it.

Yes thank you Steve, I saw that recommendation and read some of the reviews of the book.
I will also try our public library and see if I can get my hands on a copy.

I must admit I have a soft spot for Bob,
 
With regard to his faith, check out the book I mentioned in post #2. A lot of concerns re his Jewish contacts, and "keeping his light under a bushel" are examined and answered. I had to return the book to the library so I can't quote from it.
Thanks, Jerusalem Blade, for calling that book to our attention. On his birthday I read the Wikipedia biography and got the impression he had just gone through a 'born-again phase' as others have said. Thanks, again.
 
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