Daily Ramblings:
Odds & Ends ...03/14/2005
11:21:07 am
There's a colorful and well observed review of
Dylan's Portland show here: Cultures Meld For Dylan, Haggard
(it'll be linked on Expecting Rain tomorrow, but you
heard it here first).
In talking about the juxtaposition of cultures,
the reviewer says:
In 1970,
say, the rock legend Bob Dylan was perhaps the
counterculture's greatest hero. Merle Haggard's country
hits promoted a love-it-or-leave-it brand of
patriotism and a clear distaste for hippies. Back
then, the two groups of fans likely would have
brawled in the parking lot before the show began.
There's not much question that Dylan himself would
have felt more affinity for Haggard's angle even back
then - see Chronicles for "distaste for
hippies." It's nice that he's lived to have the
chance to undertake a tour like the current one with
Merle. Dylan is indeed doing some culture melding.
And it's nice that the audience is there for it too.
And the reviewer gets his two cents in pretty well
on the age old question of Dylan's voice:
Of course these wonders come
paired with Dylan's famously idiosyncratic
singing, which Friday went at times beyond
self-parody into willful perversity. "It's
All Over Now, Baby Blue" was barely
recognizable behind fiendish phrasing that
alternated the nasal and the guttural. "The
Times They Are a-Changing" he delivered in a
raspy, consumptive croon.
Yet, much of the time, his
singing maintained an expressive dimension, an
incisive if rough musicality that's part of his
genius, even if it does sound as if he got the
worse end of a parking lot brawl.
This other article, on the other hand, already got
its Expecting Rain link - Bob Dylan: Troubadour With A Message.
Its sub-heading is "Bob Dylan Can Help The
PCA," where PCA is nothing to do with homeless
animals, but rather "The Presbyterian Church In
America." It's actually a very thoughtful piece
by an obviously devoted and knowledgeable fan. Like
this excerpt:
He sees himself as a
songwriter/singer, has had little interest in
social movements, politics, or ideologies, and
recognizes the lostness of his times. Thinkers
recognize today that the postmodern generation is
the first generation, by and large, to grow up
without either God or heroes, a fact that Dylan
felt keenly back in 1967 when he wrote “I
Dreamed I saw St Augustine”:
I dreamed I saw
St. Augustine,
Alive as you or me,
Tearing through these quarters
In the utmost misery,
With a blanket underneath his arm
And a coat of solid gold,
Searching for the very souls
Whom already have been sold.
But I'd recommend reading it all.
Addendum: The Presbyterian Church In America is, as I understand it, distinct
from the Presbyterian
Church (USA)
- a body which has recently endorsed a policy of
divestment "of holdings in multinational
corporations doing business in
Israel/Palestine." Right
Wing Bob finds such a policy
unspeakably repugnant.
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