Thanks to a couple of readers for sending the link to this — it’s not a brand new thing now but I’ve avoided posting about it for long enough.

There is an allegedly early manuscript of Bob Dylan’s memoir, Chronicles, being offered for sale, as described at this link (from March 17th). Actually, it’s described as the first manuscript of Chronicles — although how that could possibly be determined with certainty, I don’t know. We’re talking about typewritten or printed pages, not a handwritten manuscript. The story of how it came to be in the possession of those now selling it is provided at that link — I obviously have no personal knowledge as to the accuracy of the facts there presented.

However, assuming that it’s true that this is at least an early iteration of the book, the single page that is offered as a visual sample contains what appears to be a spectacular error by the writer that did not make it into the published version.

It is from the section of the book dealing with the Oh Mercy album. In Chronicles, you’ll recall, Bob Dylan goes somewhat into the creative process that spawned some of the songs on that record, even offering lyrics that didn’t make the final cut. On this sample page from the unpublished manuscript, Bob is talking about the song Political World, and says the following:

Sometimes things you see and hear outside of yourself can influence a song. The song POLITICAL WORLD could have been triggered by current events. I’d seen that the Governor of Massachusetts was running for President and his advisors had selected a woman running mate for him to ensure his defeat. Some advisors! I reasoned that this was probably a man who didn’t like power to begin with and had agreed to run only if he could lose and something about this struck me funny. I don’t think that was all there was to it, though. The song is too broad. The political world in the song is more of an underworld, not the world where men live, toil and die like men.

Alright. The time period in question is clearly 1988, when the governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis, was running for president (against George H.W. Bush). However, as most readers would know, I’m sure, Dukakis did not not have a female running mate. Lloyd Bentsen was a manly man, as I remember it. So, it appears that the writer of this page was confusing 1988 with 1984, and Dukakis with Walter Mondale, and Lloyd Bentsen with Mondale’s VP pick: Geraldine Ferraro. Quite a mix-up.

What could it mean, for us who care about such things? Well, it could mean that Bob had imbibed one too many mint juleps while writing this particular passage. And what of it? That’s what the Simon & Schuster fact-checkers are for.

But you could maybe draw another conclusion from this particular confusion: that Bob is the kind of guy who observes politics with curiosity, and watches it as a kind of entertainment and/or as a morality play, but doesn’t get overly invested in the outcomes. No one who deeply cared about the result in 1988 — or in 1984 — could have forgotten the names and genders of the players. However, for someone who had been watching presidential contests since the 1950s, and who may not have been deeply committed towards either side, it is at least conceivable that in looking back from the vantage point of the early 2000s, the 1984 and 1988 races might have momentarily blurred into one.

On another level, Bob is displaying an interesting kind of political canniness that would escape many. He opines, after all, that the selection of a female running mate would “ensure the defeat” of the Democrat. Not true of Dukakis, as we know, but of some relevance when it comes to looking at the 1984 Reagan/Mondale race. America was largely happy with Reagan in 1984. Mondale needed nonetheless to run as the candidate of change (like any challenger), but picking a female running mate made the brand of change he was offering seem even more radical than it needed to be, at least on a gut level for the average American voter. It hardly looks like a wise move, with hindsight. He very probably would have lost to Ronald Reagan anyway, but Bob is arguably correct (even though he was talking about Dukakis!) that making the pick of Geraldine Ferraro in some way ensured Mondale’s defeat. Whether he is correct that Mondale just “didn’t like power to begin with and had agreed to run only if he could lose” is another question. It is certainly an interesting way of characterizing Mondale, who served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and as Vice-President under Jimmy Carter, but arguably never exercised raw power.

However, I don’t think it would apply to Michael Dukakis, who was the actual Democrat nominee in 1988. He stands as the longest serving governor in Massachusetts’ history, so he certainly exercised executive power for a considerable period of time, and presumably had an appetite for so doing. (Ask the taxpayers of Massachusetts if there’s any doubt.)

…

In the published version of Chronicles, there is a similar passage, but without the mistake present in the alleged early manuscript above. It goes as follows:

Sometimes things you see and hear outside of yourself can influence a song. The song “Political World” could have been triggered by current events. There was a heated presidential race underway, you couldn’t avoid hearing about it. But I had no interest in politics as an art form, so I don’t think that was all there was to it. The song is too broad. The political world in the song is more of an underworld, not the world where men live, toil and die like men. With the song, I thought I might have broken through to something.

…

We live in a political world
In the cities of lonesome fear,
Little by little you turn in the middle
But you’re never sure why you’re here.

…

Addendum 3/26/2008: Zainab McCoy, who is selling this manuscript, responds:

Hi Sean, That was a great critique of the Dylan original first Chronicles manuscript article and the unpublished text which is posted on Mike Hobo’s ‘Positively Bob Dylan’ website. Thanks for breaking it down historically for the readers and potential buyers. I refer to the manuscript as the “first” because Bob sent two. If you favour the word “early” manus that’s fine & mellow but it’s only a matter of semantics. If you think that page had a spectacular error you’d die laughing at the rest. I’ve come to believe that the rest of the deleted text could be source material for writing a psychoanalytical novel about the man himself. I hope Bob’s fans appreciate the value of reading it for free on Mikes website at http://www.positively-bobdylan.com/

Keep Swingin’

Zainab McCoy

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