In the post on Bob Dylan meeting General Norman Schwarzkopf, I questioned whether the General really described The Times They Are A-Changin’ as “the most prolific song written in the twentieth century,” and wondered whether he had described it as the most prophetic instead. The journalist who did the interview with Ken Regan, namely John Balfe, kindly e-mailed me about it and so I added this to the post:

Addendum 5/11/2009: Thanks very much to the interviewer, John Balfe of Entertainment.ie who e-mails the following:

I saw your piece about the interview I conducted with Ken Regan.

I double checked my recording and Ken definitely says “prolific”, not “prophetic” when recounting Schwarzkopf’s conversation with Dylan regarding ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’.

Prolific, in this context, probably means “productive” or “abundantly fruitful” towards Dylan fans and public consciousness in general. It was more than just a song, but something capable of effecting change within society.

So, we can pretty sure that’s what Ken Regan quoted Schwarzkopf as saying, but I still wonder if it was a slip, since it seems a strange way of using the word to me. Only Stormin’ Norman could clear it up for sure, or Bob himself. I’ll wait by the telephone.

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