The Must Be Santa video is naturally generating some of the same reactions that the very idea of a Bob Dylan Christmas album generated. I noticed a comment on YouTube that seemed symbolic:

“Question: Was this video shot in a parallel universe, or should I assume that everything I know and love is wrong?“

Well, that would probably be a good assumption to start with. But then, “all the truth in the world adds up to one big lie,” right? Gosh, we could go on all day here.

Some very worthy perceptions are sent in by reader Lars:

Everybody’s having fun with the Dylan Christmas video, and rightly so. It’s funny and energetic. And like the record, it’s un-controversial. Dylan is dressed out in various hats over his sinister straight wig – he wears a white hat, a black hat and a Christmas hat. And as the havoc-raising intruder finally throws himself out the window, Dylan exchanges shrugs with Father Christmas. Dylan is a great dancer, and his efforts are not restricted to the the much-applauded movements he favours on stage. When he dances around the room with his arms on the shoulders of the other dancers, I was reminded of other Jewish dancers. It is an exotic fact that Hasidic men like a twirl, as a search of ‘hasidic dance’ on YouTube shows. And like Hasidic dancers, there’s nothing half-hearted about Dylan. In the video he smokes, puts bottles on the table and dances the polka with a young woman. There’s a short shot from the outside of the house, and I was reminded of an old interview in which Dylan described his fame by saying that if you pass an inn, you can see people inside being real. But once a famous person enters the inn, that’s all finished as everyone gapes at the celebrity. I’ve always thought that Dylan found this a nuisance. And although the Christmas video is of course only a reflection of real life, it nonetheless seems nice to see him participate in the yuletide proceedings in a setting in which nobody stares at Bob Dylan or even seems to care that it’s him. Thanks, Bob Dylan – you already made Christmas merrier this year for us all!

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Another respected reader and occasional correspondent, Steve, slyly suggests on his own website that the video may have an allegorical subtext:

There is no way, absolutely none at all, that Bob Dylan’s Must Be Santa music video could in any way be about Barack Obama. (Never mind that Obama thinks he is Santa, of course! Entering where he’s not wanted, throwin’ out the goodies whether we want ‘em or not, crashing our freedom lovin’ party, heading into the night leavin’ more damage than when he entered; but still the freedom lover’s fun prevails undisturbed and we look on curious and amused and maybe a bit perturbed. After all, we’re free!) But the video from Dylan about Obama that way? No way!

Well … while I am in definite sympathy with the characterizations of President Obama there, and while I myself could easily be accused of over-reading-into things when it comes to Bob Dylan, I have to say that I do find it hard to see the video as containing a message of that nature. (Although, as Steve has pointed out, the house in the video does curiously resemble a miniature White House.) I can’t get around thinking myself that the video is just what it appears — an attempt to convey the humor and lunacy of the song in visual form. I also tend to think that Bob Dylan himself gave up trying to personally do anything creative with his videos a long time ago, and just sees them as something Columbia does to market his music, like ads in a magazine. (Although an exception that I had forgotten is the video for ’Cross the Green Mountain from 2003, into which Dylan arguably put more heart than any video he ever made, judging by the performance.) Of-course he put effort into his performance for this one, it being for the good cause and all. But what do I know, obviously?

The Must Be Santa clip is directed by Nash Edgerton, who also directed the video for Beyond Here Lies Nothin’. At the time of the release of that video, I made no bones about the fact that I personally disliked it intensely. I haven’t changed my mind on that, but well done to Edgerton on the new one, which captures the spirit of this Dylan track very well, and all without shedding any blood that I can see. A single auto-defenestration appears to be the worst thing that occurs, and that sounds a lot worse than it is.

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There are countless little stories in the news about the video. Thanks to Anthony H. who sent the link to this one in the New York Daily News: Bob Dylan’s ‘Must Be Santa’ music video is one bizarre Christmas treat. What’s noteworthy in this piece is an offhand comment the writer makes:

It’s sort of unclear if Dylan – a devout Christian – was aiming to celebrate the holiday, or gently poke fun at the music’s Norman Rockwell-esque simplicity.

I don’t think I’ve seen Dylan referred to as “a devout Christian” in the press since … well, never. That makes it a funny thing to see. And it’s funny how funny it is to see. I do think that Bob is a believer — as anyone who reads this site regularly would gather. But I would deliberately use a soft term like that — believer — rather than a phrase like devout Christian. That’s because people can go around and around in arguments on this subject forever — and they do just that. In the end, it’s Bob’s business, and he’s the only one who can label himself, should he choose to do so. I’m also not sure what one has to do to qualify for the description “devout Christian.” Do you have to attend church weekly? Does Bob? You see: you quickly get into areas that really are his private business. (We do know that he takes his Jewishness very seriously because other private acts of his have been publicized.) But it’s nevertheless kind of nice to see this, just once. It compensates just a tiny bit for all the times we see journalists offhandedly characterize him as having rejected his faith during the mid-1980s — something that cannot be proven at all but somehow became the conventional wisdom anyway. I doubt that the Daily News writer knows something we don’t, but he may well know a little more about Bob than most of the journalists who write about him.

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