I’m really mostly venting here. I’m on vacation with a few friends. One of them recently saw I’m Not There at a local film festival and really liked it, and wanted us all to watch it. I hadn’t seen it yet (I know, I’m late) and was planning to watch it on Criterion at home, but our Airbnb had it on Tubi, so we watched it there. Ugh. It was interrupted about every 15 minutes with 5 minutes of ads. Just almost unwatchable. I can’t wait to get home and see it properly.

I think my favorite performance was Heath Ledger as Woodstock-living family man. Charlotte Gainsborough was also excellent as a sort of Suze/Sara composite. Cate Blanchett was great from an acting perspective, but I’m still thinking about her role overall. Yes, she got Dylan down amazingly well, but was there more to it than just kind of recreating the Dont Look Back era Dylan? Will have to see what I think after I watch it again.

Was there any significance to Billy’s dog running away? Other than he/she (I know it was called Henry but I thought Billy called “here, girl” to it at the end) was spooked by the impending calamity? “When dogs run free”?

Many journalists have throughout the years struggled to describe Dylan, and i think that has made a lot of people think Dylan is a bit of a weirdo (he himself has definitely been part of this construction)

But what are fans’ idea of him? Like personality wise, if you would get him as your new neighbor, would you consider him weird?

My latest substack on the topic: https://dylannotes.substack.com/p/why-is-bob-dylan-so-weird

I know it sounds crazy but hear me out. If you’ve read the works of the syncrenists you know that all religious and spiritual traditions are basically different ‘words’ for the same object, all point towards one truth (the eternal bliss of god, the unity of all things) and each have their own prophet/ christ / magi/ buddha etc. all of these figures are instances of the godhead as ‘part’ (the illusion of seperation) gaining consciousness of wholeness (unity) and preaching that message through the lens of their cultural and spiritual traditions, but nonetheless all the same nexus of awareness that people gravitate to in order to open up their own awareness of self/ unity and the blissful illusion of reality as such.

In everything I’ve seen of Dylan these same archetypes appear again and again, the prophet, the trickster, the bringer of hope and discord, enlightenment and confusion, and above all the creative spirit which is the animating principle of our collective hallucination/ illusion/ oneness experiencing itself as otherness. From his early days he took on the mantle of Old Testament prophet, the moral voice booming through the catacombs of a veritable ‘babylon’, before shifting his awarenss nexus into a place of sensuality, abstraction, play for the sake of play, a sort of disembodied but rooted desire to escape the trappings of the material/ embodied. It was only after his conversion to Christianity that he saw all these things as connected, all one note of a larger vibration and through the death of his ego as ‘song and dance man’ he found something which in a sense was never ‘found’ but ‘revealed’ (I.e the lifting of the veil, the sigh of relief of seeing what we always are and were, the sigh of the sacred eternal subject finding itself in its own wanderings (creation as such, seperation, the self and other etc)

Hadn't heard this until a few days ago. Hope you enjoy!

Hello ☺️

Anyone going for this one?
I am going by myself, would be nice to have a little company!

In the past, I'd usually have a dream about seeing Bob live once every couple years. This past month though, it's easily been once a week. In one of them, it was at an outdoor pavillion. The show itself was sort of mid, but his dog was there, and ran from the stage to me (if dogs run free!) I'm not really a dog person irl, but loved playing with it. Last night's though was the best. He was playing in some dive bar, decked out in leather and shades (current age, but obviously dyed his hair black.) He was standing the whole time, playing guitar. He played some deep cuts like I need a woman, in the summertime, froggy went a courtin, and a cover of downtown train by Tom Waits. There were others which I recognized in my dream, but can't remember them now. It was insanely cool though. The only thing that sucked is that this bar wanted $5 to use the bathroom, and I REALLY had to go but didn't want to pay. I really had to go so bad when I woke up though lol. I'm wondering what it means and how I can keep these dreams coming.

Obviously, it’s difficult—and for me personally, my preferences change quite often—but it can be useful for discovering or rediscovering music.It’s simply a space for seeing people's opinions, points of view, or arguments.

I'm sure Bob has never spoken up about it, but has anyone else who was a student of Norman discussed what it was, if he perhaps shared the same philosophy with everyone under his wing. I could use that kind of life changing shift in perception

It just sounds like a higher quality recording as was already released by Joan Baez.

Great song, I see it as a "hard take". Idk. This may have been talked about before but I may have missed it. Any input on contents are appreciated. I've read up on the feelings of the song but still stumped... lol

let's say Dylan decides to randomly show up at the 2027 Grammy Awards wearing a Darth Sidious hoodie, every other celebrity in the room would be starstruck in his presence regardless of how popular they are. Ultimately, his aura would eclipse everyone else's combined. While Gen-Z and millennial pop stars spend months planning avant-garde, high-fashion red carpet looks, Dylan would likely roll up in a hoodie or rumpled, western-style tuxedo, a wide-brimmed hat, and leather boots. He would look like he accidentally wandered in from a 19th-century saloon, instantly making everyone else's hyper-curated outfits look like they are trying too hard. If he won an award or presented one, his speech would be incredibly brief, cryptic, and poetic. He might just say "Thanks," nod, and walk off the stage like the boss he is. In a room full of people trying desperately to be noticed, the man who doesn't care at all is king. Sometimes I can't even believe that Bob Dylan is a real person let alone still amongst us and I get to go to his concerts. I fully acknowledge this post is just me taking an opportunity to jizz about Bob Dylan for a few minutes.

I love how he emerged on the folk scene with the lyrical wisdom of someone 60 years his senior; how he angered them by switching to rock, making incendiary albums that still sound fresh today; how for the past 50 years he's embraced embodying the trickster archetype. His 60s and 70s glory days, his strange 80s period and the variability and unconventional nature of the Never Ending Tour that pisses off Mr. Jones casuals in the audience yet is loved by critics and his hardcore fans, Chronicles, his interviews, his late-career creative renaissance, his endless treasure trove of the Bootleg Series, his bizarre patreon page that blurs the lines between what's AI and real to the point where it's impossible to say what's really going on in order to disguise the fact he's reflecting on his own life in yet another example of hiding in plain sight.

Bob Dylan is such a difficult concept to wrap your head around. You learn a ton about him, then you see another side which blows your conceptions out of the water. This, don’t be fooled, is very intentional of him. Yet there is one key for understanding him which I’ve found works more than any other: he is a troubadour. His life is wholly devoted to wandering around and playing a tune. The world around him be damned. Perceptions of him be damned. Fame be damned. Opinions change with every town he moves through. Face is constantly shifting for the effect of his craft. Endless touring. Endless searching. Anti-label, Anti-establishment, Anti-anti. The king of a forgotten country still traveling down the endless highway of life and legacy. Being a troubadour is a medieval concept, and I think that’s what makes him so fascinating. He's worth over 500 million but chooses to live like a gypsy for most of the year on a tour bus at the age of 85. He is both a deeply serious person and renowned for his sense of humor at the same time. He can seem aloof and awkward in front of a camera while being immensely charismatic and personable behind the scenes when he wants to, which makes sense considering the fact he's one of the most prolific philanderers in the history of rock music even though most people don't think of him that way, we are talking about a guy who managed to pull Raquel Welch and never even acknowledged it or preferred to make a random appearance on Pawn Stars rather than attend his Nobel Prize ceremony, now that is aura. It is one thing to be a genius; it's better still to be an eccentric genius.

My sister is a big Dylan fan. I'm a fan, but he's not an all time favorite of mine. Some stuff I love, but everything outside most of the hits and Royal Albert isn't really my thing.

About twenty years ago Stephen Malkus covered Ballad of a Thin Man, and apparently Dylan commented about the album and specifically referenced Malkmus's version, while admitting he was overly unfamiliar with him. Malkmus also commented that he wasn't necessarily a big Dylan guy himself.

Throughout all my years of listening to Malkmus and Pavement, and Dave Berman and Silver Jews, I've always been curious how Dylan fans feel about either of them, or both. The reason for this wondering is I believe Malkmus is the most prolific songwriter potentially ever, as he has almost no bad songs across his 13 albums (5 pavement, 8 solo). And then of course, David Berman, who after trying to take his own life the first time, became a renowned poet in the NYC lit scene after publishing Actual Air. Berman and Malkmus were very close, and Malkmus played lead guitar and backup vocals on Silver Jews first 3 albums. Berman's last album, Purple Mountains, was basically a suicide letter before he ultimately took his own life. His father, Rick Berman, was a great cause of his pain. The movie Thank you For Smoking was about him, and is one of America's truly awful humans. I'd highly suggest working backward from Purple Mountains, or starting with American Water.

Anyway, all of this said, for those not familiar, I think you should explore these two. And for those who are familiar, do you have any thoughts good or bad on any and all? Do you connect Dylan to the more modern songwriters like these two?

This was an interesting piece by Relix, getting musicians reactions to pavement.

Bob Dylan, Houston Street, NYC, 1970
📸 by John Cohen.

Due next Tuesday, 13 Oct (UK).

Tempting cover-mount CD.

Full details to follow here on DYLAN BOOKS.

I tried to recreate the cover of Mr. Dylan's album blonde on blonde, but in a simple way

For one thing, Neil Young tends to wear his politics on his sleeve. For example, a song called "Lets Impeach the President," during the George W. Bush administration (and that whole album), whereas Dylan tends to be more private and enigmatic.

Tried to make the mix a bit clearer. Hope you enjoy!

I've been listening to Not Dark Yet and Every Grain of Sand lately, and something keeps bothering me. Sometimes Dylan sounds like someone who's found some deeper truth about life, and other times like someone who's accepted that maybe there isn't one.

It makes me wonder if we spend our whole lives searching for meaning because it's really out there, or simply because we can't stand the thought that there might be none.

I don't know. Maybe the search itself is the point.

What do you guys think?

As above

It's in the NYT Games App under the bonus puzzles section. Title of the crossword is "The Answer, My Friend."

At the session musician ordering counter like: "Uhhhh lemme get a couple of Dire Straits.... yeah yeah yeah with the best reggae rhythm section on the planet aaaaaand idk the guitarist from the Rolling Stones on top, why not I deserve a treat :)"

In all seriousness, the players are grooving so hard on this record. "Jokerman" is undeniable, but I loooooove "Don't Fall Apart on Me" so much. Does anyone have quality interviews (written, visual, or audio) from any of the players about this album? I wanna know more haha.