Happy Birthday!

On May 24th 1941, Robert Allen Zimmerman entered the world. Yes, it is Bob Dylan's birthday today. In honour of the occasion I am reprinting some words of birthday wisdom from the man himself. I hope he is having a good day, wherever he is...



Advice for Geraldine on her Miscellaneous Birthday



stay in line. stay in step. people are afraid of someone who is not in step with them. it makes them look foolish t' themselves for being in step. it might even cross their minds that they themselves are in the wrong step. do not run nor cross the red line. if you go too far out in any direction, they will lose sight of you. they'll feel threatened. thinking that they are not a part of something that they saw go past them, they'll feel something's going on up there that they don't know about. revenge will set in. they will start thinking of how t' get rid of you. act mannerly towards them. if you don't, they will take it personal. as you come directly in contact face t' face do not make it a secret of how much you need them. if they sense that you have no need for them,the first thing they will do is try t' make you need them. if this doesn't work, they will tell you of how much they don't need you. if you do not show any sadness at a remark such as this, they will immediately tell other people of how much they don't need you. your name will begin t' come up in circles where people gather to tell about all the people they don't need. you will begin t' get famous this way. this, though, will only get the people who you don't need in the first placeall the more madder.you will become a whole topic of conversation. needless t' say, these people who don't need you will start hating themselves for needing t' talk about you. then you yourself will start hating yourself for causing so much hate. as you can see, it will all end in one great gun burst.never trust a cop in a raincoat. when asked t' define yourself exactly,say you are an exact mathematician. do not say or do anything that he who standing in front of you watching cannot understand, he will feel you know something he doesn't. he will react with blinding speed and write your name down. talk on his terms. if his terms are old-fashioned an' you've passed that stage all the more easier t' get back there. say what he can understand clearly. say it simple t' keep your tongue out of yourcheek. after he hears you, he can label you good or bad. anyone will do. t' some people, there is only good an' bad. in any case, it will make him feel somewhat important. it is better t' stay away from these people. be careful of enthusiasm...it is all temporary an' don't let it sway you. when asked if you go t' church, always answer yes, never look at your shoes. when asked what you think of gene autrey's singing of hard rains gonna fall say that nobody can sing it as good as peter, paul and mary. at the mention of the president's name, eat a pint of yogurt an' go t' sleep early...when asked if you're a communist, sing america the beautiful in an italian accent. beat up nearest street cleaner. if by any chance you're caught naked in a parked car, quick turn the radio on full blast an' pretend that you're driving. never leave the house without a jar of peanut butter. do not wear matched socks. when asked to do 100 pushups always smoke a pound of deodorant beforehand. when asked if you're a capitalist, rip open your shirt, sing buddy can you spare a dime with your right foot forward an' proceed t'chew up a dollar bill. do not sign any dotted line. do not fall in trap of criticizing people who do nothing else but criticize. do not create anything. it will be misinterpreted. it will not change. it will follow you the rest of your life. when asked what you do for a living say you laugh for a living. be suspicious of people who say that if you are not nice t' them, they will commit suicide. when asked if you care about the world's problems, look deeply into the eyes of he that asks you, he will not ask you again. when asked if you've spent time in jail, announce proudly that some of your best friends've asked you that. beware of bathroom walls that've not been written on. when told t' look at yourself...never look. when asked t' give your real name...never give it.

Bob Dylan


Most of all, remember: 'he not busy being born is busy dying'.

Powers of Expression... Thoughts so Sublime

It has been a busy couple of weeks. My last posts were just lists and so I have been looking forward to actually writing again. Work really gets in the way of the fun stuff!


I have been listening a lot to Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong for the last little while... amongst a variety of other albums (I am still addicted to Modern Times... Can't see me letting that one drop any time soon)!


As an aside, I read a review of a Dylan concert from 1984 when he toured the UK with Carlos Santana. It was the height of Thatcherism and there was plenty of disaffection and urban poverty (being a teenager in the UK in the 1980's I could write a book about that alone!). Apparently, Dylan played a storming version of Maggie's Farm that almost brought the house down. That must have been a sweet moment to see! My husband saw Dylan and Santana play on that same tour - in Vancouver, Canada. I am pretty envious... I mean, Dylan and Santana!

There was also a website I hit when surfing randomly, and it reproduced a couple of letters Bob Dylan wrote in the 60's (they are on the Book of Bob website - here is the link: www.slopbucket.com/bob/tbob/index.html).

My mind is linear. My senses feel constrained. When I express myself, it is through convention and tight language with all its complex spelling, grammatical rules and regulations. A limited freedom within the box. I carefully choose the right words. My emotions have names and adjectives as befits them. When I write poetry I try to think more openly. I 'bend the broken rules' to suit the moment... I make forays, dig tunnels, peek at the world over the edge of the barbed wire, but I never quite make it over those walls.

I was trained to think that way. I quite like it. All those rules and regulations. There is a satisfaction in precision. It's ordered, logical... safe.

But read Dylan's thoughts and the way he expresses himself. The spelling. The punctuation. The phrasing. The language. The images. It is exciting and different. It is a taste of freedom.

Maybe that is why I like Dylan's music, even when he is covering ancient ballads or 20th century blues - he gives us that glimpse of a new way of looking at the world. It is all relevant because it is all about human experience. Different people, different lives, different emotions, different eyes.

That is what all great artists should be able to do - painters, musicians, writers and poets. They show us the world in a new light. Even if sometimes they illuminate things we don't particularly want to see...

Trying to Get to Heaven...

Subsequent to my last post, I wanted to add the list of songs that almost made it to my top 40 list ('Top 40'... sounds like a bad DJ! OK, pop-pickers, here we go!).

Again, I will place the songs in alphabetical order with no particular preference. Some of them were so difficult to relegate.

*Absolutely Sweet Marie
*Beyond the Horizon
*Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
*Dignity
*Dirt Road Blues
*Everything's Broken
*High Water
*If You Gotta Go, Go Now
*Isis
*Lay, Lady, Lay
*Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat
*The Levee's Gonna Break
*Lonesome Day Blues
*Man in the Long Black Coat
*Million Miles
*Mr. Tambourine Man
*Moonlight
*Nettie Moore
*New Pony
*Ninety Miles an Hour (Down a Dead End Street)
*Nobody 'Cept You
*Political World
*Ragged and Dirty
*Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
*Shelter From The Storm
*Shooting Star
*Spirit on the Water
*Ugliest Girl in the World
*What Good am I?
*Where are You Tonight?

Well, I guess that makes another 30!

Temporary Like Achilles

This week, I have been asked what my 25 favourite Bob Dylan songs are. I could not get it down to 25 no matter how hard I tried... but with much soul-searching and a few internal wranglings, I have compiled a list of my 40 personal favourites. Then I have an 'almost-made-it' list of 30 more songs which I will list in a separate post. I am putting my choices in alphabetical order without preference and I am not including any explanation at this point. Most of these songs have been analysed to infinity in the past, and my thoughts on them are not necessary. Of course, this is today's list - tomorrow things might change...

*A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall
*Ain't Talkin'
*All Along The Watchtower
*Ballad of a Thin Man
*Blood In My Eyes
*Brownsville Girl
*Buckets of Rain
*Bye And Bye
*Cold Irons Bound
*Desolation Row
*Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
*The Groom's Still Waiting at the Altar
*Highlands
*I Can't Wait
*Idiot Wind
*If Not For You
*It Ain't Me, Babe
*It's All Over Now, Baby Blue
*It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
*I Want You
*Jokerman
*Like A Rolling Stone
*Love Minus Zero / No Limits
*Love Sick
*Mississippi
*Most of the Time
*Not Dark Yet
*Rainy Day Women #12 & 35
*Silvio
*Simple Twist of Fate
*Standing In The Doorway
*Subterranean Homesick Blues
*Summer Days
*Takes a Lot to Laugh, Takes a Train To Cry
*Tangled Up In Blue
*Visions of Johanna
*What Was it You Wanted?
*Where Teardrops Fall
*Wiggle Wiggle
*You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You go

These are not always the best songs (although I think some are), but they make me react in some way. Some just make me smile or want to dance. Some are there for the 'stream of consciousness' lyrics that I love to lose myself in and listen to again and again. I surprised myself because there are so few early songs on the list, and none of the 'classics' (Blowin' In The Wind, The Times They Are A-Changin' or Mr. Tambourine Man for example). I do love those songs, but they are not my absolute favourites. Maybe they are of a particular time and place that speaks less to me in some way than the songs that are from my own era (The 1970s and beyond).

Anyway, the list is organic and evolutionary... temporary (like Achilles)!