Bob Dylan and I were like parallel lines finally colliding at one point. Before the collision, he was him, I was me. His voice was not attractive to me. I couldn't listen to him for more than 10 seconds until I demanded to skip the song. The melody of his songs quiet frequently put me to sleep. And his song are so LONG(don't you agree?). He looked like a villain with a dangerous grin. I could only look at him in the distance.
The collision happened during one of our Music and Politics classes. Dr. DeWitt made me watch Dylan's interviews. He was hilarious and entertaining. I saw the big heart behind that villain face. Then we each were handed with the lyrics of his "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)".
"You lose yourself, you reappear
You suddenly find you got nothing to fear
Alone you stand with nobody near
When a trembling distant voice, unclear,
Startles your sleeping ears to hear
That somebody thinks they really found you"
To Dylan, he seeks nobody's understanding and nobody can ever understand him. He speaks for himself and his emotion. Unlike many protest singers, he claims that he was not a protest singer. He doesn't want to be anybody's hero and he is no saint. Dylan is wise enough to realize that HE is not the solution to the problems in the world. That's what I like the most about Dylan.
2 comments:
I like your last statement: "Dylan is wise enough to realize that HE is not the solution to the problems in the world." Singers can only do so much. They might be able to help, they might even be able to start a movement, but they are still just one person - there is a limit to how much they can do. There's even a limit to how much all of us can do together, so there's definitely a limit to how much one person can do - even a celebrity. Of course, that doesn't mean we shouldn't try, because sometimes it does only take one person to get others motivated to join in.
--Allie
I wasn't much of a Dylan fan myself, however I do respect the way he tries not to 'speak for the world'. I think that is unusual for a public figure. Many times they try too hard to have all the answers and solve all the world's problems. Dylan didn't. He accepted that he couldn't save the world by himseld but he still made us aware of what we could do together.
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