Monday, September 11, 2006

Dylan Sunday - Theme Time Radio Hour #7

http://dolshouse.com/queensmen/image/dylan_son.jpg

Bob, first wife Sara Lowndes (nee Shirley Noznisky) with their young son and future Wallflower Jakob


Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour #7 (Father)


Here's the next installment of Dylan's XM radio show, covering that always-fertile ground of fathers (and sons, by extension). It's the usual mix of songs and talk, including a brief interview with Elvis Costello. I don't know much about Dylan, having never really wanted to get into the obsessive background knowledge about the man's life. I believe that he had a cool, distant relationship with his father, Abraham Zimmerman. I'm curious to look at how much that impacted his writing, as the bonds between fathers and sons (or the lack thereof) are still an unexamined source of pain and sadness.

I don't want to get all emotional and personal, but Dylan's music does do that to me. It's been a strange time lately, as I've been doing a lot of personal exploration and confronting my faults and demons. Dylan's music seems to have travelled all of these roads before me, he seems to confronted the darkness and made it out the other side. I loath being a fan of any artist, obsessing and glorifying one person, but Dylan's songs break down that resistance more than most. "Visions of Johanna", "If You See Her Say Hello," hell all of Blood On The Tracks alone takes you the heart of sadness in a way little else can. What's the point of this? Just want to remind everyone why I dedicate every Sunday to the man, Bob Dylan, why his music needs to be explored by any one reading this blog, from my electro heads to the indie kids to the hip-hoppers. You don't have to like him (hell, I respect those who are honest and admit they don't), but please give it a listen.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

love these Dylan posts, much appreciated.

p.s.
Go E-A-G-L-E-S

Wastedpapiers said...

Same here. I seem to have missed some though. I will have to explore your excellent blog and find them.

Anonymous said...

dee NYC -fan from the beginning village etc..the older u get the more u appreciate Dylan . Modern Times - Brilliant!

Nanuk of the North, older but no wiser said...

I'm a huge Dylan fan and just wanted to thank you so much for posting these. Very much appreciated.

Who knew that when Bob finally spoke he would be such an entertaining DJ? There are no limits to this guy.

Anonymous said...

Yea, I'm with you when it comes to a dislike of celebrity and glorification of media personalities. But the appreciation of Bob Dylan and his music transcends the love of celebrity The words man, it's the words....if he wasn't a singer he would have made it as a poet.