Dylan Sunday - Theme Time Radio Hour #12-13

Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour #12 (Cars)

Bob Dylan, Theme Time Radio Hour #13 (Rich Man, Poor Man)

Late again, I know, I know. I have a pretty good excuse this time, as I was traveling between Philly and its lesser cousin, Brooklyn. You know how the Chinatown effects me; it's never easy to get back on track after that experience. On the way up, that mean being seated amongst a NYC Chinatown school trip. A few things that I learned from the two hours with these monsters: fart jokes and actual farts are just as popular today as they were in my day; the kids of today have better cell phones and gadgets than I will ever own;

On to the main stuff, the latest episodes of Bob Dylan's radio show, Theme Time Radio Hour, here at Pound for Pound. Here's two more, somewhat related episodes, Cars and Rich Man, Poor Man. The first category is as foreign to me as any, as I have never owned, do not presently and will never own a car. In fact, I have only driven a car once this year to SR's wedding and have only been in car a handful of times in general. Now that I have the hang of riding a bike again, game over. There's something so un-urban about the car, it's birth can truly be traced as one of the roots of the death of the city in America. Experiencing their behavior on the roads from the unsafe perch of a bike seat, I realize that any city lover must grapple with lessening their impact and prevalance. Ugh, more to come on all of this in my online urban journal/zine.

In the meantime, enjoy one of the best episodes that has Dylan talking about how similar him and Prince are (both from the same part of Minnesota) and introducing me to the music of Richard Berry, whose music describes as covering "languid doo-wop to feral R&B." How amazing is that description!

The second one is real nice, Dylan looking at the notion of the rich and poor in the country. It's got a great selection of songs, from Tony Bennett to Johnny Rivers. But, it's the Dylan moments that are the best, as he laces this entire episode with quotes and movie clips that discuss the different world that exists for the rich and poor. It reminds you so much of Dylan's Midwestern roots and folk music origins, that natural attraction to the farmers and downtrodden. I'll leave you with the Confucius quote that Dylan reads: "In a country well-governed, poverty is something to be ashamed of; in a country badly governed, wealth is something to be ashamed of."