Is
it possible to do southern Gothic with a sunny disposition?
Sure
it is, if you throw in plenty of nods to William Shakespeare.
After
receiving it in the mail earlier this week and giving it a few listens I am not
disappointed.
Of
course I’ll need some more time to digest it but here are a few first thoughts…
Dylan songs are always an exhibition in how to make a fine lyrical stew.
The
guy just throws about anything in the pot, never mixing metaphors mind you, and
somehow it just works.
One
of the great things about Dylan is how he has always confounded people,
particularly the ones who think he is speaking for them or is on their side. He
always finishes his point by making a weird or unexpected turn.
That
said, I think maybe he’s on my side.
There’s
a great line in Martin Scorce’s “No Direction Home” where Pete Seeger marvels
at all of the different women that show up in Bob Dylan’s music. He says
something to the effect that no man on earth has the time, much less the where with
all, to have been in as many different relationships that Dylan references.
Well, clearly women and relationships are a favorite lyrical device of Dylan’s.
So
on that note, I’m just going to throw out a few lines that have struck me on
this album and let you in on what sort of woman seems to fascinate Dylan the most, particularly as he seems to be getting a kick out of his twilight years.
From "Duquesne Whistle"
You’re
the only thing alive that keeps me going
You’re
like a time bomb in my heart
I
can hear a sweet voice gently calling
Must
be the Mother of our Lord
"Soon After Midnight"
Charlotte’s
a harlot. Dresses
in Scarlett
Mary
dresses in green.
It’s
soon after midnight, and I’ve got a date with the Fairy Queen.
In "Narrow Way"
If I
cant work up to you
You’ll
surely have to work down to me someday
Look
down angel from the skies
Help
my weary soul to rise
I
kissed the cheek.I dragged
the plow
You broke
my heart.I was
your friend till now
Ive
got a heavy stacked woman with a smile on her face
And
she has crowned my soul with grace
I’m
still hurting from an arrow
That
pierced my chest
I’ve
going to have to take my head
And
bury it between her breasts
Hmmm...sometimes he's in awe and sometimes he has tongue firmly in cheek. But there's always some hint or whisperings about the beauty, grace and danger of the feminine genius going on here
I think people have a hard time with Dylan the same way they have a hard time with Shakespeare.
Shakespeare has a pretty good sense of humor but he's not just messing around.
He has something very penetrating to say.
Same with Dylan.
Let
me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth's unknown, although his height be taken.
Love's not Time's fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle's compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
- William Shakespeare’s Sonnet 16
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