What Drives Bob Dylan?

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jonizornes
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What Drives Bob Dylan?
He has been on constant tours since 1988 and he sacrifices and gives so much. I believe he does it for Love. With Mavis Staples he sings "I'll tell you something, things you never had, you'll never miss".

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Chimes of Freedom
Wow, what a priceless gem that I have missed! Watching Bob sing that song on "The Other Side of the Mirror" video at the Newport folk meetings brings me to tears every time. What a wonderful, priceless song! I have no words!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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Chimes of Freedom

Chimes of Freedom = one of my very favorite songs, for sure!
.  
Here's a little something I wrote that's part of a bigger Bob travel book I'm writing, about Chimes of Freedom and the album it's on, Another Side of Bob Dylan:

It’s a sunny day and the ride is pleasant and we put in Another Side Of Bob Dylan.  As we listen and sing along, we share our respective pasts with this album, realizing for the first time that it was each of our favorite at different times.  For me it was the third album of his that I heard (after seeing him in 1981 I went out and bought Shot of Love and Live at Budokan and then, a couple weeks later, Another Side), and the one that totally captured and blew my mind.  I would listen to it over and over and over with headphones in the living room after my parents went to bed, as I didn’t have a record player in my room.  Cliché as it sounds it’s what made me realize that “pop” music could be poetry, that it could paint pictures and make you laugh and think and yearn.  It’s the album that made me start listening to music to understand things and as a way into the world beyond my bedroom.  I’ve read a quote attributed to Bob about Woody that goes, “For me he was like a link in a chain. Like I am for other people, and we all are for somebody.”  I love this quote because of its varied meanings.  The link can be a link to times and events gone by, or to knowledge, or to the depth of feeling that comes with greater understanding of yourself and others, or to the mysteries of the universe that are there for everyone to discover, often with a little help.  It was with Another Side that I realized that Bob would be a link in a chain for me.  That double realization that someone could do this, could be a link at all, and on top of that here he is, well, it astonished, scared, and delighted me all at the same time and I’ve never been the same. 
            And there’s no greater illustration of this than Chimes Of Freedom.  We’ve just smoked a bowl and this comes on.  I think about how I read somewhere that Bob wrote this on a road trip from east to west, New York to California.  That makes so much sense.  It would take the road to feel things and people and situations with the expansiveness that this song does.  It’s a song that captures and holds everything and does so with the utmost
compassion and an uncanny mixture of innocence and omniscience.  You kind of don’t need any other song. On this bright late morning rolling into southern Mississippi, with the wings of snow egrets catching the sun as they fly with such snap and dazzle that it hurts, it’s all here.  
 

jonizornes
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Bob would be proud
Caroline, I hope Bob reads your travel book, because I think he would be very proud of the "link" you have continued in forging for others. I want to read it! I love your story of discovering that well of deeper meanings in life as a child, listening to his albums. You are one of the reasons the bell strikes: "Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind"! Caroline, did you see the expression on his face as he sung the last verse? You could see the entire meaning of the song in his face, the compassion as he sung "Tolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed", the understanding and humor as he sung "For the countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse" and the complete reason for the song in the line "An' for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe". The expression he had was as pure, lovely, kind, gentle, compassionate and loving person as any who has walked on this earth. I love him. His music is now one of my anchors. And that is because he has been able to express in song and words things I have felt, but have not known how to express them like I always wanted to.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Watching those who "get" it
A video I love is Bruce Springsteen singing Bob's "Chimes of Freedom" in East Berlin in '88. I look at the crowd and especially the woman in the pink sweater and blue scarf - she gets it!!!! Three Hundred Thousand people who got it!!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Chimes of Freedom
I'm sorry, I can't help but keeping posting as my feelings keep coming about this song. If there is any song that sums up Bob's life's work, it's got to be "Chimes of Freedom"!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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Chimes of Freedom and my book
Yeah, I need to get back at it and finish that book, it started in 2003 haha.When I started it I was unemployed so it could be my full time job. I need a wealthy sponsor to fund me while I complete it lol. I haven't watched the Newport DVD in a long time...snowed in here this weekend so it could be a good time to revisit it!  
jonizornes
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Caroline, when I win the
Caroline, when I win the lottery, I will keep you in mind! (Wonder if Bob reads these posts........hmmmm.) I was snowed in for a day myself, here in Virginia and I did watch the "Gotta Serve Somebody" DVD. Here is a part of my email to a friend about it: "I have to reccomend the DVD of "Gotta Serve Somebody", a gospel tribute to Bob's gospel music. He was for real. In this DVD, he released for the first time in 25 years, a video of his most precious gospel song "When He Returns". During the 3 years he was singing his gospel music, it was the only time in his career he sung every song, not only plainly, but as a declaration of his faith. Many of his most beautiful songs, before and after, as you know, were kind of mysterious. It was the only time he spoke at any length during his concerts. Before and after, he barely says anything. He is not a public speaker, but a very, very private person. He knows what its like to be booed off the stage (several times in his career), for saying what he believes."
 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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"DIGNITY"
"Dignity". There is just something so powerful about this song, but I just don't know where to start. Bob presents a question about a subject that I don't even think about asking. I am like a deer caught in the headlights. The answer should be so simple and obvious, but when the question is asked so plainly, I have no idea of how to even begin responding. Taking in so much of this, at one time, is so overwhelming to my mind. Sometimes I just have to step away - but never for long!
 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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1962 album "Bob Dylan"
I really enjoyed listening to his first album. "Talkin' New York" is funny. I had his second album and can hear some of the early style of his singing on some of the songs on both. It's amazing how he was finding his own style. One thing I have noticed about Bob is that he sometimes sings songs that come from a female perspective such as the original version of "House of the Rising Sun". Another was about a mother in a mining community. For a while I have wondered if "Maggie's Farm" was really from a female perspective, with the phrases about "scrubbing the floor" and apparent indoor working and even "bedroom windows made out of brick" as the national guard stands by the door. (a reference to rape of the workers?)

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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EVERY GRAIN OF SAND
I have found another precious, precious gem. This one goes deeper into my soul than any I have ever heard before. This one puts me on my knees with tears streaming down my face. Can you believe the 'destiny" that when I just came to make this post that the Bob Dylan quote that came up was "I gaze into the doorway of temptation's angry flame...."!!! This song has the most powerful connection to the Spirit of the Creator. I don't even have Shot of Love yet, I just heard Arlethia Lindsey sing in on the intro of Gotta Serve Somebody DVD. For me, the song connects very much like Chimes of Freedom, only even deeper, if you can believe it. I am overwhelmed!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Every Grain of Sand
The song just stayed on my heart and I felt such a deep, deep sadness. I just had to write this: My deepest inner struggle that fills me full of pain
Is like a wayward puppy, lost, freezing in the rain
Searching for that place of peace, a Shelter From The Storm.
My life's a broken record. Oh God, how I am torn!
 
Then peaceful Grace drew near me and whispered in my ear
"His mercy is forever, His love already here.
He care about your struggle", then held me with her hand
And now I see forgivness, in every grain of sand.
 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Trying again
I think maybe this version is more in keeping to Bob's original line of thought?
.                                                                                  
The ones I love, I've hurt the most, my life is full of pain.
I'm feeling like an outcast, weeping in the rain,
Searching for that place of peace, a Shelter from the storm.
My life's a broken record. Oh God, how I am torn!
.                                                                                  
Then peaceful Grace draws near me, she whispers in my ear
"His mercy is forever, His love's already here.
He cares about your sorrow, I'm here to hold your hand
Until you see forgiveness, in every grain of sand."
 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Touched so deeply
Why does Bob's music touch me so deeply, like no other singer? Song after song after song just reaches into the depths of my soul and grips my spirit. His Greatest Hits Vol 3 has song after song: Changing of the Guards; Jokerman; Dignity; Silvio; Ring them Bells; Series of Dreams; Brownsville Girl. The other songs are favorites too, but these touch me so deeply! Thank you Bob. Your music means the world to me.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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"Chimes of Freedom" most incredible!
I love all of Bob's music, I especially love his Gospel songs, they mean so much to me, but every time I go back and listen to "Chimes of Freedom" (sung by Bruce Springsteen in East Germany '88), I get struck again how "Chimes" is Bob's most incredible song ever, to me. "Every Grain" touches me so very deeply, but it leaves me feeling sad, a resignation. "Chimes" makes you think about all those who are hurting, including me, but each toll of the bell rings hope. Bob makes it clear that it rings hope for every last hung up one of us in the "whole wide universe"! That leaves me joyful!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Chronicles
I have been rereading Bob's book and am captivated by the time period he wrote about after 1987. He wrote about the events and surroundings of his songs Dignity, Series of Dreams and others on his album "Oh Mercy". I'm glad he gave us some insight to the making of those. It was very enlightening.
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I had a very nice email conversation with Arlethia Linsey. She is the Gospel singer who sung Bob's song "Every Grain of Sand" on the DVD "Gotta Serve Somebody", in the subway. She is such a sweet lady. I hope to see her in concert someday.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Melodys
One of the things I really admire in Bob's music, is that his songs don't sound all the same. I have heard some good musicians that the songs they write and perform tend to have a general style of melody. I haven't noticed very many of Bob's songs, that when I hear it, it reminds me of another song of his. Even within the same genre, each of the songs are very different. That has to be something that is very hard for a writer and composer to do.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Love Minus Zero No Limit
Oh, I finally got around to really listening to this beautiful song! It's another one that I can get so emotional about.
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In songs, the music is the pipeline that penetrates deep into the soul and it extracts or lets in the emotions and words. The music in this song, in particular, is a wonderful example of how the music conveys the emotions long before the words are even heard. It is so amazing how I am still uncovering/discovering so much of Bob's music. Is the well of his soul ever going to run out! I am just scratching the surface of his artistry. Bob just has the talent to tap into the soul, time and time again. On the emotional level, he is so easy for me to relate to. That is what I love most about his work.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Is Your Love in Vain
I can never fully explain how much this song means to me. Bob, I understand exactly what you were saying. Every thought in every line of the verses is precisely what my Angel expressed to me in the first year after we met. I'll just say this one thing to the critics who cry sexism because of the line "can you cook and sew, make flowers grow"; what this means to me is what every mate should ask of his/her future partner - will you help me keep house, will you help me raise my children? These are the things my Angel wanted to know about me, before she commited herself to me. Her life had been full of pain and rejection. We met at a women's shelter. I was a volunteer and was tutoring her young son. She wanted to know if I just loved her for being her, without trying to change her. Our background was totally opposite. She was black and knew what it was like to live on the street with her children. I was white, from a sheltered, middle class home. Yet our love drew us together and kept us through all the hard times until she passed in 2011. Yes, Bob I do understand this song.
.
TO MY ANGEL
. 1955 - 2011
. I CAN COOK AND SEW, MAKE FLOWERS GROW,
.
I UNDERSTAND YOUR PAIN.
.
I AM WILLING TO RISK IT ALL
.
OUR LOVE IS NOT IN VAIN

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Is Your Love in Vain
Although I knew exactly what Bob meant in this song, I felt it in every fiber of my body, I still could not put it into words. This morning I got up, with the song playing in my head, and it came to me. The gist of the song, the unspoken title is "Is Your Love (really, really real or is my hope) in Vain".

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Jack of Hearts
This is such a fun song to listen to. Bob can really hold your attention while he sings his ballads!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Modern Times
I've gone back and just re-listened to this album. It is so beautiful. Mystic Garden, When the Deal Goes Down, Nettie Moore and especially Workingman Blues. This whole album is filled with my kind of music. It really is my favorite of Bob's current style of music, but I havn't listened to Tempest in a while.........

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Bob's most inward looking, vulnerable expression in song
Every time I listen to "Every Grain of Sand" it strikes me how vulnerable he must have felt as he was writing it. He had to have been trudging through the very depths of his soul at the time. That is what has made Bob's music so special and different. I am so thankful that he has shared that with us, because, the truth of the matter is that we all at some point in our lives go through the same thing. That is why we are so touched when we hear and "let in" the music and words. It took courage to share that kind of vulnerability and I believe it takes courage to really listen to it and let in sink in to our own depths, and risk setting off a gusher of emotions from our own soul.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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World Gone Wrong
This is an interesting album, because Bob sings only the traditional folk songs, none of which he wrote. I think it has a lot to say about Bob. These are just songs he likes personally and he sings them, just because he wants to. You can learn and get a feel about how he thinks by the extensive liner notes he elaborates with. I think this album is one that can help us see Bob with a little bit more understanding.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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... and Good As I Been to You

Hi Joni, 
Be sure to also listen to Good as I Been to You, which came right before World Gone Wrong and is a sort of 'companion album' as it is just Bob, solo acoustic, doing traditional songs. I actually prefer it slightly over World Gone Wrong! My favorites are Black Jack Davey and Hard Times Come Again No More. Just beautiful.

I think these albums are amazing and quite perfect in their placement within his body of work. Perhaps Bob felt a bit 'lost' as to where to go with his music? So he reached back for inspiration, and stripped away everything but himself + guitar. 

I think you can also hear the ripples of these two albums in all Bob's work that comes next...starting with Time out of Mind up through Tempest. Songs like Dirt Road Blues, Po' Boy, Sugar Baby, Scarlet Town, and so many others on the more recent albums (wait, is '97 still considered 'more recent'? LOL I feel like it is! In Bob's long career maybe it is...) hearken back to the various traditional forms of music that inspired and continue to inspire Bob. Links in chain, as we've discussed here before!

While I don't think Bob has ever been without those inspirations, even in his most radically new sounding music, I sorta think Good As I Been to You and World Gone Wrong took him back to them at a time that, for whatever reasons, he needed to be reconnected, linked back up to the chain in a more direct way.

Girlofthenorcal...
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Hard Times Come Again No More
jonizornes
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Beautiful
Oh, Caroline, that was so beautiful. It made me cry. Listening to that song in the context of Bob reconnecting with his roots, makes all the sense in the world to me. I will be sure to get "Good as I've Been to You".

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
Girlofthenorcalcountry's picture
Good as I Been to you
Joni -- Did you get a copy of "Good as I Been to You" yet? I might have an extra around (since I've bought remasters and box sets, I have a few doubles of Bob's albums...) Let me know if you still need it (or other studio albums for that matter) and I'll look and see...
jonizornes
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"Infidels"
Oh, this weekend I picked up "Bringing it on Home" and "Infidels". Wow, I had no idea what powerful songs were on this album. I had heard a couple like Jokerman and I and I, but hearing them in the original, along with Neighborhood Bully, Licence to kill, Man of peace and Union Sundown and two love songs all together tell quite a story. It's like Bob had been holding things in for a while and just had to let it all out! The energy was high! Plus, what a most awesome, cool, cover picture of Bob!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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Infidels
Oh yes I love Infidels! I first started listening to Bob around '81 so Infidels was really the first album whose release I was aware of and waiting for. It was so cool to have a new album after buying old ones to rediscover after the fact (that was cool, too!) I was quickly learning that you never know what Bob is going to do next, and I loved the (then) modern sound! And I agree -- such high energy and power. '80's Bob was 'my' Bob that I was coming of age with, and it was a great soundtrack!
jonizornes
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Live at Budokan
I love the style of music on this one! Kind of South Pacificky? Caroline, I think I read somewhere that this was one of the albums you listened to while driving across country or somewhere? years ago? Anyway, it's a good one to listen to when I first get up.  Wonderfully done, full of classics.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Tapped into the stars
Late in a summers day, if you sit on the porch or leave your window open at night, you can hear nature's music, the crickets, frogs, casedias, etc. I believe in the universe, if you listen just right you can hear the sun, moon, stars, planets and galixies sing in a similar way. When Bob writes songs like "Every Grain of Sand", he is somehow tapped into the universe listening and repeating what he hears. The reason why I think this is because I only heard this song for the first time a few months ago, but somehow I know I have heard it all of my life. The words and melody are floating through the universe in a timeless "chirping" ether.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Shot of Love
I have been waiting to get this album for a long time and of course, I am not disappointed. One of the songs I found very powerful is "Property of Jesus". Without going into the religious aspect, if you look deep at this song, it's about someone who wants to live their life in a true, right, just, kind, honest and gentle way, someone who refuses to be influenced to do wrong. It's a song about how so often others will laugh and make fun and deride you for wanting to be the best you can be. The application of this is limitless. It is a powerful song.

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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Property of Jesus
Totally agree with that, Joni! I am not a religious person in the Jesus sense, but the meaning of that song goes beyond. Like so much of Bob's writing (all of it?) there is no one way to interpret his songs. OK, and I am lame because I said I was going to send you some of my old CDs and haven't yet! I did dig out my copy of Good As I Been To You... any others that were on the list you sent me that you've now purchased?  
jonizornes
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What drives ME to love Bob's music?
Thank you! Yes, I still need "Good as I Been to You". I did send you another email. Thank you so much. . .
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Bob Dylan is simply the greatest singer/songwriter for the common people, that ever walked upon the face of the earth. Period. I think that even the ancient King David would put his harp down to listen to Bob on his harp. Bob Dylan's songs are the most genuine, real, the most down to earth exressions of the heart. As close to the "truth" as someone can get. The great classical music and composers can touch your heart and their music will last forever, but the difference between their's and Bob's music, is that Bob's music is there for all who will just open their eyes and ears. The ordinary man and woman can easily "participate" in and with Bob's songs. The depth of Bob's music is just as deep, but you don't have to put in years of practice and have great talent to "participate" and get it. I think that's why Bob was drawn to "folk" type music to begin with. To paint the picture of the world he sees, in ordinary words. For me, his Gospel period, holds a special meaning to me. Even though I have also moved on from my own hard core evangilicial period to a much more open understanding of the Gospel, I still hold dearly the principal teachings of Jesus about love, mercy, forgiveness, gentleness, kindness, giving of ourselves to the Love of God and others, as well as learning to love ourselves. When I hear Bob sing those songs, I KNOW where he was coming from, because I was there, too and that is what makes it special to me. We were both on the same wavelength at that time and I can feel it in the songs that I have now only recently discovered. And yes, the wonderful thing is, since those songs were from his heart, they are timeless and so much of them can apply to anyone's life and world no matter what. Religious or not. Like in the movie "Ghost" when Patrick Swayze says "the love inside, you can take it with you!", when I listen to songs like "Every Grain of Sand" and many others, it sure feels to me that so much of Bob's music is also something I feel that will be with me forever. Maybe I am just too much of a romantic, I don't know.
  

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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flowersofindulgence
Kaaaait! I just got your username! :) Now if someone registers and his username is imnotdeadyet or mybellstillrings, we know who that might be! lol
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I just re-read your all's original story and I get such a thrill just hearing how you two met Bob and the wonderful way Caroline described him and every heart fainting moment. I can see it all in my mind, almost like I was there. I hope Bob knows that he won't just be remembered, but that "....I'm still carrying the gift you gave,
It's a part of me now, it's been cherished and saved,
It'll be with me unto the grave
And then unto eternity."

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Good as I been to you
Thank you, Caroline. When I first listened to "Good as I been to you", the first thought that came to my mind was "music of the soul". Much of the music was very "mountain music" like from where I'm from in Appalachia. Some of it seemed Mississippi blues, but all of it I felt movement in my soul. Bob's interpertation of those songs were very emotional, especially Hard Times. In Planet Waves, the song that struck me the most was Wedding song. The poetry in Empire Burlesque was absolutely wonderful. My favorites are Trust yourself and Dark eyes. I am slowly filling in the years of the 70's, 80's and 90's!
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Reading some more in Chronicles, I read where someone asked Bob if he was a prayin' man and did he pray for the world. Bob's response was that his prayer was "to be a kinder person". He wasn't praying to try to fix the world. Like in the Michael Jackson song, the "man in the mirror" is the only one we have to change to help fix the world. I think that just shows Bob's character and maturity.   

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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No words
There are so many things I want to share, so many times I wanted to post something I felt, but I couldn't find exactly what to say. Most people I share Bob's work with really don't seem to care anyway. I understand that, because until now I didn't really understand or care much, my own self. I think so much of Bob's work is interperted inside each of us in so many different ways, that maybe it's best that we just listen to ourselves and not necessarily share every thing we feel, even though I'm dying to. Bob is no different than any of us and that is why we connect as well, but he was blessed with seemingly much more ability to tap into that cosmic something out there that we all also are connected with, even if it's just a few moments in a song and the music and the words are the causeway.  

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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clarification
When I said most people don't want to hear, I didn't mean people here on this site, I meant the people I am in contact with daily in my life. The reason I don't post everything here is because so often I just can't always express what I'm feeling in a coherent way. 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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Bob with Jeff Tweety and Jim James in Virginia Beach!
I just found a youtube video of Bob and Jeff Tweety and Jim James singing "The Weight" at the end of the concert I went to at the Farm Beauro in Virginia Beach VA last year, Oh what sweet memories! It's breathtaking!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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"next time you see me coming, you better run" Highway 61 Rev...
Bob's influence on the culture. I just remembered when I was a kid back in the 60's, we would all go around saying to each other: "next time you see me coming, you better run", along with some other similar silly sayings. I wonder just how many things and sayings we now have in common use that comes from Bob's work? I see spin off's of phrases from his songs used in the paper or news headlines quite often. 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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Yes and then there are some
Yes and then there are some phrases that I think he didn't make up per se but that became well known or popularized by one of his songs. But I just woke up and only just started drinking my coffee... so I can't think of any right now :) Maybe later...
Girlofthenorcal...
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Yes and then there are some
Yes and then there are some phrases that I think he didn't actually make up himself, but that became well known or popularized by one of his songs. But I just woke up and only just started drinking my coffee... so I can't think of any right now :) Maybe later...
jonizornes
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"you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows"
Even the courts quote Bob in their procedings! :  http://www.npr.org/2011/05/10/136181949/bob-dylans-words-find-place-in-l...
 

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
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big-ass truths wrapped in the hard shell of nonsensical abstract
A quote from Chronicles where Bob is describing Robert Johnson's lyrics. How much this describes so much of how Bob wrote his songs! Truth contained in absurity.  I am starting to understand how Bob grabs your attention with the backwardness of phrases. One example is "My Back Pages" with the line "I was so much older then, I'm younger than that now". Speaking of, "My Back Pages", what an amazing song! That is another one I remember from so many years ago and I had no idea it was one of Bob's! Wow!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
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I love it! Love your
I love it! Love your contributions, Joni, thanks! By the way, I just dusted off (quite literally) another box of old copies of Bob CDs now re-purchased in various forms. Looking for anything in particular?
jonizornes
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"My Back Pages"
Hi Caroline, thank you! I am just so excited by Bob's music. I responded by email.
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"My Back Pages" - this is another one that I just listen over and over and over again. Wow, Wow, Wow! Classic Bob Dylan! Classic word imagery, deep inward-looking and self-revealing, humble. A turning point in his life - "Another Side of Bob Dylan". Meanings that can be taken forever and yet are so present, today. Pure. I almost buckle when I hear it. I may have mentioned this before, but I remember reading someone say "he tells us how we feel". I almost felt a little bit offended by that statement, how could Bob tell us how to feel?, but the more I listen and hear, the more I realize he is saying exactly how I feel!

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

jonizornes
jonizornes's picture
Chimes of Freedom - again
I just keep going back to this song, time after time. Of all of Bob's songs, it's turning out to be my favorite. I came up with a list of 52 songs from the begining to "Tempest", that are my absolute favorites and it just seems to rise to the top of my favorite 10, every time." 'an for.....every.....hung-up.....person.....in the.....whole wide.....universe
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing."  That includes me! I can listen to this song any time. I love other versions as well, Bruce Springsteen in East Berlin in 1988, the Byrds" in the 60's, but especially the one Bob did at the end of the 1964 Newport folk festival. 
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Bob hates it when he used to be introduced as "the conscience of a generation". He never claimed that or any other spokesman title. He just wanted to write his music and perform and let the music go where it may. I think what could be said about his music is that often, his music, "pricked" the conscience of a generation, my generation - the baby boomers. Songs like "Blowin' in the Wind". Songs like that did speak to your conscience, but he wasn't doing it intentionally, he just sung what he felt at the time.
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I love you Bob

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

Girlofthenorcal...
Girlofthenorcalcountry's picture
Yes :)
All very well said, Joni!
jonizornes
jonizornes's picture
The 3rd rail of Bob's heart
There is a depth to Bob's songs that keeps drawing me to want to know more and more. I don't mean going deep into the meanings of the songs, I mean there is something deeper than just the meanings. My way of describing it is like this: Bob, in so many of his songs, has one hand on the 3rd rail of his soul and it's not always a pretty feeling. With his other hand he reaches out to anyone that is willing to share that emotion with him. Bob is no different than any of us, we all share the same humanity. What his gift is, is the ability to express his emotions in music and poetry in such a common and wonderful way. When we let those songs in, we resonate along with him, because we have found a new avenue to release those feelings we have inside of us. When we touch someone who is touching the 3rd rail of their heart, we, for that instant, feel the same pain, joy, sorrow, anger, hate and love that the author felt as he/she was writing the song. The music always conducts the emotions, but the words are like simiconductors. The bias you bring and apply to the song determines whether the words are going to increase that conductivity or act like an insulator to the real emotions. Over-thinking a song is like applying the wrong bias. I'm probably over-thinking this right now! LoL Hi Hi

Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free

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