In the United Kingdom we have recently been treated to an evening of Bob Dylan on BBC 4. This included the celebrated Martin Scorsese film and a fascinating documentary about the search for the tape of a play Dylan was in which was filmed in December 1962. I will not attempt to sum up Dylan's life and times, much as I am tempted, simply because many others have done this so well. What did catch my eye, however, was the interviews which he was obliged to give as well as the attitudes of some of the interviewers. Dylan hated being interviewed quite simply because he did not have a clue what to say. He saw himself as a 'song and dance man'. He loved writing and performing songs, period. To many others he was far more than that. He lived through turbulent times - very turbulent times, by our standards. This was the era marked by the assassination of President Kennedy and the civil rights movement. Following a decade or more of persecution and paranoia, hopes were riding on anyone who seemed to be carrying the torch of freedom. If you listen to the words of his songs you would have to conclude that Dylan was part of that movement. His association with Joan Baez and subsequent attendance at significant events, his declared love of Woody Guthrie and all that that seemed to stand for, suggest that here was a powerful ally for the cause. Yet when asked about the symbolism in his songs he says there is no hidden meaning. It is what it is. He did not set out with the intention of writing a song with a special allegorical meaning.
As I watched the films I could see that what he says is exactly what did happen. He just sat down and wrote, or more often than not, typed. Apparently some of his songs were 50 verses long! They just came out, effortlessly. What sort of a man does that - and gets away with it?
Back in the 1970s I worked with a psychiatrist called Sylvia Lendrum. She had a famous twin brother who played Maigret on the television and they shared the same characteristic ear lobes (but she didn't smoke a pipe!) She was in her 80s then and had been brought out of retirement to help out. She was a truly remarkable woman and although I have worked with some very excellent and celebrated colleagues since, she remains my firm favourite. The reason for this is that she never used jargon or tried to impress. She talked in ordinary language about ordinary things and everyone from the smallest child to the wisest professor knew what she meant. She did not have to think about what she was doing - it just came naturally. Her impression on me was so profound that I spent the next 20 years trying to turn long words into short ones. Happily, clear English became a theme of our time, so my efforts, hopefully, were appreciated. I wish I could have seen Sylvia at age 20 to find out if she was as natural then, or whether I was simply seeing the cumulative impact of a lifetime of practice.
So, to return to Dylan. What sort of man just does it? The answer is a natural. He just wrote what he felt and sang what pleased him. When people tried to pin him down or make him perform for them, he took a break. To his credit, he remained true to himself and did not let the industry destroy him. Incredibly, all that happened over 40 years ago. Dylan at his most productive was 20 years old. He did not follow a cause - he followed his heart. I don't think he would have had the creative muse inside him if he had attached himself to anything deliberate.
We believe so very much in education and training these days and I would be the first to applaud this, but Dylan's legacy to us must surely be that we should avoid the little boxes that all look the same. I will, no doubt, write a piece about genius in due course. For the effect that his music has on me I have to say that Dylan was a genius, a natural talent, but whether or not he will fit the criteria I set when I look more closely is another matter. Anyway, I have a sneaky suspicion that he would not thank me for sticking a label on him - too much like the little boxes.
Pierre
Image source: http://www.rocksite.info/r-dylan-bob.htm
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