Rave: Bob Dylan's lyrics are underrated.

[ROGER4314]

Standing alone, Bob Dylan was a quirky little guy who managed to piss off virtually everyone. Joan Baez, his lover, described Dylan perfectly in "Diamonds and Rust" as a "Ghost" and she called him the "Unwashed Phenomenon" In my words, Dylan was a flake.

Where Dylan shines is in the context of other talented lyricists and performers who formed a mighty chain that, together, changed our people and our nation. They certainly changed me! Stephen Stills and his phrase "If you can't be with the one you love, Love the one you're with" and "OHIO" from C,S,N&Y stuck with me for life!

Other strong links in that chain were the Weavers, Peter/Paul/Mary, Joan Baez, Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young, and more recently, Stevie Nicks.

Strangely, as popular as Elvis is/was, he never wrote anything original. He just parroted what others wrote.

Those people changed the world with their music and their messages. Compared to today's Bubble Gum "OOOOHHH Baby, Baby" lyrics, they were giants in the music industry. Double that when they're viewed as links in that mighty chain of protest and social change.

Sorry............Dylan, when viewed alone, may have been overrated.

Flash

 

[breakingcontact]

Standing alone, Bob Dylan was a quirky little guy who managed to piss of virtually everyone. Joan Baez, his lover, described Dylan perfectly in "Diamonds and Rust" as a "Ghost" and she called him the "Unwashed Phenomenon" In my words, Dylan was a flake.

Where Dylan shines is in the context of other talented lyricists and performers who formed a mighty chain that, together, changed our people and our nation. They certainly changed me! Stephen Stills and his phrase "If you can't be with the one you love, Love the one you're with" stuck with me for life!

Other strong links in that chain were the Weavers, Peter/Paul/Mary, Joan Baez, Crosby/Stills/Nash/Young, and more recently, Stevie Nicks.

Strangely, as popular as Elvis is/was, he never wrote anything original. He just parroted what others wrote.

Those people changed the world with their music and their messages. Compared to today's Bubble Gum "OOOOHHH Baby, Baby" lyrics, they were giants in the music industry especially when viewed as links in that mighty chain of protest and social change.

Sorry............Dylan, when viewed alone, may have been overrated.

Flash

Overrated based upon what Joan Baez thought?

He is immeasurably brilliant in his lyrics and song structure. Yes he was certainly part of a movement, I get that but he was bigger than the movement he was part of.

I do agree Elvis is wildly overrated but I do love his cringe worthy movies.

 

[Davetex]

The Weavers, Peter/Paul/Mary, Joan Baez, Pete Seeger, Burl Ives, etc.... were all a bunch of committed communists. They can all suck my nuts.

 

[ROGER4314]

Joseph McCarthy was a Communist hating bastard who bullied and badgered everyone who refused to kiss his asx. Then, he launched into a Homosexual witch hunt were he threatened to investigate people to blackmail them into doing as he ordered. McCarthy was a total asshole who was finally run out of power. To McCarthy, everyone was a Communist, especially the entertainers that you listed. Pete Seeger.... anti American, Communist terrorist........HA!

As to Communism, The USSR is no more and that once powerful nation of many states is busted financially. The Ukraine was selling off its inventory of Nukes in a creepy garage sale to make ends meet. Russia is a shadow of its former self!

Nikita Khrushchev told Nixon "We will bury you!" Yeah, right, ....like that happened.

Our POTUS is a "Socialist" but he''s not a Communist. That term is as dead as the Roman Centurion.

So....why drag that old shxt up? It's dead, gone and good riddance! If you MUST hate someone, hate the Middle Eastern terrorists!

Flash

 

[Texasjack]

Dylan to McCarthy - this thread went bad quickly.

 

[breakingcontact]

Dylan to McCarthy - this thread went bad quickly.

McCarthy was mostly right.

 

[Davetex]

Will Geer (grandpa Walton) was another commie of that era.

 

[JohnnyLoco]

Overrated based upon what Joan Baez thought?

He is immeasurably brilliant in his lyrics and song structure. Yes he was certainly part of a movement, I get that but he was bigger than the movement he was part of.

+1
Also considering he rejected the movement and vice versa. Early Dylan, I might agree with Flash, but he got better with age, which is rare in that business.

 

[breakingcontact]

+1
Also considering he rejected the movement and vice versa. Early Dylan, I might agree with Flash, but he got better with age, which is rare in that business.

Exactly. He evolved. He grew. He reformed. He didn't do the same thing his whole career.

 

[JohnnyLoco]

Exactly. He evolved. He grew. He reformed. He didn't do the same thing his whole career.

Well he doesn't have a bit. Each song is different and has an immense amount of meaning. You take the Stones, great music, great riffs, same bit, over and over.

 

[ROGER4314]

Considering all of this change and metamorphosis, we still peg the Weavers and Peter/Paul/Mary as "Communists.".......snicker.

I'm not the same man at 68 that I was at 30. These words haunt me every time I want to smash the face of some punk, I hear them echo inside my head..."By God, you're supposed to be an adult by this point in your life! Grow the Hell up!" Then I smile, apologize and walk away.

All joking aside, music shaped and changed my life. Janis Joplin spoke to me and I took her words to heart even though I wouldn't have touched her physically with a ten foot pole! "Get it while you can........." and "Freedom is just another word for nothin' left to lose" (which of course is a Kristofferson- Bobby McGee lyric)" served as road maps for my life. I lived that!

When you fear the loss of something.................it owns you.

The boner I had for early Linda Ronstadt is still there even though she slept with Jerry Brown...How could she? Still, Brown is old and Liberal while Linda and I are both old and UMMMM large.

I split with a woman once with the words from a song: "I've had a hundred loves like you. I'll have a thousand 'fore I'm through!" OK, I admit it. It's true!

Yes, Bob Dylan grew up just like the rest of us. He changed just like the rest of us. His words have been immortalized, but so have yours and mine. I heard my words coming from the mouths of my students for years. Your children will speak your words and behave as you do. That's immortality, too.

Flash