Where the Songs Began: Reflecting on Dylan from a Seat at Hibbing High

For years Dylan fans in Hibbing were trying to figure out how to honor the Nobel Laureate who came of age there in the heart of the Iron Range. It's well-known here in Dylan circles that Bob didn't want a statue. With that in mind many alternative ideas were floated, and a monument concept was conceived. In 2021 that monument was unveiled on the front apron of the Hibbing High School he attended.

On the street side of the "wall" is a replica of the Nobel Prize. On the front side are lines from his catalog of 600+ songs In front of that sits a chair where one is obliged to sit and to imagine. What was going through Robert Zimmerman's mind as he sat in school there during his teen years? If you sit here, you can try to  imagine how this swirl of words drifted through his mind and flowed out from his pen.

I don't really know how the lyrics were selected, nor do I know how many people were tapped to share their thoughts or make those decisions, but it was a privilege for me to be privately invited to contribute, and later to help whittle down the lengthy list of suggestions.

That experience came to mind this week when I ran across the Word document I believe I'd submitted initially. I prefaced my seven-page submission with an acknowledgment that I knew some were unsuitable due to length, "but in sifting through the Dylan catalog I was once more reminded of how astonishing he is as a writer. The first page here is my 'top of the mountain' list. Feel free to select from the rest which are all exceptionally good."

I won't share all. We'll just call this an appetizer.

“There must be some way out of here,” said the Joker to the Thief.
--All Along the Watchtower

 

Anything I can sing, I call a song. Anything I can't sing, I call a poem.
--liner notes, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan

 

Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire.

--Rolling Stone interview, 1978

 

You want to write songs that are bigger than life.

--Chronicles, Vol. 1

If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon.
--Nobel Lecture

 

How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?

--Blowing in the Wind

 

I’ll know my song well before I start singing.
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.

--Hard Rain

 

Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail,
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder.

--Chimes of Freedom

 

But for the sky there are no fences facin’

--Mr. Tambourine Man

 

He not busy being born is busy dying

--It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)

 

Inside the museums, Infinity goes up on trial
--Visions of Johanna

 

In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand

--Every Grain of Sand

 

You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows

--Subterranean Homesick Blues

 

My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can’t buy her

--Love Minus Zero/No Limit

 

I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it

--Mr. Tambourine Man

 

The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place

--Visions of Johanna

 

Oh, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again

--Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again

 

Dear landlord
Please don’t put a price on my soul
My burden is heavy
My dreams are beyond control

--Dear Landlord

 

I pity the poor immigrant
Who wishes he would’ve stayed home

--I Pity the Poor Immigrant

To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game

--Hurricane

Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, señor?

--Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)

 

Precious angel, under the sun
How was I to know you’d be the one
To show me I was blinded, to show me I was gone
How weak was the foundation I was standing upon?

--Precious Angel

 

The enemy is subtle, how be it we are so deceived
When the truth’s in our hearts and we still don’t believe?

--Precious Angel

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he’s fulfilled

--License To Kill

What good am I if I’m like all the rest
If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed
If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry
What good am I?

--What Good Am I?

 

Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain

--Not Dark Yet

I got my back to the sun ’cause the light is too intense
I can see what everybody in the world is up against

--Sugar Baby

 

Lot of things can get in the way when you’re tryin’ to do what’s right

--Honest With Me

 

As I walked out tonight in the mystic garden
The wounded flowers were dangling from the vines

--Ain’t Talkin’

 

In Scarlet Town where I was born
There’s ivy leaf and silver thorn

--Scarlet Town

 

Another day that don't end
Another ship goin' out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened
I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in
--False Prophet

 

This year's Duluth Dylan Fest will kick off with a Hibbing Day, May 17. This year's Fest will run through to the following Sunday, May 24, when Bob Dylan turns 85. Details of Hibbing Day: Front Lawn (Early) Birthday Party

Bob Dylan’s 85th Birthday Celebration
Live music by Gene Lafond & Amy Grillo
outside of Bob Dylan’s boyhood home
2425 7th Avenue East, Hibbing
10:30 AM-11:30 AM | Free

FULL SCHEDULE FOR THE WEEK CAN BE FOUND
HERE

https://duluthdylanfest.com/duluth-dylan-fest-2026/

Related Links

This Day In History: Concert #1031 of the Never Ending Tour and the Unveiling of the Hibbing Dylan Project

Dedication of the Rock Opens Big Day of Dylan Celebrations in Hibbing

It Happens Every Spring: Baseball and Duluth Dylan Fest 2026

Yesterday morning a pair of low-flying bald eagles flew across my front yard just above the treetops. Earlier this week I saw hawk-watchers on Thompson Hill counting raptors migrating to their northern habitats. These are standard signs of spring here in the Northland. And then there's baseball.

Artwork by Misisipi Mike

Major League Baseball has opened this week. When I was a kid my family would watch It Happens Every Spring around this time of year. The film opens with college professor Ray Milland working on a chemistry project as some kids playing baseball outside hit a ball through the window, smashing his beakers and test tubes. The various chemicals cause something unusual to happen. The stained baseball is repelled by wood. As a result, you can't hit it with a bat. His "discovery" fuels his dream of being a major league pitcher and he takes a sabbatical to help his beloved St. Louis Cardinals reach the World Series.

Bob Dylan was about eight years old when this movie came out, and I have no doubt he saw it. If not at the theater, then I'm sure he saw it on TV because every year it was no doubt broadcast in Hibbing as it was in Cleveland when I was a boy.

Once you start to notice, you will see a lot of connections between Dylan and baseball. Did you know Roger Maris was born in Hibbing? Maris achieved controversial fame by breaking Babe Ruth's  home run record the same year Dylan moved to New York City.  The Maris controversy was due to the fact that 1961 was the year MLB lengthened its season from 154 to 162 games. This seemed unfair to some diehard fans and sportswriters. Of course, Dylan himself would go on to create his share of controversies.

This year's Duluth Dylan Fest emblem features a cartoonish Bob Dylan in a baseball uniform with the #85 on his back, representing his 85th birthday which we will be celebrating for a week here in Duluth later this spring. The Dylan-Baseball connections are many, hence this year's "logo."

A lot of folks are unaware that Abe Zimmerman played semi-pro baseball here in the Northland. Abe once shared how he travelled from Duluth to Hibbing around 1929 or 1930 to "play ball," where he and his teammates earned about $2 each for the day. In 1941, the same year Robert Zimmerman was born, Duluth built a minor league ballpark called Wade Stadium, which may have been part the inspiration for Dylan's minor league ballpark tours in 2004 and 2009 with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp. The day after Dylan performed here in Duluth's Bayfront Park in 2013, he and his bandmates performed at the St Paul Saints Midway Stadium ball park. Bobby Vee was there and Dylan sang Vee's "Suzie Baby" as a tribute.

Illustration by the author.

Longtime Dylan fans are well aware of his Theme Time Radio Hour in which the bard shared his love of nostalgia, trivia and music history. One of his 100 episodes was dedicated to Baseball, the Great American Pastime. Until recently it was the one sport that was not dictated by time. You will enjoy Dylan's atypical rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" near the beginning of the show.

No blog post connecting Dylan and baseball would be complete without mentioning the song "Catfish," which was a nod to Hall of Fame pitcher Catfish Hunter, a million-dollar man--"Nobody can throw the ball like Catfish can." The song was actually a collaboration with Jacques Levy, who contributed to seven of the nine songs on Dylan's 1976 album Desire.

Baseball is a game of heroes and dreams, and just like you and me, Dylan has had heroes and dreams. Some of those heroes played baseball.

Baseball is also a game of numbers and statistics. A non-profit group called Retrosheet keeps records of every conceivable stat, even those you seldom, if ever, think about. One page of this statistically bloated catalog is devoted the 302 times players were successfully eliminated from the base paths by the "Hidden Ball Trick."  What a humiliating way to be sent back to the bench. Listen to some of these names of players who fell prey to this deceit: Joe Quinn, Chief Zimmer, Cupid Childs, Hobe Ferris, Birdie Cree, Fred Snodgrass, Happy Felsch, Wildfire Schulte and Bae McBride. 302 ballplayers suffered this indignity. One thing for sure, though. These guys had colorful names. Bump Wills. That's a baseball name.

Lazy stadium night Catfish on the mound “Strike three,” the umpire said Batter have to go back and sit down
Catfish, million-dollar-man Nobody can throw the ball like Catfish can

* * *

SCHEDULE FOR 

DULUTH DYLAN FEST 2026

CLICK HERE

Scenes from Duluth Dylan Fest 2025: A Midweek Album

The energy is high this year, with plenty more to come. 
Dylan Fest actually kicked off in Hibbing on Sunday.

On Monday the eight-day event moved to Duluth.

Here are photos from Monday.

The Dylan Fest Acoustic Jam Session w/ host Leslie Black at
Carmody's was impressively packed. Fest-goers were invited 

to "Bring your voice and/or instrument and music stand." 
Some might say it was "organized chaos" but it was 

an evening of pure Dylan.

This year we enjoyed a visit from Tokyo Bob and his entourage. 

Here's a little about Tokyo Bob's Dylan-themed bar Polka Dots:

Tokyo is a vibrant metropolis brimming with unique experiences for every traveler. For Bob Dylan enthusiasts, a visit to the Polka Dots bar is a must-do. Nestled in the heart of the city, this subterranean gem is a dedicated Bob world, where the jukebox exclusively spins Dylan tunes and the walls are adorned with iconic Zimmy posters and memorabilia. 

Since opening its doors in 2006, Polka Dots has been lovingly managed by Tokyo Bob, Japan’s leading Dylan tribute artist. While he channels Dylan’s persona on stage with a signature wig, suit and polka dot shirt, at the bar Tokyo Bob is a warm and welcoming host, ensuring every guest feels at home. Tucked away in the basement of an unassuming building, this intimate venue seats just 20 people, offering a cozy, immersive experience akin to a Dylan fan’s ultimate dream den. For those with their own memorabilia collections, picture adding a fully stocked bar, expertly curated music, and delicious bites—Polka Dots brings that vision to life.

On Tuesday the Fest moved from Carmody's 

to Wussow's Concert Cafe
where DJ Stagger Lee entertained us 

with his curated collection of Dylan vinyls
in their original form, through an analog sound system.

Once satiated we crossed the street to catch a show

featuring Paul Metsa and Sonny Earl with special guest

Gregg Inhofer, one of the original Minnesota musicians

who recorded five songs from Blood on the Tracks. 

Click HERE to see the schedue for the rest 

of this week's events.

Photos by Michael Anderson and my self. 

The high. quality images courtesy of Michael.

Paul Metsa Introduces His Upcoming Books and Shares Stories as Duluth Dylan Fest Winds Down

This year there have been two John Bushey Memorial Lectures at Duluth Dylan Fest. Wednesday evening Peter McKenzie talked about his insightful Bob Dylan: On a Couch and Fifty Cents a Day, with its many revelations about Bob's first months in New York City. Yesterday, at Wussow's Concert Cafe, Paul Metsa shared insights about his career in music along with excerpts from his upcoming book, Alphabet Jazz.

Sunbonnet Sue introduced the speaker, his speech being titled "Bob Dylan -- Highway 53 Revisited."

There's a famous dictum for speakers that you've probably heard before. "Tell them what you are going to say, say it, and tell them what you said." Metsa honored this by telling us what he was going to say and following through. "I will be reading from my book Alphabet Jazz," he said at the beginning, though we received much more than that.

But first, he gave a nod to the man who remains present at all these Duluth Dylan Fest gatherings, alive in all our hearts, John Bushey, whose radio program Highway 61 Revisited was a rich and rewarding feast for countless Dylan fans for more than 26 years. "John Bushey," Metsa said, "was the prime mover behind Dylan being re-respected in Duluth and the Iron Range." 

Metsa's first reading from the book was a 1992 letter that he wrote to the Twin Cities Reader in response to a seriously brutal Dylan harangue by Burl "Ives" Gilyard. Metsa's letter was titled, "Dylan -- Still a Hep Cat." It began like this: "Although Bob Dylan certainly needs no one to defend him, I still take issue with Burl “Ives” Gilyard’s shallow musings and cavalier dismissal of the modern Jewish troubadour."

Paul Metsa @ Wussow's. Photos
courtesy Michael Anderson

Great opening line, and it only gets better after that. 

Metsa then covered a swath of territory that included Hibbing High School, the teacher there that was possibly Dylan's biggest influence, and some additional anecdotes about Hibbing and the Iron Range. 

In the midst of all this was a story about 4th Street. In addition to beng one of the great put-down songs of all time, "Positively Fourth Street" has a couple of other interesting features. First, the song came out as a single, but was never on any of the tracks on any of Dylan's albums until it appeared on his Greatest Hits album. Second, many people have wondered whether this 4th Street put-down was rooted in a New York experience or Dinkytown, the section of Minneapolis where Dylan was resident before heading off to the Big Apple. 

Well, Metsa pointed out that there's a Fourth Street in Hibbing, following up with an anecdote about a couple there that never listens to music. Could this be one of the reasons Bob left Hibbing? 

For the record, there is also a Fourth Street in Duluth, one-and-a-half blocks from the home where young Bobby Zimmerman grew up. It's my hope that one day the City of Duluth will rename it Positively Fourth Street some day. (EdNote: Inasmuch as Bob left Duluth at age 6 when his family moved to Hibbing, it is doubtful that the song is referencing any of his kindergarten experiences.)

For what it's worth, Metsa is an engaging storyteller. Whether talking about his experiences navigating the Minnesota music scene or what it's like to live in the same house where Bob Dylan once lived, he draws you in. (He has been renting the lower half of the duplex while looking for a house here in Duluth, which he now has found.)

FWIW, Paul's first book is titled Blue Guitar Highway and is available on Amazon. He also has a third book in the worked that will be published by University of Minnesota Press titled Blood In The Tracks.

* * * 

In 2018, the Minnesota musicians who recorded five of the songs on Dylan's much-lauded Blood on the Tracks album got the long-overdue recognition they deserved for their contributions to that very special album. Paul Metsa featured their stories on his Wall of Power program, a very special event for everyone present. Here are my three blog posts about that special day.

Part One  
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/inside-studio-still-more-blood-and.html 

Part Two
https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/paul-metsas-wall-of-power-featuring.html

Part Three

https://pioneerproductions.blogspot.com/2018/10/lives-touched-and-changed-dylan-blood.html

* * * 

Thank you, Paul, for sharing your stories. Welcome to Duluth.

Northland Visit Was Great, The Ending Somewhat Startling

ALMOST WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

This weekend I finally had a chance to meet Nevada Bob, who arrived Thursday to see Bob Dylan related sites and continue working on his book 50 Years with the Wrong Woman. It's a memoir, undergirded by a lifelong love that enabled him to achieve far more than he ever could have imagined. 

The three of us enjoyed meals together at the Pickwick, Taste of Saigon, the Anchor in Superior and a brunch at the Duluth Grill. 

His photographer has been documenting their journey and sending me some great photos. When they left Hibbing they headed west. The last photo here was sent to me fro a tourist of Gary and Nevada Bob in Fargo. Don't scroll to the end if you are squeamish.

* * * 

Welcome to Hibbing.

The Greyhound Bus Museum

"Go ahead. Dream. And dream big."

Dylan tribute, Hibbing High School

Robert Zimmerman lived here.

"Tell ol' Bob when he comes home..."

Hard work and dreams make everything possible.

This is where Gary and Nevada Bob had their falling out.

This next photo is not for the faint of heart.

"So long, been good to know yuh."--Woody Guthrie

(Actual wood chipper from Coen Brothers' film, Fargo)

* * * * *

Special thanks to Gary Firstenberg for all the fine pictures he's been
sending us throughout this adventure, on the road with Nevada Bob.

Related Links
On the Road Again with Nevada Bob Gordon 

Gary Firstenberg's Turning Negatives Into Positives

Dedication of the Rock Opens Big Day of Dylan Celebrations in Hibbing

"THE TOWN I GREW UP IN IS THE ONE THAT HAS LEFT ME WITH MY LEGACY VISIONS."
—Bob Dylan, 1963
"11 Outlined Epitaphs"

Photo credit: Craig Grau

On Saturday, October 16, Hibbing hosted a number of events of interest related to Bob Dylan, who in 1959 graduated from high school here. The most significant moment of the day took place at 1:00 p.m. in front of the high school where The Hibbing Project tribute to Bob Dylan was unveiled.

Earlier in the day, however, another dedication took place. On the Mesaba Bike Trail adjacent to the Greyhound Bus Museum, a group of Hibbing notables, fans and media gathered to dedicate “The Rock,” a Dylan tribute inscribed with a quote from 11 Outlined Epitaphs. (For those unaware, Greyhound buses originated here in the Northland as a means for transporting workers to the mines.) 

The late Congressman Jim Oberstar played an instrumental role in helping to establish our Minnesota bike trail network which seems to have no beginning and no end. Wherever you start you can keep going on a never ending tour via more than a dozen statewide trails. The Mesabi Bike Trail comes through Hibbing. Many of these bike trails run where abandoned  railroad tracks once lay. It is hoped that additional rocks can be found or placed along the trail with additional Dylan citations.

The short program commenced with music by Megan and Jefferson Reynolds. John Ongaro, a government relations director, served as MC, welcoming all of us who attended before Megan and Jefferson opened by performing “When I Got Troubles” which teenager Bobby Zimmerman recorded on a home recording when he was 18. (You’ll find this recording on the soundtrack for Martin Scorsese’s No Direction Home.)

Jon Ongara noted how the Duluth Dylan Fest and the Hibbing Project teams have worked together to make this the St. Louis County Year of Dylan happen, of which Saturday's events were a part. After acknowledging Molly Johnsrud’s role in helping make things happen here, Ongaro introduced Representative Julie Sandstrede.

Rep. Julie Sandstede 'neath the trail marker.

Rep. Sandstrede began with a thought-provoking admonition from the last stanza of Dylan’s Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest: “So when you see your neighbor carrying somethin' // Help him with his load.”

She went on to share that the word Mesaba means “giant” and that Bob Dylan is a giant who has garnered accolades of the highest caliber, including the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Nobel Prize for Literature. “May the next generation of (Iron) Rangers make their own mark in the world,” she said. With a measure of pride for the heritage of this region she said that Hibbing is a town full of stories.

Paul MacDonald, Vice Chair of the St. Louis County Board of Commissioners, spoke next. In addition to representing the Northern part of St. Louis County, Paul is the son of the late Bob MacDonald, the legendary basketball coach of the Chisholm high school basketball team. MacDonald won more than a thousand games, more than any other coach in Minnesota history.* 

Jon Ongaro (R) introduces Paul MacDonald

“The backbone of the country came from the Iron Range. It’s work ethic. It’s moral,” MacDonald said. “People come to the Iron Range to knock on Heaven’s door.” 

Jon Ongaro closed the dedication by reading a passage from Bob Dylan’s 1963 poem 11 Outlined Epitaphs, from which the line inscribed on this rock was lifted.

Afterwards I spoke with a number of those who were present. Craig Grau, a retired UMD political science professor, called the etched trail marker “a rolling stone that stopped.”

I also spoke briefly with Julie Sandstede, in her third term as State Representative for District 6. I asked how if the current political atmosphere was making her jaded. “I refuse to be cynical. We need positive politics," she replied. 

I asked if she were a Dylan fan. “Growing up here, how could I not be?”

* * * 

 

In addition to the rock dedication and Hibbing Dylan Project unveiling, other events of the day included a tour of Hibbing High School, special hours for the Hibbing Historical Society featuring a display from Bill Pagel’s private Dylan Collection, a special opening of the Hull-Rust Mine View, and a free community concert in the Little Theater inside the Hibbing Memorial Arena at 7 pm featuring Amy Grillo and Gene LaFond with David Bennett and Sam Saccoman.

Here are more photos of the Tribute that is now installed in front of Hibbing High School. (Click to enlarge)

Katie Fredeen, Hibbing Dylan Project President, shares 
the history of the project, from conception to unveiling.

Related Links

Photos inside the Hibbing High School auditorium where young Bob Zimmerman performed here as a youth.

The Dylan Tribute unveiled. 

*After winning 1012 games in his career as a coach, Bob MacDonald was inducted into the NFHS National High School Hall of Fame.