Dylan Weighs In on the Disease of Conceit

There’s a whole lot of people suffering tonight
From the disease of conceit
Whole lot of people struggling tonight
From the disease of conceit
Comes right down the highway
Straight down the line
Rips into your senses
Through your body and your mind
Nothing about it that’s sweet
The disease of conceit

Conceit is a word we don't hear used that much anymore. We say things like, "He's full of himself," or "He's got a big head." We also hear quite a bit about narcissism, frequently in the context of dating advice. "Five Signs to Help You Spot Narcissistic Behavior" and "11 Signs that You're Dating a Narcissist" are on the first page when I Google this.

The word narcissism comes from the Greek tale of Narcissus who fell in love with his reflection in a pond. Dylan incorporated this tale into the last verse of "License to Kill" (Infidels):

Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he’s fulfilled
Oh, man is opposed to fair play
He wants it all and he wants it his way

Narcissus by Caravaggio

Dylan's imagery hit me like a zap from a 220 volt copper wire the first time I heard it in 1983. What is it about our nature that inclines us to self-deceit and an overweening sense of self-importance?

The opening line of the song sets the stage: "Man thinks 'cause he rules the world he can do with it as he please..." 

Another word that can be used interchangeably with conceit is arrogance. Psychologist Karen Horney (Freud's first female student) in her book Our Inner Conflicts (A Constructive Theory of Neurosis) asserts that the greater the variance between our idealized self-image and our real self, the more amplified our neurotic tendencies. She writes:

"Precisely to the extent that the image is unrealistic, it tends to make the person arrogant, in the original meaning of the word; for arrogance, though used synonymously was superciliousness, means to arrogate to oneself qualities that one does not have, or that one has potentially but not factually."
--Our Inner Conflicts, p. 97

What Dr. Horney goes on to say is that our self-inflation is not something we do consciously. That is, arrogant people are unaware of how divergent their real behavior is from their idealized version of themselves. This is what makes it so tragic and troubling.

Dylan's "Disease of Conceit" breaks it down in some interesting ways. The first stanzas describe the results of conceit. People are hurt. It causes heartbreak. People are crying, and even dying because of it. "There's nothing about it that's sweet, the disease of conceit." 

Then comes the bridge in which he describes conceit as something of a mystery. (Life has many mysteries, doesn't it?)

Conceit is a disease
That the doctors got no cure
They’ve done a lot of research on it
But what it is, they’re still not sure

The song's last stanza is a reminder that we are but dust, a warning to beware of "delusions of grandeur" because ultimately we all await the very same fate. 

There’s a whole lot of people in trouble tonight
From the disease of conceit
Whole lot of people seeing double tonight
From the disease of conceit
Give ya delusions of grandeur And a evil eye
Give you the idea that
You’re too good to die
Then they bury you from your head to your feet
From the disease of conceit 

* * * 

In 1937 Salvador Dali produced a painting that he titled The Metamorphosis of Narcissus. If you Google the word Narcissus and click on images, most of the images will be of a yellow flower called the Narcissus, though more commonly called the daffodil today. 

The Metamorphosis of Narcissus (Salvador Dali) Tate Museum
© Salvador Dali, Gala-Salvador Dali Foundation/DACS, London 2020

Though Dylan's "Disease of Conceit" ends with a rather bleak prognosis (buried from your head to your feet), there's a seed thought in the tale of Narcissus which Dali captures in his painting (currently on display at the Tate Museum in London). Here is a portion of the text that accompanies this image:

Narcissus was a youth of great beauty who loved only himself and broke the hearts of many lovers. The gods punished him by letting him see his own reflection in a pool. He fell in love with it, but discovered he could not embrace it and died of frustration. Relenting, the gods immortalized him as the narcissus (daffodil) flower.

Read the full Tate account here.

The Disciple
Oscar Wilde's ironic twist on the myth of Narcissus

When Narcissus died, the pool of his pleasure changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, and the Oreads came weeping through the woodland that they might sing to the pool and give it comfort.

And when they saw that the pool had changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, they loosened the green tresses of their hair, and cried to the pool, and said: "We do not wonder that you should mourn in this manner for Narcissus, so beautiful was he."

"But was Narcissus beautiful?" said the pool

"Who should know better than you?" answered the Oreads. "Us did he ever pass by, but you he sought for, and would lie on your banks and look down at you, and in the mirror of your waters he would mirror his own beauty."

And the pool answered: "But I loved Narcissus because, as he lay on my banks and looked down at me, in the mirror of his eyes I saw my own beauty mirrored."

Local Art Seen: Wendy Rouse's "What Goes Around" at Lizzard's

Yesterday I mentioned visiting Studio 101 during the Earth Day Gallery Hop here in the Twin Ports. Another gallery that participated in the gallery hop was Lizzard's Gallery on Superior Street, a 30 second walk from the Tischer Gallery, which also had its doors open.

Thursday evening Lizzard's hosted an opening reception for Wendy Rouse, whose work I have long admired. I was grateful for the opportunity to finally meet the artist, and to share a bit of her story here.

EN: There is a fairy tale quality to much of your work. Where does this influence come from?

Wendy Rouse: A fairy tale quality. Hmm. I have thought more about myths than fairy tales.

I like to tell stories with my paintings and I do find inspiration in fairy tales, nursery rhymes and myths. What fascinates me is the way fairy tales are impossible/ improbable yet we choose to believe them, this suspension of disbelief is what I want the viewer to have when looking at my paintings.

I prefer to paint from life, using toys and objects set on a table top or mirror. The objects are small and that smallness may contribute to the story book quality. For example the polar bear is a little toy and the iceberg is a piece of styrofoam. I use realism to convince the viewer that a little boy could sail into the arctic to check on a polar bear.

EN: Have you been doing art full time since UMD or did you have a career in between UMD and NYAA?

WR: Art full time? No My husband and I met in the restaurant business 40 years ago. We have worked in many restaurants and owned and operated two. The first was Lake Avenue Cafe in Canal Park and the second was Farm Table in San Francisco. Restaurant work cut into my painting time and energy but it paid the bills and was a nice break from being in the studio which can get lonely. After I earned my masters degree I did quite a bit of art teaching, community ed art classes, private lessons and a few art classes at St. Scholastica.

EN: I see a couple of paintings that have ties to the story of Narcissus. Can you say a little bit about these?

WR: The Greek and Roman myths have often been a backstory for my paintings. I think of myths as fairy tales for adults. Ancient societies use myths to explain the big things; love, life, death, nature and mankind's place as part of nature. These issues are just as relevant today. My paintings may look sweet and decorative but I paint slowly and have lots of time to think about serious issues that hide under the surface.

Narcissus was a beautiful young man who fell so in love with his image he fell into a pool and drowned and the beautiful nymph that loved him was heartbroken after Narcissus drowned and all that was left of her was an echo... the Greeks way of explaining where echos came from and warning about narcissism. I did some unintentional gender bending in my version; Narcissus female and Echo male -- maybe the result of living 3 years in San Francisco? Sometimes these paintings take on a life of their own.

EN: What did you learn from being a student of Chee that has stuck with you to this day?

WR: Chee stressed the importance of designing a painting. No matter what your subject or style, underlying design holds it all together. He was one of those instructors who truly shared his passion. Also, interested adults from the community often took Chee's classes, subsequently his classes had a different atmosphere than my other art classes at UMD.

EN: How did NYAA advance your skills, career as an artist?

WR: When I attended UMD in the early 80's it was all about creativity and expression. The fundamentals of drawing, anatomy, perspective, color were not taught, I guess that was out of style. I wanted to be able to draw and paint realistically and learn about oil painting. Thats what I got at NYAA and much more. They have a great Thursday night lecture series with a different artist from New York or beyond every week. A rigorous academic training but relating it to what was happening in the New York art scene. Plus spending two years in New York with access to museums and galleries was ideal.
* * * *

Receptions are always a nice way to meet the artist.
Thank you, Wendy, for sharing your work with us.

A very nice turnout for "What Goes Around" Thursday @ Lizzard's

* * * *

Next Friday, April 27

Three More Great Art Events

Here's the Lineup

The Inimitable Leah Yellowbird

SAME EVENING

Meantime, art goes on all around you. Engage it.

On the Road to Find Out

My freshman year at college was a year of new experiences for sure. One of these experiences was an album by Cat Stevens called Tea for the Tillerman. Jon Brite, an artist in Scott Quad where I roomed at Ohio U freshman year, made the introduction. And while listening to a portion of it last night, as I do from time to time, the music and lyrics still hold up as the classic it was.

The thought I had, however, was how targeted this album was at the time it was written. It was an album from the point of view of youth, directed toward youthful seekers whose life quest was just unfolding. No wonder Stevens went on to sell 25 million albums. We hear the generational dissonance in a song like Father and Son. And in this song, On the Road to Find Out, we recognize the inner flame of the hero's quest.

Well, I left my happy home to see what I could find out. I left my folk and friends with the aim to clear my mind out. Well, I hit the rowdy road and many kinds I met there. Many stories told me of the way to get there.

And what young person has not experienced this chorus?

So on and on I go, the seconds tick the time out, there's so much left to know, and I'm on the road to find out.

To some extent, this attitude is what keeps us going, isn't it? At what point do we stop questing? At what point do we stop embracing life? Is that not the first signal that a coffin is in the next room waiting for us?

Then I found myself alone, hopin' someone would miss me. Thinking about my home and the last woman to kiss me, kiss me. But sometimes you have to moan when nothing seems to suit yer, but nevertheless you know you're locked towards the future.

Locked toward the future. At what point does this shift? For some, like Goldmund in Herman Hesse's Narcissus and Goldmund, the rockets flare out. After a lifetime of embracing the fullness of experience, he returns to the beginning. Life has changed him, and a lifetime of experience has been absorbed into him, thus preparing him for the task he was not really capable of at the beginning. Goldmund, the artist, has toured the world and learned its deepest lessons. Ultimately he returns to the monastery and completes the work for which he was born.

Then I found my head one day when I wasn't even trying. And here I have to say, 'cause there is no use in lying, lying. Yes, the answer lies within, so why not take a look now? Kick out the devil's sin, pick up, pick up a good book now.

In the process of making art, the attitude of discovery is pre-eminent. At least it seems so for me. Every project is a voyage into the unknown. Sometimes you discover miracles. Other times you only catch glimpses of something escaping on the run. But it's always an adventure.

If you're interested in an evening of first hand encounters with 130+ pieces that I've created as an ever questing artist, I invite you to The Venue @ Mohaupt Block in Duluth's West End. My show, FIRST HAND EXPERIENCES, will be hanging there till July 31. The Open House is next Tuesday from 6 - 9 p.m. on the 21st.

Narcissus

License to Kill
by Bob Dylan

Man thinks 'cause he rules the earth he can do with it as he please
and if things don't change soon, he will.
For a man has invented his doom,
first step was touching the moon.
Now there's a woman on my block,
she just sits there as the night grows still,
and says, "Who is gonna take away his license to kill?"

Now they take him, and they teach him, and they groom him for life,
and they set him on a path where he's bound to get ill,
and they bury him with stars, sell his body like they do used cars,
and there's a woman on my block,
she just sits there facin' the hill,
and she says, "Who is gonna take away his license to kill?"

Now he's heading for destruction, he's afraid and confused
and his brain has been mismanaged with great skill,
now all he believes are his eyes and his eyes they just tell him lies.
And there's a woman on my block,
sitting there in a cold chill,
she says, "Who is gonna take away his license to kill?"

Now he worships at an altar with a stagnant pool
and when he sees his reflection he's fulfilled;
for a man is opposed to fair play,
he wants it all and he wants it his way.
Now there's a woman on my block,
she just sits there as the night grows still,
she says, "Who is gonna take away his license to kill?"

****

License to Kill appeared on Dylan's Infidels album, side one. The image in the last stanza is ever so poignant, a portrait of Narcissus, the self-admiring Greek hero re-knowned for his beauty. Dylan takes it further. The vain, self-possessed portrait here is a symbol for elite, self-worshipping humanity, who "wants it all and he wants it his way."


I can't help think of Oscar Wilde's twist on this self-same story, titled The Disciple which appeared in his collection of short stories called Fairy Tales. It is interesting to compare and contrast the ways in which the two artists, Dylan and Wilde, create new images from the classic myth.

The Disciple

When Narcissus died, the pool of his pleasure changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, and the Oreads came weeping through the woodland that they might sing to the pool and give it comfort.

And when they saw that the pool had changed from a cup of sweet waters into a cup of salt tears, they loosened the green tresses of their hair, and cried to the pool, and said: "We do not wonder that you should mourn in this manner for Narcissus, so beautiful was he."

"But was Narcissus beautiful?" said the pool

"Who should know better than you?" answered the Oreads. "Us did he ever pass by, but you he sought for, and would lie on your banks and look down at you, and in the mirror of your waters he would mirror his own beauty."

And the pool answered: "But I loved Narcissus because, as he lay on my banks and looked down at me, in the mirror of his eyes I saw my own beauty mirrored."