Bob Dylan's Shadow Kingdom: Swoons for Many, a Letdown for a Few

Sunday evening fans from around the world saw Bob Dylan's first "concert" since the end of 2019. The event was called Shadow Kingdom, which turned out to not be a concert in any conventional way but more like a series of dreamlike David Lynch produced MTV videos of Dylan performing many of his early classics in a gritty village cafe.

The show was slated to begin at the top of the hour, but the show's producers did something wise. The had a clock ticking for ten minutes to allow viewers to fix they audio and video setups, lest they be annoyed at their inability to catch the first song. It also allowed those who may be fashionably late (haha, who is late to a Dylan concert?) to get set up for the opening number.

Along the right hand side of the screen there was a scrolling "chat" window in which people from all over the world could send greetings or make comments. There were some early on making critical comments, much like drunks in row three at a Philadelphia concert during his "Saved" tour. 

These spicy remarks were the minority, subsumed in the commentary that went like this:

no signal

sounds impeccable

This is historic

Viva Cuba Libre

in black and white not great

Now he's on it

Unique

Anyone need a smoke?

I'm enjoying it

Loving the shirt

His Face

I can feel the emotion

VIBES

 >>>What was it you wanted?  

  I am crying               

Beautiful

Best song so far

WOW

I will Bobby

love love love this arrangement

OMG I'm crying now

I'm crying too

Like how the set looks like a party

It's weed for sure

Down in front

The Best Dylan show ever

>>>>Wicked Messenger   

His most underrated album

Bob 2024

This is my Pandemic Cure

Mobius Bob

I must have that jacket

The LEGEND Lives

Bob Dylan my heart belongs to you

More

Bronx Here

His shoes WOW

Too Short

Perfect

Ehhh

Brilliant

I want more

Thanks Bob

* * *

In response to the person who said they didn't like it being in black and white: Do you think Citizen Kane should have been in color? Would Casablanca have been a better film in color? This Shadow Kingdom was indeed a shadowy realm with real ambience. This ambience was masterful, and actually conveyed a little of Casablanca's mystery and suspense.

The idea of a ticking clock to pass the time during those first ten minutes was actually pretty clever. It served as a nice audio check and gave those first tuning in a few minutes to get everything set up.

Another complaint that I saw scroll up the screen went like this. I think some people wanted to have the "big venue Bob" with an energized tight band rockin' it out. This complaint, too, seemed silly. Consider the venue, dude. An intimate venue like that requires a different kind of performance from what you might expect at the Beacon in New York. 

The concert began with When I Paint My Masterpiece, and the tenderness of vocals was immediately apparent. Following this we heard You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine. Between songs there was a fade out overlaid with a fade in to new visuals and each time Bob had a different outfit on, which got lots of comments in the chat feed.

Each song had been delivered in an altogether new form, which is once again a Dylan trademark it seems. 

Queen Jane was superbly rendered and was probably the point at which I began to feel something special was happening. The first songs were well done, but my critical observational self was trying to process what was happening rather than just getting into it. Other songs I especially enjoyed included an exceptional What Was It You Wanted from Oh Mercy, Pledging My Time, Watching the River Flow, and Tombstone Blues.

I'm sure there will be plenty written about it. The ending felt abrupt and unexpected for me. For some reason I thought it was going to be a two hour show. The best part is that people can watch it again for two more days.  Five times, or ten, if you wish. 

It must have been fun to be part of the band, even if you were masked and anonymous.

* * * 

One last thought. In a public speaking class our instructor once made a statement that struck a chord with me. "It is better to go ten minutes too short than two minutes too long." The point being, leave them wanting more. 

There was a lot of gratitude expressed at the end. "Thank you, Bob" messages were arriviing from around the world. And yes, we're always wanting more.

Dylan's Engaging Ambiguity: What Was It You Wanted?

For more than half a century, one of the most intriguing features of many Dylan songs has been his ambiguity. At times he describes scenes and situations with very precise words but you still don't know precisely what it is. Examples include "Ballad of a Thin Man," "Changing of the Guard" and "All Along the Watchtower." 

At the other end of the spectrum we have crystal clarity that allows no wiggle room whatsoever, in songs such as "Only a Pawn in Their Game" and "Masters of War." 

What Was It You Wanted, from his stellar 1989 album Oh Mercy, falls into the first category. It is so completely intriguing while simultaneously shrouded in a fog of ambiguity. I think it interesting that it has been performed 22 times in concert between 1990 and 1995.

The song has a slow even-tempo pace that adds to its effectiveness, creating a sense of the methodical, relentless passage of time. The score reminds me of Paul McCartney's Let 'Em In (1976) which has  a similar rhythmic, restrained pace. But Dylan's version conveys a darker mood. As you listen, much is hinted at but nothing answered. What's going on?

Here's the opening stanza.

What was it you wanted? Tell me again so I’ll know What’s happening in there What’s going on in your show What was it you wanted Could you say it again? I’ll be back in a minute You can get it together by then
Who is he talking with? What is the frame of mind of that person? The last line implies that this other person is the one in a fog. The line previous indicates that the narrator is leaving the room (or this scene) for a minute but will be back.
What was it you wanted You can tell me, I’m back
We can start it all over
Get it back on the track
You got my attention
Go ahead, speak
What was it you wanted
When you were kissing my cheek?
It appears to be a couple. Something was getting started but then it went off the rails. 
Was there somebody looking When you give me that kiss Someone there in the shadows Someone that I might have missed? Is there something you needed Something I don’t understand What was it you wanted Do I have it here in my hand?
This third stanza gives the impression that the narrator is equally befuddled. Where is this going? Where have they been? The narrator's confusion gets further elaboration in the fourth segment.
Whatever you wanted Slipped out of my mind Would you remind me again If you’d be so kind Has the record been breaking Did the needle just skip Is there somebody waiting Was there a slip of the lip?
What was it you wanted I ain’t keeping score Are you the same person That was here before? Is it something important? Maybe not What was it you wanted? Tell me again I forgot

The slow rhythmic beat continues unabated. The metronome of time, passing slowly. We're still in the dark as to what is really going on.
Whatever you wanted What could it be Did somebody tell you That you could get it from me Is it something that comes natural Is it easy to say Why do you want it Who are you anyway?
The narrator doesn't even know who he's with? Or is this a question of, "I thought I knew you but maybe I didn't." Are the characters in a drug or alcohol induced stupor?  
Is the scenery changing Am I getting it wrong Is the whole thing going backwards Are they playing our song? Where were you when it started Do you want it for free What was it you wanted Are you talking to me?

Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

Questions and more questions. But a very different set of questions from Blowing in the Wind. The haunting mood created by the sketchy score. 

Perhaps it's not important what is literally happening. It's about the mood, what the song makes you feel. In this regard it is extremely effective, emotionally textured and vivid. 

* * * *

On the other hand, because it is Art there are possibilities far beyond merely an exchange between to confused friends or lovers. In this 2013 essay from the site Manifest Propensity, the author considers the possibility that Dylan in this song was responding the counter-culturalists who wanted to put him on a pedestal, or worse, a throne. 

* * * * 

Tony Atwood's essay on the song is worthy reading. Atwood goes into the music accompaniment, its minor key and minor chords, and the misty dreamscape feel. And like dreams, they can be vivid while concealing meanings instead of revealing. Read Atwood's insights here. 

Every track on the album Oh Mercy is rewarding. Each has the power to stay with you once it's internalized. If you're not the kind of person who has to own every Dylan album but want suggestions for a smaller "must have" collection, Oh Mercy is one of these. 

Mergers: Dylan's Shooting Star Blends NIcely with Ring Them Bells

On Saturday my mother, whom I call each Saturday morning, mentioned that there is a comet visible in the night sky right now. She didn't recall the name but Google has answers for everything, and it is called Neowise, after the telescope that first sighted it. It is the largest comet since Hale-Bopp, located beneath the Big Dipper in the North sky.

Saturday evening we had thunderstorms and you can't see comets through the clouds. Last night at 2:00 a.m., however, the clarity was spectacular.

We live on a rural patch outside Duluth with no light pollution to fog up the night sky. Unfortunately, with the current tilt of the earth, theBig Dipper is lying in the treetops. I walked out to the road, which runs North-South, and found the famous constellation still too low on the horizon.

As I headed back to the house I saw a shooting star, and yes, it made me think of someone. And naturally, that flying spark across the sky brought this song to mind.

Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you
You were trying to break into another world
A world I never knew
I always kind of wondered
If you ever made it through
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of you

* * * *

Well, what happened next was quite intriguing. As I began singing Shooting Star in my head, I simultaneously began hearing Ring Them Bells.

Remember when we were children learning to sing parts and rounds? "Row row row your boat" was my first introduction to the concept of different tunes and words blending harmoniously. "Merrily merrily merrily merrily" life was such a dream.

So in the middle of the night I began composing, or re-shuffling, the two songs into one.

Ring them bells ye heathen from the city that dreams
Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries cross the valleys and streams
You were trying to break into another world a world I never knew
For they're deep and they're wide and the world is on its side
I always kind of wondered if you ever made it through
And time is running backwards and so is the bride
Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of you

* * * *

It helps if you've already listened to Oh Mercy a gazillion times and have internalized the words and melodies, but if not, you can put the album on one song and sing the other to see how they fit together. Is it a coincidence, or was there some form of intentionality here? Or perhaps,

As it turns out, this wasn't the first time I paired these two songs in my mind. In 2017 as I explored the content of "Shooting Star" I similarly compared it with "Ring Them Bells," not the tune and rhythm of the words, but rather the themes. You can read that effort here: Shooting Star: Bookend on Dylan's Monumental Oh Mercy.

Have you ever done this sort of thing?

* * * *

In the Meantime, Philip Hale shared a link to this Wall of Power Radio Hour in which Paul Metsa talks with Ann Margaret Daniel about Dylan's latest double-CD of original songs, Rough and Rowdy Ways.  R&RW has a LOT to digest, and like so many of Dylan previous work, it's gets more rewarding with each listen. You can expect to read more about that when the buds are ripe and ready to bloom.

Shooting Star: Bookend on Dylan's Monumental Oh Mercy

For the past two to three months it's been my intention to write a post about the song "Shooting Star" that closes out Bob Dylan's stellar 1989 comeback album* Oh Mercy. I purchased the vinyl of Oh Mercy almost as soon as it was released. With the exception of the two fast-tempo songs in the early tracks of side one ("Everything's Broken" and "Political World") the album is quite laid back, reflective and laconic.

Daniel Lanois, who would later produce Dylan's Grammy award-winning Time Out Of Mind, produced the album Oh Mercy.

The song "Shooting Star" is a fitting final track for the album. From 1990 to August 2013, he's performed it 126 times live in concert.

What intrigued me about the song, and why I keep returning to it in my mind, was this notion that the song seems to be about someone specific. For some reason I believed it was about his first wife Sara Lownds. It opens, "Saw a shooting star tonight and I thought of you // You were trying to break into another world // A world I never knew // I always kind of wondered // If you ever made it through // Seen a shooting star tonight // And I thought of you.

The song conveys such a gentle tenderness. From the first time I heard it there's a specificity about the word "you" here, and I desired to know, a song about someone special it seemed, a song about someone moving into a new realm, a different world from where his own life path was taking him.

It's funny how one can get an idea into one's head and never find a way to shake it. This idea of the song being about Sara came about because I thought someone, a friend, had said as much when the album first came out. It was the last song on the album, and so was another song for Sara who was also featured in a final track on another album, Desire.

I laid on a dune, I looked at the sky // When the children were babies and played on the beach...

Bob married Sara Lownds in late 1965 during one of the epic periods of his career. She was purportedly the inspiration for many songs including "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands," and "Love Minus Zero/No Limit". Much of his Blood on the Tracks album circa 1974-75 has been cited as a response to the emotions stirred as his marriage was falling apart, ultimately leading to a divorce that finalized in 1977.

The thing is, my assumptions were wrong. (Not the first time, either.)

In recent years, as I've become involved with the Duluth Dylan Fest and people more likely in the know about these things, I had a chance to ask a few of them, "Is this song about Sara?" "No," I am told, "it is not about Sara."

Perhaps I got the notion into my head because the middle section of the song speaks of God and temptation and the sermon on the mount and I'd linked this to the coming life transition Dylan underwent ten years earlier that resulted in the trio of albums in his Gospel period, beginning with Slow Train Coming. There were fragments of memories rattling around in the cobwebs of my mind that associated these allusions to the Vineyard and Keith Green and other miscellany... all of it mistaken.

Here's the Wikipedia synopsis of the song:

The album closes with "Shooting Star", a wistful ballad of remembrance with possible allusions[citation needed] to the loss of Dylan's Christian faith. Dylan appears to address Christ: "Seen a shooting star tonight and I thought of me/If I was still the same/If I ever became what you wanted me to be". The next line, "Did I ever miss the mark or overstep the line that only you could see" makes an apparent reference to Joseph Addison Alexander's poem "There is a line by us unseen/That crosses every path/The hidden boundary between/God's patience and His wrath.". The words occasionally evoke some portentous imagery ("the last fire truck from hell goes rollin' by"), but it ends the album on a soft, romantic note.

Now for those familiar with this album in a more intimate way (like I, you have listened to it a hundred times) I think you might find the following an interesting exercise. When you play the song in your head and reach the bridge ("Listen to the engine, listen to the bell...) and you go through this and reach "The last radio is playing" -- do not proceed with the last verse. Rather, splice in a verse from "Ring Them Bells." Any verse will do. Look how synthesized these two songs are.

Ring them bells Saint Peter where the four winds blow 
Ring them bells with an iron hand 
So the people will know 
Oh it's rush hour now 
On the wheel and the plow 
And the sun is going down upon the sacred cow

Notice how well these two songs shuffle together. Has anyone else ever done this? You're playing a song in your head and suddenly you jump-cut to a different song. These two songs work that way.

* * * *
Dylan has a way of making everything so personal. Each of us who has experienced the painful loss of a loved one can relate to a song like this. The shooting star is a trigger. Upon seeing the shooting star flung across the night sky he impulsively "thought of you." Or rather, of her, whomever it might be.

But his thoughts turn inward next.

Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me
If I was still the same
If I ever became what you wanted me to be
Did I miss the mark or overstep the line
That only you could see?
Seen a shooting star tonight
And I thought of me

It always felt like he was talking to a person here. There's been a lot of water under this bridge. But then, someone recently suggested he is talking to God. In the Judeo-Christian view, God is a person. We have been made in God's image as persons. So it is a possible interpretation. "If I ever became what you wanted me to be." It's a question that is searching, probing, vulnerable.

Listen to the engine, listen to the bell
As the last fire truck from hell
Goes rolling by
All good people are praying
It’s the last temptation, the last account
The last time you might hear the sermon on the mount
The last radio is playing

The images here speak about the end of something. This stanza makes one freeze, for he compares this ending with the end of all time, of life  and the world as we know it.

Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away
Tomorrow will be
Another day
Guess it’s too late to say the things to you
That you needed to hear me say
Seen a shooting star tonight
Slip away

Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

This verse, though, seems to bring it all back to earth. Someone near now seems to be gone.

The song is evocative and sentimental without being sappy, ambiguous without being abstract. It's pure Dylan, and a perfect close to what many feel to have been a perfect album, Oh Mercy. They don't get much better than this.

*The word "comeback" is something of a misnomer, since every time he produces a great album there are critics who make it seem he'd lost his way in the period before. The result is a whole career of comebacks.

Throwback Thursday: Everything's Broken

"It's nice to be known as a legend, and people will pay to see one, but for most people, once is enough. You have to deliver the goods." ~ Bob Dylan, Chronicles

Maybe one reason some people like Dylan is simply because of the durability of his career. Like the Energizer Bunny he just keeps going. Like the Cinderella Man he keeps coming back.

Yesterday I noted that John Hinchey called John Wesley Harding "the comeback of comeback albums." Others have hailed Blood on the Tracks as Dylan's great comeback, and it certainly was an exceptional album after the early Seventies period that produced the critically dissed Self-Portrait, Dylan and Planet Waves. When Dylan released Time Out of Mind in 1997 it was yet another comeback level achievement, winning a Grammy and receiving flurries of critical acclaim. His Never Ending Tour had been on the road nearly ten years, but now people were beginning to notice.

I don't recall many people calling his Gospel Period a comeback, though Slow Train Coming is a superfine album for its production values, cohesiveness and earnestness. Songs like "Serve Somebody" and "Precious Angel" are written in the old Dylanesque style but with a new born-again sensibility. You don't fake the emotion he conveys in "I Believe In You."

The comeback I wanted to talk about this morning, though, occurred in 1989 with the release of Oh Mercy. Rolling Stone gave the album high marks and I remember wondering if that was only because they're so predisposed to liking Dylan. Still, I bought the vinyl and continue to listen to it to this day.

Oh Mercy was hailed as a comeback, not just because it had songs noticeably more meaningful than anything Bob Dylan had recently released, but because Daniel Lanois' production gave it cohesion. There was cohesion on Empire Burlesque, of course, but that cohesion was a little too slick, a little too commercial, whereas this record was filled with atmospheric, hazy production -- a sound as arty as most assumed the songs to be. And Dylan followed suit, giving Lanois significant songs -- palpably social works, love songs, and poems -- that seemed to connect with his past. And, at the time, this production made it seem like the equivalent of his '60s records, meaning that its artiness was cutting edge, not portentous. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In Dylan's Chronicle: Volume One, he devotes an entire chapter to this period of new fertility when Oh Mercy was birthed. Keep in mind that the book is only five chapters, so that's 20% of the book. The events of this time were important enough to dive into at length. 1987 was a difficult year because he's injured his hand in a freak accident that winter, and was scheduled to do 100 concerts beginning in the spring. It was also a difficult time because Dylan himself was not sure who he was. "There was a missing person inside of myself and I needed to find him."

Dylan states that he had not been writing songs for a while, but then the muse returned. He'd be sitting at a table and twenty-some verses for "Political World" flowed out from his pen. He placed these in a drawer, and they were soon joined by verses for a song called "What Good Am I?" More songs followed and he would see what their relationship would be to one another.

The reason I found Oh Mercy to be such a meaningful album is that it became clear that his "Gospel Phase" had not just been a phase. The heart of his spiritual experiences now seemed integrated naturally into a world view that was less about preaching, but true to a vision of how things are.

Another feature of Oh Mercy is that it is primarily slow songs, reflective and thoughtful songs. It's a nice album to put on at the end of the day when you want to unwind. The only two fast-paced pieces here are the kickoff opener, "Political World" and "Everything Is Broken". "Political World" just lays it out there, an indictment of how things work in our modern age. "Everything Is Broken" gets more specific. It's a "list song" on a theme. It's a broken world, "you'd better get that in your head." Perhaps formulaic stylistically, it makes a point.

This is not a new theme. It hearkens back to Hard Rain. It hearkens back to the Fall and humanity's exile from Paradise. And it implores us to be realistic about what we expect next.

Several songs give direction on this point. Don't catch the disease of conceit. Don't neglect the needy, forgotten and disenfranchised among us. And keep ringing them bells.

Everything Is Broken

Broken lines, broken strings
Broken threads, broken springs
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain’t no use jiving
Ain’t no use joking
Everything is broken

Broken bottles, broken plates
Broken switches, broken gates
Broken dishes, broken parts
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything is broken

Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Broken cutters, broken saws
Broken buckles, broken laws
Broken bodies, broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you’re chokin'
Everything is broken

Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Broken hands on broken ploughs
Broken treaties, broken vows
Broken pipes, broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking
Everything is broken

Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

These Dylan-related blog entries of the past ten days or so are in preparation for his upcoming return to Duluth where he was born, year 25 of the Never Ending Tour. If I see you down on the Bayfront Tuesday, say hello.

* * * *
EdNote November 10, 2016, in response to the protests in various cities: Four decades ago John Lennon sang "if you go carrying pictures of Chairman Mao, you aint gonna make it with anyone anyhow." So what's with the ISIS flags and Anarchist flags in these protests? There were purportedly even Communist flags. What's with burning the U.S. flag which is a symbol of liberty that allows you to protest in the first place?  

* * * *
EdNote: Originally written and posted in July 2013.  

Everything Is Broken

"It's nice to be known as a legend, and people will pay to see one, but for most people, once is enough. You have to deliver the goods." ~ Bob Dylan, Chronicles

Maybe one reason some people like Dylan is simply because of the durability of his career. Like the Energizer Bunny he just keeps going. Like the Cinderella Man he keeps coming back.

Yesterday I noted that John Hinchey called John Wesley Harding "the comeback of comeback albums." Others have hailed Blood on the Tracks as Dylan's great comeback, and it certainly was an exceptional album after the early Seventies period that produced the critically dissed Self-Portrait, Dylan and Planet Waves. When Dylan released Time Out of Mind in 1997 it was yet another comeback level achievement, winning a Grammy and receiving flurries of critical acclaim. His Never Ending Tour had been on the road nearly ten years, but now people were beginning to notice.

I don't recall many people calling his Gospel Period a comeback, though Slow Train Coming is a superfine album for its production values, cohesiveness and earnestness. Songs like "Serve Somebody" and "Precious Angel" are written in the old Dylanesque style but with a new born-again sensibility. You don't fake the emotion he conveys in "I Believe In You."

The comeback I wanted to talk about this morning, though, occurred in 1989 with the release of Oh Mercy. Rolling Stone gave the album high marks and I remember wondering if that was only because they're so predisposed to liking Dylan. Still, I bought the vinyl and continue to listen to it to this day.

Oh Mercy was hailed as a comeback, not just because it had songs noticeably more meaningful than anything Bob Dylan had recently released, but because Daniel Lanois' production gave it cohesion. There was cohesion on Empire Burlesque, of course, but that cohesion was a little too slick, a little too commercial, whereas this record was filled with atmospheric, hazy production -- a sound as arty as most assumed the songs to be. And Dylan followed suit, giving Lanois significant songs -- palpably social works, love songs, and poems -- that seemed to connect with his past. And, at the time, this production made it seem like the equivalent of his '60s records, meaning that its artiness was cutting edge, not portentous. ~Stephen Thomas Erlewine

In Dylan's Chronicle: Volume One, he devotes an entire chapter to this period of new fertility when Oh Mercy was birthed. Keep in mind that the book is only five chapters, so that's 20% of the book. The events of this time were important enough to dive into at length. 1987 was a difficult year because he's injured his hand in a freak accident that winter, and was scheduled to do 100 concerts beginning in the spring. It was also a difficult time because Dylan himself was not sure who he was. "There was a missing person inside of myself and I needed to find him."

Dylan states that he had not been writing songs for a while, but then the muse returned. He'd be sitting at a table and twenty-some verses for "Political World" flowed out from his pen. He placed these in a drawer, and they were soon joined by verses for a song called "What Good Am I?" More songs followed and he would see what their relationship would be to one another.

The reason I found Oh Mercy to be such a meaningful album is that it became clear that his "Gospel Phase" had not just been a phase. The heart of his spiritual experiences now seemed integrated naturally into a world view that was less about preaching, but true to a vision of how things are.

Another feature of Oh Mercy is that it is primarily slow songs, reflective and thoughtful songs. It's a nice album to put on at the end of the day when you want to unwind. The only two fast-paced pieces here are the kickoff opener, "Political World" and "Everything Is Broken". "Political World" just lays it out there, an indictment of how things work in our modern age. "Everything Is Broken" gets more specific. It's a "list song" on a theme. It's a broken world, "you'd better get that in your head." Perhaps formulaic stylistically, it makes a point.

This is not a new theme. It hearkens back to Hard Rain. It hearkens back to the Fall and humanity's exile from Paradise. And it implores us to be realistic about what we expect next.

Several songs give direction on this point. Don't catch the disease of conceit. Don't neglect the needy, forgotten and disenfranchised among us. And keep ringing them bells.

Everything Is Broken

Broken lines, broken strings
Broken threads, broken springs
Broken idols, broken heads
People sleeping in broken beds
Ain’t no use jiving
Ain’t no use joking
Everything is broken

Broken bottles, broken plates
Broken switches, broken gates
Broken dishes, broken parts
Streets are filled with broken hearts
Broken words never meant to be spoken
Everything is broken

Seem like every time you stop and turn around
Something else just hit the ground

Broken cutters, broken saws
Broken buckles, broken laws
Broken bodies, broken bones
Broken voices on broken phones
Take a deep breath, feel like you’re chokin'
Everything is broken

Every time you leave and go off someplace
Things fall to pieces in my face

Broken hands on broken ploughs
Broken treaties, broken vows
Broken pipes, broken tools
People bending broken rules
Hound dog howling, bullfrog croaking
Everything is broken

Copyright © 1989 by Special Rider Music

These Dylan-related blog entries of the past ten days or so are in preparation for his upcoming return to Duluth where he was born, year 25 of the Never Ending Tour. If I see you down on the Bayfront Tuesday, say hello.

Lack of Civility Gives Us Something To Talk About

Anyone with an ear half open to D.C. politics is aware that Representative Wilson behaved badly when he shouted “You lie!” during a recent speech by President Obama earlier this month. What most people do not comment on, because we forget our history, is that Representative Wilson was not the first congressman from South Carolina to behave badly on the floor of Congress.

In May 1856 South Carolina Rep. Preston Brooks demonstrated less than model behavior by assaulting Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner with a cane while he sat in the Senate Chamber. The beating was so severe that Sumner was blinded by his own blood and passed out whereupon the South Carolina representative continued to beat him.

When the Wilson story first broke what got my attention was the implication that this, rude behavior, was something new. In the back of my mind there is a U.S. News and World Report article from the 1980’s about America’s “epidemic of rudeness.” If you do a Google search on the phrase “epidemic of rudeness” you’ll find 354,000 web pages on the topic.

One editorial on Wilson’s behavior seemed to justify it by saying the Democrats did it, too, when they booed remarks by President Bush during a speech in 2005. Since when is my bad behavior justified because someone else behaved badly?

There were so many good articles on this topic that I wanted to cite, but will limit it to two. The first is from a website assembled by the Rude Busters.

Let’s face it: the Golden Rule is tarnished...
Common courtesy doesn’t exist anymore. Civility, manners, and politeness are nostalgic memories. We’re more mean-spirited than ever.

At concerts, in the air, in supermarkets, in business dealings, at sporting events, everywhere, people are selfish, angry, rude and crude (doctors are even being cited for rudeness in malpractice suits). And former President Clinton convened the National Commission on Civic Renewal, after citing a “toxic atmosphere of cynicism" back in 1997.

The media has been taking notice of our bad manners and bad attitudes and some of the statistics, insights and suggestions are politely offered here for you to access:

In a July 18, 2000 report, researchers confirm we’re in the midst of an anger and rudeness epidemic. “Going postal” – there’s even a catchphrase for our hostility and uncivil behavior. This USA Today piece by Karen S. Peterson helps us understand what contributes to today’s short tempers....

Reuben Navarette, Jr. in a CNN commentary wrote:

There are many people out there, in all walks of life, who think they're more significant than they really are. Plagued with an exaggerated sense of self-importance, they feel entitled to do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it no matter whom it hurts.

The self-centered rarely think about the consequences because they're too busy claiming what they see as their rightful place in the spotlight. And when they're criticized for letting their narcissism get the best of them and face the wrath of their colleagues or the disapproval of their fans, they might apologize. But, even then, they often don't do a very good job of it because their heart's not in it.

Dylan's lines from his song License to Kill (Infidels, 1983) reference this pervasive narcissism.

"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."

And his later Oh Mercy album likewise reiterates the theme with a song titled "The Disease of Conceit." This is at the root of our bad behavior.

What I like about the Rude Busters article cited above is that instead of just pointing fingers at culprits out in the public square they bring it back down to our own level. I can't change what Joe Wilson did or even how he behaves tomorrow, but I can own what I say and do today in my own sphere.

Rudeness takes many forms. And many people practice downright rudeness daily. So here’s something to keep in mind: a rude encounter is remembered for a lifetime. Let’s think about how we want to be remembered -- and maybe try to be worth remembering.

I agree.

Oh Mercy

It doesn't take much hanging out at Ennyman's Territory to recognize that Ennyman, yours truly, is a consummate Dylan fan. I was first introduced to Dylan by Ed Hilliker on a school bus, a long, long time ago. Thank you, Ed. In more recent times, my Saturday's tend to be orchestrated around listening to the Dylan Hour on KUMD, our local public radio station, hosted by serious Dylan fans with expansive collections and knowledge of this significant artist.

One thing Dylan has done with remarkable success is to avoid being pinned down to a genre or style. His art is ever changing as are his influences. It's almost as if he goes out of his way to make sure his work is innovative and new. His concerts, too, involve creative expression every night. It is not a formula show. Even his backup band is uncertain where he'll take them next. Their aim is simply to hang on and utilize their skills to make the show as best as it can be, wherever he leads them.

Currently, one of the albums I have been giving a lot of play time to is Oh Mercy. After a pair of weaker albums in the late seventies, Dylan came back with one of his best, the 1979 five star Oh Mercy, an album as close to perfection as it gets. Reviewer David Bowling wrote, "I can think of five or so better Dylan albums than Oh Mercy but not ten, which is high praise given the quality of his catalogue." You can read Bowling's full review here.

Rolling Stone was also happy to give the album its five star praise. "The thematic context for Oh Mercy is defined in 'Political World,' a churning rocker stricken with anxiety and despair, and 'Everything Is Broken,' a rollicking catalog of psychic dislocation. The cultural breakdowns chronicled in those songs are mirrored on a more personal level in the dreamy ballads 'Most of the Time,' a love song of taunting regret in Dylan's characteristic manner, and the self-examining 'What Good Am I?'"

If you're looking for something new to add to your catalog, try Oh Mercy.

Political World

We live in a political world,
Love don't have any place.
We're living in times where men commit crimes
And crime don't have a face

We live in a political world,
Icicles hanging down,
Wedding bells ring and angels sing,
clouds cover up the ground.

We live in a political world,
Wisdom is thrown into jail,
It rots in a cell, misguided as hell
Leaving no one to pick up a trail.

We live in a political world
Where mercy walks the plank,
Life is in mirrors, death disappears
Up the steps into the nearest bank.

We live in a political world
Where courage is a thing of the past
Houses are haunted, children are unwanted
The next day could be your last.

We live in a political world.
The one we can see and can feel
But there's no one to check, it's all a stacked deck,
We all know for sure that it's real.

We live in a political world
In the cities of lonesome fear,
Little by little you turn in the middle
But you're never sure why you're here.

We live in a political world
Under the microscope,
You can travel anywhere and hang yourself there
You always got more than enough rope.

We live in a political world
Turning and a-thrashing about,
As soon as you're awake, you're trained to take
What looks like the easy way out.

We live in a political world
Where peace is not welcome at all,
It's turned away from the door to wander some more
Or put up against the wall.

We live in a political world
Everything is hers or his,
Climb into the frame and shout God's name
But you're never sure what it is.