Bob Dylan…Finally
As many of you know; or as many who have read any of my stories here; or simply my family members; or perhaps just Carol; I am 62 years old. I’m considered a member of the #BabyBoomer generation. My roots and my soul are entrenched in what is now known as “Classic Rock”, which, when I was growing up, we called “Rock.”
I always liked #BobDylan. No…let me rephrase that. I always liked Bob Dylan songs. I lived my life with the belief that the beauty of Bob Dylan (hope you’ll take the word “beauty” in context) was that everyone did Bob Dylan songs better than Bob Dylan. I mean EVERYONE.
Personally, I thought Dave Mason wrote “All Along The Watchtower,” and even today I think his version outranks Jimi Hendrix’s version of “All Along The Watchtower.” Bob Dylan himself, wouldn’t make it to my list, but he did, indeed, write the song.
Bobby Womack recorded it. XTC, in 1978, recorded it. U2, Indigo Girls, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, Grateful Dead, Dave Matthews, Paul Weller, Bryan Ferry, and it appeared in the final scene of the “Battlestar Galactica” season three finale. You get my drift.
Is there a group of people around a campfire in the world that hasn’t covered, “Blowin’ in the Wind”?
That, to me, was the beauty of Bob Dylan. I could drive in my car and sing along with him and know that I sounded better than him.
Until recently.
I don’t know exactly on what day it was, but I know that it was recently. I was listening to the album, “Freewheelin’” and his voice hit something within me that was (and I don’t know another way of putting it) spiritual.
So, thinking I must be nuts, I listened to the album again. Then I listened to the albums, “Blood on the Tracks” and “Blonde on Blonde” and the feeling became even more prevalent. I’m 62 years old, and I finally got it. I finally got Bob Dylan. It didn’t matter to me if it was the “folk” Bob Dylan or the “electric” Bob Dylan. Why would I want to pick a side? All I knew is that I wanted to be back in the very early 1960’s in Greenwich Village; in a smoke filled club; me lighting my next cigarette from the one I just finished; wearing a long sleeved black turtleneck even though it’s August and everyone else is wearing tee shirts; and watching Bob Dylan sit on a stool with his guitar and harmonica hanging from his neck. Weird, right?
If you’re looking for a reason this happened to me at this late stage of my game, you’re not going to find an answer. If you have an answer because you’ve experienced the same exact thing, then please let me know about it in the comment section at the bottom of this page. I hate to think I’m alone in this, but I’m okay with it if that be the fact.
Bob Dylan doing Bob Dylan.
Who knew?!
Maybe the answer is blowin’ in the wind?
Damn, that last line was cheap. Even for me.
