Posted on 05/24/2021 9:31:43 AM PDT by Borges
As he turns 80, don’t be fooled by his serious music. From the start, his work has been filled with a cockeyed humor that can range from corny jokes to dark wit.
At the end of “Inside Llewyn Davis,” the Coen brothers movie set in the Greenwich Village music scene of 1961, the title character, a gifted but struggling folk singer on the verge of giving up, leaves the stage of the fabled Gaslight Café as a newcomer fills his spot. What’s clear after the first note is that it’s Bob Dylan at the start of one of the greatest careers in pop music
This juxtaposition leaves the viewer with a lingering question about success: What does Bob Dylan have that Llewyn Davis does not? Genius? Luck? Timing? The movie is too elusive for a single explanation, but forced to pick one, I’d argue it’s a sense of humor. This might seem odd, since in the public imagination, Dylan, the grim-faced protest singer turned croaking Nobel-winning poet, strikes a deadly serious figure.
But if there is any underexamined aspect of this most celebrated and scrutinized singer, who turns 80 on Monday, inspiring new biographies and best-of lists, it’s his fertile comedy.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
He played the liberals by playing a liberal...............
I didn’t know that. Thanks. my dear sister’s bday is today. Dylan’s work is fascinating. I had a work buddy who was a huge Dylan fan..the biggest fan i knew...Bob Merchant. i used to go over to his apt. to listen to Dylan. This was back in the ‘70’s. so much good stuff he had. One of my favs...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MGxjIBEZvx0
and a fabulous love song/voice/lyrics to Bob...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ST9TZBb9v8
Exactly. Dylan’s greatest trick was to persuade liberals that he was one of them. He let them think that as he cashed those royalty checks.
Personally I was never a fan and seldom if ever could understand what he was singing anyway.
I wasn’t a Dylan fan because the lyrics were not easily connected to anything but I did like his, “Signs.”
Great Song writer. Now a singer, not so much
He sold his soul to the “big guy”. And I quote.
Well, sometimes I might get drunk
Walk like a duck and smell like a skunk
Don't hurt me none, don't hurt my pride
'Cause I got my little lady right by my side
She's a-tryin' to hide
Pretendin' she don't know me
I's out there paintin' on the old wood shed
When a can o'black paint it fell on my head
I went down to scrub and rub
But I had to sit in back of the tub
Cost a quarter
Half price
Well, my telephone rang it would not stop
It's President Kennedy callin' me up
He said, My friend, Bob, what do we need to make the country grow?
I said my friend, John, Brigitte Bardot
Anita Ekberg
Sophia Loren
Country'll grow
Well, I got a woman five feet short
She yells and hollers and squeals and snorts
She tickles my nose pats me on the head
Blows me over and kicks me out of bed
She's a man eater
Meat grinder
Bad loser
Oh, there ain't no use in me workin' alla time
I got a woman who works herself blind
Works up to her britches, up to her neck
Write me letters and sends me checks
She's a humdinger
Folk singer
Late one day in the middle of the week
Eyes were closed I was half asleep
I chased me a woman up the hill
Right in the middle of an air drill
I jumped a fallout shelter
I jumped a string bean
I jumped a TV dinner
I jumped a shot gun
Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people
He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins
Oh, set me down on a television floor
I'll flip the channel to number four
Out of the shower comes a football man
With a bottle of oil in his hand
Greasy kid stuff
What I want to know, Mr. Football Man, is
What do you do about Willy Mays
Martin Luther King
Olatunji
Well, the funniest woman I ever seen
Was the great-granddaughter of Mr. Clean
She takes about fifteen baths a day
Wants me to grow a moustache on my face
She's insane
Well, ask me why I'm drunk alla time
It levels my head and eases my mind
I just walk along and stroll and sing
I see better days and I do better things
I catch dinosaurs
I make love to Elizabeth Taylor
Catch hell from Richard Burton.
“the pump don’t work cuz the vandals broke the handle.”
Yeah, I know. It was edited for comedic effect.
I never did and still don’t get why this guy was thought of as talented.
He’s a great lyricist.
"Wanted Man" - Johnny Cash (Live At San Quentin)
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.