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No Direction Home, Dylan documentary by Martin Scorsese.

This afternoon I rewatched this great film, probably the best documentary on a musical figure I've ever seen. It is not only interesting from a historical perspective, but is also very entertaining and funny, particularly Part 2. Methamphetamine really seemed to enhance Bob's sense of humour. ;-)

The movie contains one segment I found particularly relevant in our current state of affairs. In December of 1963 the ACLU presented Dylan with their Tom Paine Award. He accepted it, but not without making the following statement:

"There's no black and white, no left and right to me anymore. There's only up and down, and down is very close to the ground. I'm trying to go up, without thinking about anything as trivial as politics."

Needless to say, the ACLU was not pleased. Dylan obviously had no desire to be the organization's poster boy, so I then wonder why he showed up at the awards ceremony, and accepted the "award"? IMO, Jackson Browne should have followed Dylan's lead; he hasn't been worth sh*t since he started making political statement albums.

Remember the scene in The Last Waltz in which Band bassist Rick Danko says " We're not trying to save the world, only improve the neighborhood"? Speaking of neighborhood, I am reminded of Dylan's song "Neighborhood Bully". Not explicitly political, but mighty close.

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uberwaltz's avatar
uberwaltz
13,381 posts
 
I was only talking about this documentary on Sunday.
I watched it when first out but did not look too deeply and profoundly into it.
I try not too on most things and take them at face value.
Probably need rewatch it sometime soon.
jafant's avatar
jafant
19,745 posts
 
Dylan turns 80 in a few days. I sure hope He tours in 2022.

Happy Listening!
bdp24's avatar
bdp24 OP
9,821 posts
 
Damn, 80 years old. Of course some people live to be 100, but not often in the music biz. On the road at 80 years old---brutal! Though he stays in nice hotels, has a crew to do all the heavy lifting, etc., performing under hot lights for an hour or more night after night is not easy, even when young. He has a nice tour bus, but driving those long miles between cities is a real grind.

These days taking pain killers to combat injuries is commonplace, and can (and does) easily lead to death. Prince and Petty thought they had it under control; unfortunately, they were mistaken. But Dylan's been around a long time, and has obviously learned his substance tolerance.

Still, any day now we could wake up to the news that he has died. I had a friend who went to bed one night, and died in his sleep. Only 55, but he had a terrible diet. In the past five years, three guys I worked with have died---Emitt Rhodes, John Wicks (of The Records semi-fame), and Evan Johns, the last two younger than I. Heck, I could wake up in the morning dead. ;-)
jc4659
553 posts
 
@bdp24 If you wake up in the morning and you are warmer than room temperature then it's a good sign :)  Please stick around, I enjoy reading your posts!
slaw's avatar
slaw
21,663 posts
 
I have no problem with artists songwriting whether it be political or not. I just don't need to hear speeches at concerts or on tv.
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