Bob Dylan -- A Complete Unknown?

I am a huge Bob Dylan fan. I have been since I was little. I am not sure that my parents understood or even understand today. They have always been supportive though, and bought me a ticket to a Dylan concert for my birthday one year. They have also been forthcoming with albums that are hard to get for birthdays and Christmases.

So, this little story out of Long Branch on the New Jersey shore I found amusing in a really funny kind of a way. Dylan was wondering around the Lake Branch community looking at houses and passing the time before heading off to an evening concert in a nearby town, Lakewood. He is currently touring with Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp.

A 68-year-old fella seemingly wandering around aimlessly in your community is certainly going to attract some attention. And, so it was, Dylan attracted the attention of a 24-year-old police officer who stopped Dylan and asked him for some identification.

The funny here is that the in 1985 when this police officer was born, Dylan had already been making music for 24 years at that point in time, and when she asked him for ID he had been making music for five decades. Most people would argue that Dylan is a music icon and that he has been one of the most significant singers and songwriters of the late 20th century. Yet, if you're not a fan, then you're not a fan.

In defense of the first officer, it would seem that in Lang Branch, Dylan is not well-known or a star. A second officer who arrived on the scene to assist the first officer also did not recognize Dylan.

Unfortunately, for Dylan he was carrying no identification. However, the lack of ID was overcome with some polite banter between the police officers and Dylan, and a quick trip back to where the concert people were holed up for confirmation that the man claiming to be Bob Dylan was in fact Bob Dylan.

Fame is certainly relative.

The Sounds of Silence

I am not sure that there is any other version that compares with the original Simon & Garfunkel version. However, this is a version that I enjoy (perhaps because I am a fan of Bob Dylan). I hope you enjoy it too!

No Direction Home

Bob Dylan is one of my favourite artists, if not my favourite, as I have just about all of his albums in my collection and most of those have since been ripped to my laptop and mp3. So, it is probably of little surprise that I have a copy of Martin Scorsese's Dylan-mentary.

The wife and I were not up for a New Year's eve out with Will. It was not so much that we were worried about him being out, he is already a frequent traveller, but managing the crowds. So, we stayed in. In any event, we have been pretty tired as it is quite a challenge changing routines and getting into new routines to raise a kid. Nevertheless, getting back on topic, I had purchased a legitimate copy of Scorsese's film (although if I had looked for it I could probably of found a pirated copy and saved myself IDR 250,000), so I watched it overnight and into the morning.

The beauty of the film are the relatively rare footage, some of it never seen before, that has been collected and forms an integral part of the film. It was also interesting to watch and listen to Dylan not only in his own words but those of his contemporaries and peers.

The jacket to the double DVD talks about a young singer who would change popular music forever, and this is not just hyperbole but an accurate reflection of the man's contribution. It is amazing to think how far and wide one man's influence has permeated popular culture and across so many genres of music from folk to pop. He is indeed a living legend.

For any Dylan fan this is a must see film!

This Land Is Your Land -- Woody Guthrie

Woody Guthrie is one of my favourite folk singers. I found Woody Guthrie through Bob Dylan. I recently listened to a Bob Dylan cover of this song. The song has an interesting history. Guthrie wrote it in 1940, recorded it in 1944, and published it in 1951. The melody is lifted from an earlier Carter Family recording of a Baptist Hymn.

In the spirit of "independence" and considering this is Independence Day for Americans, I figured that I would post these lyrics. They might send a shiver down the spine of some. Perhaps not like the Star Spangled Banner or America the Beautiful, or God Bless America, but all the same it is a great little song.

This Land Is Your Land

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

As I went walking that ribbon of highway
I saw above me that endless skyway
I saw below me that golden valley
This land was made for you and me.

I roamed and I rambled and I followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
While All around me a voice was sounding
Saying this land was made for you and me.

The sun came shining, and I was strolling
And the wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
As the fog was lifting, A voice was chanting,
This land was made for you and me.

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California to the New York Island
From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters
This land was made for you and me.

The song has included other verses at various points in time such as the following:

In the squares of the city, In the shadow of a steeple;
By the relief office, I'd seen my people.
As they stood there hungry, I stood there asking,
Is this land made for you and me?

And this one:

There was a big high wall there that tried to stop me;
Sign was painted, it said private property;
But on the back side it didn't say nothing;
That side was made for you and me.