When Bob Dylan Doesn't Give a S__t He Means It
I finally caught Bob Dylan last night in Austin. He, of course, came out, played, said nothing, waved, and left. No encore.
Historically a lot has been said about what he’s doing and what he’s up to, and why is he not doing this or that. They’ve been saying all of this about him since he came on the scene--and everybody fell in love with what he was doing--and just couldn’t imagine why he would do anything else.
Last night I recognized maybe a phrase or two, but none of the music. I know his stuff.
It was super cool to see the band interaction. One guitarist, bassist, drummer, and then he was on keys. And sometimes harmonica, which would make all the boomers freak out, by the way, when he played it.
I enjoyed myself. I came with no expectations and no needs from Bob Dylan, so he delivered.
It was a super cool band, though they were a bit out of sync due to it being the guitarist’s very first gig, which added a bit of instability to the show. Which was, I thought, pretty additive.
And a lot of people slag him off big time, but you know what you’re getting with Bob Dylan. And it’s not Morrissey, who just holds his audience and everyone else in the world in contempt.
Bob does what he wants to do and what he thinks is the best thing to do at this particular time.
So you’re getting the purest vision as to what Bob Dylan thinks the music should be and how it should be interpreted. And he doesn’t give two sh*ts about what people are expecting.
And pretty much since the beginning, that’s been the thing. To varying degrees of popularity and success.
I wish more artists would take this approach. In a world where the entirety of YouTube is telling you how to best design your music and songs for viral, hooky, instant success, this is a model we should all be considering/ following/ respecting.
Bob’s model: I’ve written all these songs. Here’s how they should sound right now. Here’s how I’m playing right now, since I’m 80. And this is how I’d like to present them to you: take it or leave it.
I’ve never seen so many people "leave-it," exiting the show early. But they've been doing this for years. Petulantly.
I will take it 10 out of 10 times.