Dylan hit the nail on the head re the media... 40 years ago!!!

[ailsagirl]

In the film, "Don't Look Back" (excellent documentary on Dylan's 1964 tour of England), he's interviewed by a writer from Time magazine. Among other things, Dylan had this opinion of Time and its ilk:

"It's a class of people that takes the magazine seriously. I read it on the airplanes but I don't take it seriously.

If I want to find out anything I'm not going to read Time magazine. I'm not going to read Newsweek. I'm not going to read any of those magazines because they're just got too much to lose by printing the truth."

He was 23 years old at the time.

[randr]

1. Dylan not only hit the nail, he sunk it!

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN
(Words and Music by Bob Dylan)
1965 Warner Bros. Inc
Renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

You walk into the room
With your pencil in your hand
You see somebody naked
And you say, "Who is that man?"
You try so hard
But you don't understand
Just what you'll say
When you get home

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You raise up your head
And you ask, "Is this where it is?"
And somebody points to you and says
"It's his"
And you say, "What's mine?"
And somebody else says, "Where what is?"
And you say, "Oh my God
Am I here all alone?"

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You hand in your ticket
And you go watch the geek
Who immediately walks up to you
When he hears you speak
And says, "How does it feel
To be such a freak?"
And you say, "Impossible"
As he hands you a bone

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

You have many contacts
Among the lumberjacks
To get you facts
When someone attacks your imagination
But nobody has any respect
Anyway they already expect you
To just give a check
To tax-deductible charity organizations

You've been with the professors
And they've all liked your looks
With great lawyers you have
Discussed lepers and crooks
You've been through all of
F. Scott Fitzgerald's books
You're very well read
It's well known

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, "Here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan"

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Now you see this one-eyed midget
Shouting the word "NOW"
And you say, "For what reason?"
And he says, "How?"
And you say, "What does this mean?"
And he screams back, "You're a cow
Give me some milk
Or else go home"

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

Well, you walk into the room
Like a camel and then you frown
You put your eyes in your pocket
And your nose on the ground
There ought to be a law
Against you comin' around
You should be made
To wear earphones

Because something is happening here
But you don't know what it is
Do you, Mister Jones?

[ailsagirl]

2. Oh man-- I love "Ballad of a Thin Man"-- brilliant stuff

The word "genius" is over-used but not in the case of Dylan.

While one who sings with his tongue on fire
Gargles in the rat race choir
Bent out of shape from society's pliers
Cares not to come up any higher
But rather get you down in the hole
That he's in.

Old lady judges, watch people in pairs
Limited in sex, they dare
To push fake morals, insult and stare
While money doesn't talk, it swears
Obscenity, who really cares
Propaganda, all is phony.
==============================

I love that: "bent out of shape by society's pliers"

I'm rediscovering him and his songs are still relevant!!

[cprise]

3. "too much to lose by printing the truth"

Too bad Dylan and his contemporaries were not able to turn their vague dislike into an overt indictment of commercial media.

Who will be our new, well-intentioned Mr. Jones? I vote for Al Gore.

[ailsagirl]

4. I read that Gore's favorite Dylan quotation is

"he not busy being born is busy dying"

http://dir.salon.com/ent/col/marc/2000/10/02/marcus30/index.html

Wouldn't that have been something-- to have had a president who was not only familiar with Dylan, but who really dug him??

Even though Gore really did win, we were deprived of the excellence he would have brought to the White House and, hence, the country.

"sigh"

[cprise]

5. Yeah

I'd bet Gore would quote from plenty of "lumberjacks".