Happy Birthday to America's Bard for the Ages, Bob Dylan - With Lots of Videos

by Robert Wilkinson

May 24th marks the birthday of a force majure across generations and a true American original. He just won a Pulitzer Prize, making him the first rock star ever to achieve such a thing. As I wrote last year, "His work is vast, awesome, majestic, and compelling, We haven't known an American poet who embodied such electricity since Walt Whitman... Some of your offerings still have the power to blow the illusion to the far side of Pluto." Definitely more below the fold.

May you have a grand 67th celebration of your life, Lucky Wilbury. Last year's birthday post on this site featured some really great links to videos and lyrics, so by all means come on back and check it out when you've satisfied your appetite at the MusicBox site at Sonybmg.

You'll have to sit through a very short commercial every so often, but it's worth it to see videos of such classics as "Most Likely You Go your way and I'll go Mine," "Tangled Up In Blue," "Thunder On The Mountain," and "Things Have Changed," and others. I was blown away by the remarkably compelling video of "Jokerman," so for sure check that one out!

To find out a whole lot more what's up, including tour dates and other appearances, interviews, lyrics, news, lyrics and more, check out Bob Dylan.com

On a final note, it occurs to me that some of you may wonder who this guy is. If you've been living east of Neptune and haven't heard of Bob Dylan or what he's written over the decades, he was THE antiwar voice of the 60s, folk singer extraordinaire who wrote scathing social commentaries as well as some of the most beautiful love songs ever heard.

He changed the face of music forever in countless ways, and his lyrics opened literary doors. I and some others have quoted a few of his lyrics in the comments from time to time, most recently "Forever Young." Here's a small list of only a few of his songs:

"Blowin' In The Wind," "A Hard Rain's A Gonna Fall," "Like A Rolling Stone," "Desolation Row," "Forever Young," "The Times They Are A-Changing," "Love Minus Zero No Limit," "Chimes of Freedom," Masters of War," "Don't Think Twice," "Mister Tambourine Man," "I Shall Be Released," "Gates of Eden," "With God On Our Side," "Just Like A Woman," "All Along The Watchtower," "Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again," "I'll Be Your Baby Tonight," "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)," "Ballad of A Thin Man," "The Mighty Quinn," "She Belongs To Me," "You Ain't Goin' Nowhere," and about a hundred more, some of which will take your breath away.

Again, I wrote a bit about him in last year's birthday article linked at the top, so if you need more, check it out. Thanks, Lucky. You set a standard for wordsmithing that exemplifies the best of Gemini. When you left Minnesota for New York it was the world's gain.

Copyright © 2008 Robert Wilkinson

Here's one of his more surreal songs, from 1965's Highway 61 Revisited:

BALLAD OF A THIN MAN

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?

Copyright © 1965; renewed 1993 Special Rider Music

Comments

[S.PADMAVATHI]

I am interesting to global astrology

[Jilly]

Get sick, get well
Hang around a ink well
Ring bell, hard to tell
If anything is goin' to sell
:D

[Robert]

HI S. PADMAVATHI - And?

Hi Jilly -
"Far between sundown's finish an' midnight's broken toll
We ducked inside the doorway, thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom flashing
Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' ev'ry underdog soldier in the night
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing."

[DianatheHuntress]

"Ain't talkin' ... just walkin'....

Someday you'll be glad to have me around...."

(from Modern Times..... :)

You are one cool cat, Bobby!!! Where would we be without you?
Happy Birthday 2008, and many, many more.....................

Robert, it's interesting that Bob has that extreme stellium in the 12th house, with so many Taurean planets.... wow. His natal chart is so 'enigmatic'... lol.............. thanks for this post!

Love, D. } -----*

[Robert]

Hi Diana - Yes, the bard has a lot of 12th house activity. Maybe that's why he's so determined to un-do and re-do his image every so often!