A magic quote from Mikal Gilmore’s califragilistic interview (Bob Dylan Rolling Stone cover story Sept. 27, 2012) comes at the end with a reference to Dylan’s supposed nod to the Civil War poetry of Henry Timrod. This is so Zim:
“Oh yeah, in folk and jazz, quotation is a rich and enriching tradition. That certainly is true. It’s true for everybody, but me. I mean, everybody else can do it but not me. There are different rules for me. And as far as Henry Timrod is concerned, have you ever heard of him? Who’s been reading him lately? And who’s pushed him to the forefront? Who’s been making you read him? And ask his descendants what they think of the hoopla. And if you think it’s so easy to quote him and it can help your work, do it yourself and see how far you can get. Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff. It’s an old thing – it’s part of the tradition. It goes way back. These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me. Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All them evil motherfuckers can rot in hell.”
I just read Mikal’s excellent interview and couldn’t help thinking two things. 1) Bob is very angry. 2) Bob is clinically insane. But then I don’t worship at the altar of Bob.
No, Barney, I think Bob’s far from insane, and actually he’s come across as angry in many of his interviews all along — remember “Don’t Look Back”? Dr. Noe’s got it right with “This is so Zim.” It’s interesting to me that “defensive’” “denial,” and “disingenuous” all start with the same letter as his chosen surname, as they describe his media relations to a “D.” To be fair to Bob, it must have been psychic murder to be worshipped as a pop messiah from the time he was only 22 or whatever, and that in turn brought about his defensive posture, but it’s gotten much too curdled and rigidified over the years, and now brings forth outbursts like the one above.
Note in the passage that Bob doesn’t seem as disturbed by the implication that he might have committed plagiarism as such, as that Mikal Gilmore dares to think he knows anything at all about Dylan’s composition methods. After all, if Henry Timrod’s long- forgotten, then it’s a closed case — period. Once again, that’s so Zim.
As luck would have it, this latest Dylan flap sent me to wikipedia to find out more about Henry Timrod, and I discovered that he shared my December 8th birthday. This might give me the basis for a class action lawsuit against Dylan, in behalf of all December 8-born wordsmiths (also including Who’s-been-reading-him-lately? Jim Morrison, no less) if he persists in this foolishness. That’ll fix his wagon (doesn’t need a sports car to drive around the block.)
2 Responses to Ballad of a thin man
I just read Mikal’s excellent interview and couldn’t help thinking two things. 1) Bob is very angry. 2) Bob is clinically insane. But then I don’t worship at the altar of Bob.
No, Barney, I think Bob’s far from insane, and actually he’s come across as angry in many of his interviews all along — remember “Don’t Look Back”? Dr. Noe’s got it right with “This is so Zim.” It’s interesting to me that “defensive’” “denial,” and “disingenuous” all start with the same letter as his chosen surname, as they describe his media relations to a “D.” To be fair to Bob, it must have been psychic murder to be worshipped as a pop messiah from the time he was only 22 or whatever, and that in turn brought about his defensive posture, but it’s gotten much too curdled and rigidified over the years, and now brings forth outbursts like the one above.
Note in the passage that Bob doesn’t seem as disturbed by the implication that he might have committed plagiarism as such, as that Mikal Gilmore dares to think he knows anything at all about Dylan’s composition methods. After all, if Henry Timrod’s long- forgotten, then it’s a closed case — period. Once again, that’s so Zim.
As luck would have it, this latest Dylan flap sent me to wikipedia to find out more about Henry Timrod, and I discovered that he shared my December 8th birthday. This might give me the basis for a class action lawsuit against Dylan, in behalf of all December 8-born wordsmiths (also including Who’s-been-reading-him-lately? Jim Morrison, no less) if he persists in this foolishness. That’ll fix his wagon (doesn’t need a sports car to drive around the block.)