9 November 2020

Album

I was born in the same year that our beloved queen, Queen Elizabeth II, was crowned. If I am still alive when she dies it will certainly be a momentous day. The end of an era and the final page in the life of a remarkable woman who has faithfully kept her initial promise to the British people and to its commonwealth of nations by simply doing her "duty".

I remember the day they assassinated Kennedy and I remember more clearly  the day a crazy guy killed John Lennon. Most people of my generation will say the same. However, I rather suspect that those dark days will pale in comparison with the death of our queen. And there's another future death that I anticipate with similar trepidation - the passing of Bob Dylan.

Born in May 1941, Dylan is even older than Joe Biden. His songs have been there in the background of my life since I first heard "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" in a pebble-dashed council house in my home village in East Yorkshire back in 1964.

Last month it was my birthday and the one gift I asked for was a CD version of Dylan's most recent studio album - "Rough and Rowdy Ways". When driving Clint the Capricious Car these past few weeks, I have been listening to the album over and over again becoming more and more familiar with the ten tracks it contains. With new music I find that familiarity breeds affection rather than contempt.

Disc 2 consists of one song - at 16 mins and 31 secs it 
is the longest song Dylan has ever recorded.
In some ways the "feel" of the album is that of an old man in some late night venue, looking back on his life of ups and downs, squeezing out songs that might well be his last. His voice rasps like a smoker's. There's an assuredness about his word choices and his references to modern culture and history. You find anger there as well as humour and poetry and of course he is supported by talented musicians and backing singers. They are unobtrusive - enhancing the varied bag of songs at Dylan's direction. He knows better than most how to put albums together.

Of course I realise that many who visit this blog are not Bob Dylan fans and will not have been passengers on his sixty year creative journey. But as with Queen Elizabeth II it's as if Dylan has always been around - a constant part of our lives. When he leaves us it will be a day of tremendous sorrow and reflection. Another line in the sands of history.

I leave the final words with Dylan himself from "Rough and Rowdy Ways":-

Put my hide up on a hill
Where some happiness I'll find
If I survive, then let me love
Let the hour be mine
Take the high road, take the low
Take any one you're on
I poured the cup, I passed it along
And I crossed the Rubicon

39 comments:

  1. Even republicans like the late Willie Hamilton had to admit that Queen Elizabeth never slipped up once during her reign. There was never a whisper of scandal, her sense of duty and her commitment to the throne was total, she cared for her people and the Commmonwealth.

    I spoke to the minister at Balmoral and he said the Queen never missed a Sunday service. She prays, a rare enough thing in a Europe which is committing suicide by destroying its Christian identity, the only identity it really ever had. We saw that when Notre Dame was burning and young people were praying in the street outside.

    *London Bridge is Falling down* is the name of the operation that will go into effect when the Queen's soul passes into eternity. Her reign will be remembered and celebrated. Prince Charles, upon being crowned, will have a number of public engagements. But there is a worry that English people will realise that England's day has passed and displays of English nationalism won't change that truth.

    My concern is that Scottish Nationalists will go into overdrive after Charles is crowned and convince many that the Union is broken and finished. In a sneaky way they will say, *But King Charles is still our King too, this is just political independence.*

    The Queen's faith has been important to her. She has been true to the promise she made before the Lord upon being crowned, as Defender of the faith. That inborn sense of duty has never left her for a moment.

    Without the Crown the country would have been torn asunder every which way. As a man said to me the other day, *Who wants to vote for a President every few years, nobody will love a President, we are not America or Ireland.*

    When Queen Elizabeth stands before the King of Kings she will be able to give a good account of herself.

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    1. The King of Kings? I suppose you mean Bob Dylan! I never realised that she was a fan.

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    2. Amen to that

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  2. I was born a war baby, here in the states. Queen Elizabeth's pledge was real to me, especially as a duty to country. I was too young to know WWII, but old enough to realize both the Korean War and Elizabeth's coronation. My father was in Europe during the coronation, which I watched, transfixed, on television and in the beautiful color slides my father was able to take of her trip to be crowned, taken from his hotel window. She has always had my sympathy and admiration. I only ever faulted her for her late acknowledgement of the importance to her people of Princess Diana.
    And so, I was part of the generation of the sixties. I once saw Dylan in a bar in NY, though I didn't know it was him at the time. I was a folk music fanatic. Dylan lost me for a time when he went electric, but not for long.
    And so back to the great queen, who, I read, will turn over the throne to Charles next year. I believe she has been the lodestone of her dominion. My sister-in-law, who is English, says often, she is not a royalist. And I'm Irish, and I am.

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    1. When I was young I was all for consigning the royal family to history but in spite of myself I have softened and changed my mind about our wonderful queen - a constant in changing times. As Dylan sang, "Oh the times they are a-changin'" and he was right. If I had seen him in a bar I wouldn't have known what to say. I prefer him as a legend.

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  3. Many Irish people are royalists as you are, Joanne.

    Hilaire Belloc's mother was Irish, his father French, which is why Hilaire fought with the French artillery in WWI. He spent his life in Sussex which he loved, served as a Liberal Member of Parliament, and was a royalist.

    Belloc said, *The faith is Europe, Europe is the faith.*
    He predicted a time in history when men and women would have to choose between *Christ or chaos*: that time is now here.

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    1. We must learn to believe in ourselves for there is nothing else above us.

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    2. This philosophic materialism of yours will be of no comfort to you in your last days, Neil. The collapse of belief in supernatural Christianity has created a moral and spiritual vacuum, which is why people are turning to the occult.

      A YouTube occultist, Elyse Morgan, who once called herself Wild Moon Woman, has converted to Christianity, and taken down her old vlogs on Goddess Witchcraft. From out of darkness and into the light.

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  4. We went to Seattle to listen to Dylan, my forever musician hero, forever favorite poet of our lives in this wedge of time. It was just after his experiment with dreams, and it was simply the most awful concert to which I have ever been. People walked out, We drove the two and a half hours home in dark and driving rain- silent. It was like we had just watched him die. I am heartened to hear that you like his new work.
    As for the Queen, I will totally die more than just a little when she takes off, I admire her , have done so all of this life, I have her on the wall, on my tea cup, on my tobacco tin,I came very close to seeing her at Windsor , missed her by a couple of minutes as I had to go to the toilet. Oh well, missed chances- carry on. AND Happy Birthday.

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    1. Nice comment Linda Sue. I have seen Dylan in concert three times but to be truthful I didn't much enjoy his performances. It is as a write and maker of records that I admire him the most.

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  5. I hadn't thought about Dylan being so old. He's gone through many stages. Now the Queen? Steady as she goes.I remember listening to her coronation. I remember listening to her wedding. These were days before TV to us.

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    1. That's amazing. There in your farmhouse near Esk. Glued to the radio. Wonderful.

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  6. No matter what confronted her, she did her duty. That cannot be said of many people in these days.

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    1. Dignity. Wisdom. Reliability. Neutrality. Endurance. These are the words that spring to mind in relation to our queen.

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  7. Anonymous2:45 am

    I'm not a Dylan fan but I know so many are and his talent must be undeniable. Did you see HRH with a tear running from her eye at the war memorial ceremony. Aside from cheering on her horses at Ascot, I think that is the first time I have seen her show emotion. It will be a sad day indeed but given the QM lived to 101, she could have a good few years left yet.

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    1. You are right there Andrew. She might yet outlive me as I have not often dined like a royal prince.

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  8. I have the greatest admiration and respect for your Queen. She has stood strong through many difficult times in history. I have also been a great fan of Bob Dylan since he came on the music scene. I don't like to think about the time when he will no longer be with us. The older I get the more I see famous figures I have admired all my life pass and it is difficult because they are legends and it seems like they should not die like the rest of us. The difference is that because they are legends they do live on as such and we and many after us will still have their music or words or whatever we knew them for.

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    1. "they should not die like the rest of us..." is such a poetic thought Bonnie. It made me stop in my tracks though they are also only flesh and blood. Have a great day my Missoura friend.

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  9. Loved listening to the Bob Dylan's Rough and Rowdy Ways - thank you for sharing a treasure.
    Joy

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    1. Hello to Fort Langley! I am so glad you like it too Joy.

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  10. Like with many other famous musicians, singers and writers, I have never really spent much time with Bob Dylan's work and will most likely never be a fan, but I can nonetheless see that he is a great musician and songwriter, and I respect him for that, of course. Besides, I really like the cover photo for this album.

    As for Queen Elizabeth, she is certainly outstanding as a person who has always been putting duty first, and I think she is truly genuine in her belief in her position and all that entails. Yes, it will be the end of an era when she dies.

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    1. Politicians have come and gone but Queen Elizabeth and King Bob have endured.

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  11. A few years ago when I was blogging, I shared The New Basement Tapes which was Dylan's lost basement tapes reimagined by other great musicians. Here is a playlist for your sampling https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=OLAK5uy_nsiK4NJ2BPHCn8dkd7K580YWU3Jmqg9ck

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    1. Thanks for that Carol. I will check the link out later.

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  12. I have never enjoyed Bob Dylan's music, but I can see that he is much admired so perhaps I just have no taste?
    The Queen has always seemed to me to embody all that is supposed to be the epitome of "Britishness", if there is such a thing. Our nation's USP . I don't think the Royal Family will quite manage to keep that sense of uniqueness when she is gone.

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    1. No. It does not mean you have no taste JayCee! There's nothing wrong with Showaddywaddy and Shakin Stevens!

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  13. For obvious reasons the whole concept of a Queen and the Royal Family is foreign to me. It doesn't fill me with awe, or anything for that matter. I get the whole thrown thing when kings and queens still had real power. But this Queen doesn't have any. She signs on Prime Ministers, she is subjected and condemned by her most dismal PM Johnson to prorogue Parliament - only to turn out unlawful. That moment my heart bled for the Queen since she may have the crown jewels but no SAY in anything.

    Since you and most your other readers admire her for doing her "duty" (which, after all, is her job, nay her duty) there is one person who I truly, devotedly, wholeheartedly admire for doing HIS duty and that is Prince Philip. My goodness! To this day it is quite something for a man to take second place to his wife, always walking a step behind (here is cheers to good old Dennis; he too was so graceful, relaxed, funny, so devoted to his Maggie). The way Prince Philip balanced his public life with his marriage I find extraordinary. He must have loved her very much to give up so much of his own life and ambitions for her. And stick it out.

    The one thing I don't understand, and I vaguely criticize her for, why she hangs on to the job her son Charles was groomed for. Why hasn't she long ago passed on the sceptre to him? I ask this, myself being mother to a son. Doesn't she trust him to do the job? What an indictment. If I were her I'd think it'd be one of the most moving moments of my life to see my son take over from me. Yet, she won't let go. I can't speak for Charles but can't help feeling it must be bitter for him to not be able to fulfil HIS destiny. Talk about being "in waiting".

    Anyway, before I drag your post down the gutter of questions, questions and then some I hope you, and others, may enlighten me.

    Enjoy your Dylan. The other day I checked whether he was still alive. Only because everyone appears to be dying.

    U

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    1. A great comment Ursula. Thank you. In the history of the English/British monarchy abdication has been very rare and usually - as in the case of King Edward VIII there have been ulterior reasons. Richard II abdicated in 1399 in a futile attempt to save his own life. He was starved to death the following year in Pontefract Castle here in Yorkshire after plotting to overthrow the new king - Henry IV.

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  14. Ever since we moved here I've thought about what it will be like to experience the death of the Queen here in the UK. It's hard to fathom how profound that change will feel. She is a constant in all our lives.

    As for Dylan (and many of his contemporaries -- Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, Paul McCartney, etc) it's hard to imagine the planet without him.

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    1. We are not always on the same wavelength Steve but in these things we are.

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  15. I never bothered much with Bob Dylan in the 1960s and 1970s because his thing seemed to be words rather than music. I always listened to music and rarely words, and Dylan's music was unsophisticated next to that of, say, Jethro Tull, who was mentioned on another blog recently. I listen to words more now, but when you hear brilliant arrangements with brilliant backing musicians I still more often than not prefer it to the raw thing.

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    1. In that respect we are different Tasker. With me it was always the words first. The music was just the bed on which the words coalesced.

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  16. Dylan. He has been such an integral part of my life. Such a shadowy form, taking on bones and flesh with his words and his performances. I've seen him three times? Yes. Once long ago with his Rolling Thunder Revue and that night was a chaotic and strange as any night I've lived but only partly because of the concert. Long story. Saw him again many years later and it was absolutely one of the best concerts I've ever seen. He engaged the entire audience and for those few hours, he was as alive as anyone could be. The third concert where I saw him was completely different. He was a journeyman musician and I felt like he was doing what he was doing because that is what he does.
    But you're right- it's his words that matter. He's famous for changing his song arrangements so that even the most familiar of his songs become almost unrecognizable. People complain but that is his right. His music is not like the music of the Rolling Stones where the words of the songs are only part of the tapestry of the entire. Dylan's words ARE the tapestry. And rightfully so.
    Have you seen video of Obama giving him the medal of Freedom? I love it.
    I cannot imagine a world he's not in and thankfully, won't ever really have to as his music, his words, will live on forever.
    As to the queen- I'll probably shed a tear when she's gone although I really do think she'll outlive me. As an American I can't help but be intrigued and even respectful of the long history of royalty there and that lady has certainly served in a royal fashion.

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    1. Thanks for leaving such a long comment Mary. You deserve a nap after that. Yes - I did see the video of President Obama giving Bob The Medal of Freedom. I bet he is grateful that he didn't get it from President Obama's successor. What was his name? I don't recall.

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  17. I like his early stuff and when he became a Born Again Christian: "It may be the devil or it maybe the lord. But you have got to serve somebody..."

    Princess Diana was my favourite Royal.

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    1. If she was still alive she could have joined you in the polytunnel with Britney and Pamela.

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  18. She was a lovely lady. Julia Bradbury can sleep in my polytunnel too.

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    1. I knew your harem was missing someone. Of course - Julia. Same name as John Lennon's mother.

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  19. JL was another great musician and songwriter. Working Class Hero is a classic.

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