Bob Dylan at 80

Comment from Paddy Ferry:
Bob Dylan at 80.
Soline, thank you for sharing Frank McNally’s article. I am always surprised when something really significant on this site passes without comment and Bob Dylan at 80 is certainly significant. ( I have placed an order for Liamy’s book.)

I have a friend here in Edinburgh who has seen Bob in concert 6 times, once in America, which left me really impressed. However, to read in that Irish Times article that there are those who have seen him one hundred or up to two hundred times is truly remarkable.

I have seen him only once, here in the Playhouse in Edinburgh about twenty years ago. My favourite Dylan song is Mr. Tambourine Man–the Byrds’ version –and that would be in my top three favourite contemporary “pop” songs of all times. It’s position in my top 3 does vary from time to time. There is that wonderful clip of Bob first performing it at the Newport Folk Festival in 1964, I think, which comes up on my FB page from time to time. However, that night in the Playhouse he absolutely slaughtered the great song. His voice was in particularly poor shape that night. It is hard to believe that Mr. Tambourine Man is the only Dylan written single to reach No.1 on either side of the Atlantic.

I wonder is there any mention in Liamy’s book of Bob’s great hero and inspiration, Dylan Thomas spending the summer of 1935 writing poetry in Co. Donegal near Glencolmcille. It might well be that there is a Donegal connection here and, perhaps, the poetry that most inspired Bob was written in Donegal. There could well be a significant Donegal influence in this whole story.

My old friend, the late Keith O’Brien received his Honorary Doctorate from St, Andrew’s University the same day that Bob received his. Keith was most unimpressed by Bob’s sullen, disinterested demeanour. I explained to Keith that geniuses are allowed to behave like that and that Bob Dylan is a genius. Keith did not really buy that one.

I heard Bob once explain how easy he found writing rhyming couplets. More important than the poetry is the reflective, insightful message it usually contains, anthems for a generation.
Bob can so easily nail it in one or two succinct lines.

I was reading Derek Scally’s book The Best Catholics in the World when much was being written in the lead up to Bob’s birthday.
One of the major themes in Derek’s book is the whole issue of collective guilt in the country; who knew what, how much was known and who knew what not to know and so on.
There is a significant line in one of Dylan’s greatest songs, Blowin’ in the Wind: “How many times can a man ( or woman) turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see …..”