[Buddha-l] Re: Greetings from Oviedo

[Richard P. Hayes]

On Wed, 2005-09-28 at 20:33 +0000, bclough wrote:

> I didn't find Dylan inarticulate at all; what I saw was a man who
> wouldn't respond to relentlessly repetitious questioning that aimed
> only at pigeon-holing him as "the voice of his generation" or "the
> conscience of the Sixties" and other such rubbish. 

We are probably speaking of different aspects of the documentary. The
young Dylan's handling of the incredibly inane questions of reporters
was very funny. But the old Dylan showed no signs of the deftness of his
younger self. He just came across as a grumpy old man with very little
wit or wisdom. 

> People like Dave Van Ronk, Liam Clancy, and Joan Baez all show
> themselves to be highly articulate, yet each of them said at some
> point that Dylan gave masterful voice to much of what they were
> thinking at the time, but could not express nearly as well. Baez also
> added that those who are inclined to like Dylan tend to see layers of
> meaning in his work, while others just don't see much there at all.

It's clearly a matter of taste. I absolutely love the Pali canon, but I
hate the Avatamsaka literature. I love what is clear, straightforward
and to the point. Oracular outbursts are not to my taste. 

>  This has certainly been my experience in talking with others about
> Dylan over the years, and so I am not all saying that Richard is
> "wrong" here, but am simply noting with interest how people can have
> such opposing views of Dylan's lyricism.

A short time ago I got an e-mail from my former college roommate. He and
I use to listen to Dylan incessantly and laugh hysterically at the very
idea that people found his lyrics profound. We just liked them because
they were so silly, and he liked him because he was so good at putting
people on. But I was twenty-something then. Now that I'm sixty, I don't
get much pleasure out of laughing at fools (such as the fools who think
that Dylan had something to say). Perhaps it's because I now know how
much damage fools can do, and people who do damage no longer entertain
me as much as they once did.

-- 
My Unitarian Jihad Name (http://tinyurl.com/6valr ) is:
The Logging Chain of Loving Kindness
You can get your own at http://homepage.mac.com/whump/ujname.html