--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> But was/is arguably the > most important poet of the twentieth century. The only > person I can think of whose poetry possibly rocked as many > people's lives (in the sense of radically shifting their > states of attention) is Bob Marley. > > Some people don't consider them poets because they don't > publish in the New Yorker. Some people can go suck eggs. > There has never been another poet in the world of popular > music (which, after all, affects the lives of more people > than all the published "real" poets combined) who can > hold a candle to him. The man is a meteor who refuses > to flame out. He burns as brightly from time to time in > his 60s as he did in his 20s. > > You mentioned Desolation Row. The other day, when Jason > posted the article about Rolling Stone's picks for the > Top Ten albums ever made, I reacted to it by diving for > the two Dylan albums on the list. I finished that drive > down Memory Row with Desolation Row. It's amazing, even > now. At the time it released, it was nothing less than > devastating. I remember listening to it the first time. > It was the last cut on Highway 61 Revisited. The whole > album was a revelation, every song taking me to places > I had never dreamed of before, but Desolation Row! It > was an epiphany, in every sense of the word. It changed > my life forever. I was never the same person after hear- > ing the first time. I sat there, shocked, the needle > stuck in the last groove of the record, me unable to get > up and put it back in its cradle. > > I remember thinking, "I didn't know it was possible to > write like that." Fortunately, I have had that same > experience with many other writers in the years since, > but Bob was the first person to make me feel that way. > Bless him. > > They're selling postcards of the hanging > They're painting the passports brown > The beauty parlor is filled with sailors > The circus is in town > Here comes the blind commissioner > They've got him in a trance > One hand is tied to the tight-rope walker > The other is in his pants > And the riot squad they're restless > They need somewhere to go > As Lady and I look out tonight > From Desolation Row > I like the neil young version at Bob-Fest. I agree with most of what you say, and my life mirrors yours in many respects -- though I was in high school when highway 61 blaseted onto the scene, and in jr high when the earlier acoustic albums hit (and they were revolutionary too). And Blonde on Blonde ..whew .. So many great albums. And some of his mid stuff -- like the album with Emmy-Lou Harris -- is incredibly moving. "oh sister, sister ... And I download dylan lyrics on occaision and revel in them -- as you do. But I always hear them with the music. But today, I read them as words, as poetry, sans music. And you know what? As a pure, words only poet, Dylan is a bit sophmoric and trite, IMO. Even Dylan hates a lot of his earlier stuff. (though I still love it, just not as isolated words -- cast as great poetry.) Its the combo of music and his words that are "transcendent" -- as in facilitating transcendence from fixed current "views". As pure poets I will still take Pablo Neruda (even in english translation he rocks, which is amazing) and TS Elliot. I know: "Ezra Pound and TS Elliot, fighting in the captain's tower. While calypso singers laugh at them. And fishermen hold flowers." But, ol' TS: "April is the cruelest month Breeding lilacs out of the dead land, Mixing memory and desire, stirring Dull roots with spring rain." He captures the whole cycle of samskara in four lovely lines. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Get fast access to your favorite Yahoo! Groups. Make Yahoo! your home page http://us.click.yahoo.com/dpRU5A/wUILAA/yQLSAA/JjtolB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> To subscribe, send a message to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Or go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ and click 'Join This Group!' Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/FairfieldLife/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
