In yesterday's New York Times Maureen Dowd wrote an op-ed article titled Blowin' in the Idiot Wind. It has been in the news that Dylan just played in China and Vietnam for the first time. The Chinese government vetted his set list and would not allow him to play political songs. Classics like Masters of War, Blowin' in the Wind, and The Times They are A Changin' could not be played. Maureen criticized Dylan for not standing up to his principles as he did in the 1960s. She recalled how a 22 year old Dylan refused to play on the Ed Sullivan Show when the producers would not let him sing Talkin' John Birch Paranoid Blues. She implies that Dylan should not have played in China unless he could pick his play list.
The Bob Dylan of 2011 is not the same as the one in 1963. I think he really wanted the people of China and Vietnam to hear him live after all these years. I wish that in 1965 I had the money to see Dylan at the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium which was within walking distance of my house in Rego Park. I just couldn't scrape up enough allowance money to pay for a ticket. In this past decade it has cost me over $200 to take my family to hear Dylan who is clearly past his prime. I don't care what some pompous AM radio personality says about Dylan retiring. I hope he continues to tour as long as he wants.
Here are the set lists from Bill Pagel's Bob Links Web Site:
I noted that the 3 concerts started with Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking which was on the Slow Train Coming Album during the Born Again Christian period. You can interpret this and any Dylan composition in different ways. I will take some of the lyrics out of context.
Gonna change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
Gonna change my way of thinking
Make myself a different set of rules
Gonna put my good foot forward
And stop being influenced by fools
So much oppression
Can’t keep track of it no more
So much oppression
Can’t keep track of it no more
Sons becoming husbands to their mothers
And old men turning young daughters into whores
Stripes on your shoulders
Stripes on your back and on your hands
Stripes on your shoulders
Stripes on your back and on your hands
Swords piercing your side
Blood and water flowing through the land
Well don’t know which one is worse
Doing your own thing or just being cool
Well don’t know which one is worse
Doing your own thing or just being cool
You remember only about the brass ring
You forget all about the golden rule
You can mislead a man
You can take ahold of his heart with your eyes
You can mislead a man
You can take ahold of his heart with your eyes
But there’s only one authority
And that’s the authority on high
I got a God-fearing woman
One I can easily afford
I got a God-fearing woman
One I can easily afford
She can do the Georgia crawl
She can walk in the spirit of the Lord
Jesus said, “Be ready
For you know not the hour in which I come”
Jesus said, “Be ready
For you know not the hour in which I come”
He said, “He who is not for Me is against Me”
Just so you know where He’s coming from
There’s a kingdom called Heaven
A place where there is no pain of birth
There’s a kingdom called Heaven
A place where there is no pain of birth
Well the Lord created it, mister
About the same time He made the earth
Copyright © 1979 by Special Rider Music
I think that Bob was trying to be cool. He wanted the people of China and Vietnam to hear him.
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