Posted on 04/09/2008 11:41:27 AM PDT by pissant
Last December, Bob Dylan literally stopped the music on his "Theme Time Radio Hour" show to honor Charlton Heston.
Following the soulful tune “Eve’s Ten Commandments,” Dylan mentioned Heston’s iconic role as Moses in the well-known biblical epic and added, “Charlton gets a bad rap for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA, but truth to tell, he was a strong advocate for civil rights, many years before it became fashionable….”
Dylan ticked off Heston’s accolades, including the Kennedy Center Lifetime Achievement Award, and then added, admiringly, “Never mind the fact that he’s in a couple of our favorite movies, including ‘Touch of Evil,’ ‘The Big Country,’ ‘Planet of the Apes’ and of course ‘Soylent Green.’”
It could stand as a fitting eulogy for Heston, who died Saturday at the age of 84, except for one thing: He didn’t seem to mind that “bad rap” he got in liberal Hollywood for his political beliefs. Indeed, he embraced his political conservatism unlike any other actor in the business.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
Is that Marlon Brando also?
and Brando?
Yes. And Harry Belefonte and Sidney Poitier.
And Zelig.
Cheers for Heston stepping up for Civil Rights but Brando and Belefonte are Reds and Communism does NOT take a universal stand for Civil Rights.
I believe C. Heston was also unusual in that he maintained a good and happy marriage, wasn’t the typical Hollywood whoremonger...and please, nobody enlighten me if I’m wrong...
If you haven’t heard Dylan’s radio show on XM, you are missing out on a real treat and a musical education.
I’ve been reading a lot of good things about Dylan here on FR lately. I appreciate the info. Dylan has always been somewhat of a mystery to me.
I don’t believe that Charlton Heston gave a rat’s rear what Michael Moore and other entertainment industry limousine libs thought of him, which is just one of the characteristics that made him the man he was.
I see also Marlon Brando, Sidney Poitier, and - GASP! - that nutcase The Day-O Man Harry Belafonte.
He is so much more conservative than the hippie generation wanted to admit...his song defending Israel, recorded in the early 80s, is just one prime example. He is a real American treasure.
Neighborhood Bully...
Well, the neighborhood bully, he's just one man,
His enemies say he's on their land.
They got him outnumbered about a million to one,
He got no place to escape to, no place to run.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully just lives to survive,
He's criticized and condemned for being alive.
He's not supposed to fight back, he's supposed to have thick skin,
He's supposed to lay down and die when his door is kicked in.
He's the neighborhood bully.
The neighborhood bully been driven out of every land,
He's wandered the earth an exiled man.
Seen his family scattered, his people hounded and torn,
He's always on trial for just being born.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he knocked out a lynch mob, he was criticized,
Old women condemned him, said he should apologize.
Then he destroyed a bomb factory, nobody was glad.
The bombs were meant for him.
He was supposed to feel bad.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, the chances are against it and the odds are slim
That he'll live by the rules that the world makes for him,
'Cause there's a noose at his neck and a gun at his back
And a license to kill him is given out to every maniac.
He's the neighborhood bully.
He got no allies to really speak of.
What he gets he must pay for, he don't get it out of love.
He buys obsolete weapons and he won't be denied
But no one sends flesh and blood to fight by his side.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Well, he's surrounded by pacifists who all want peace,
They pray for it nightly that the bloodshed must cease.
Now, they wouldn't hurt a fly.
To hurt one they would weep.
They lay and they wait for this bully to fall asleep.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Every empire that's enslaved him is gone,
Egypt and Rome, even the great Babylon.
He's made a garden of paradise in the desert sand,
In bed with nobody, under no one's command.
He's the neighborhood bully.
Now his holiest books have been trampled upon,
No contract he signed was worth what it was written on.
He took the crumbs of the world and he turned it into wealth,
Took sickness and disease and he turned it into health.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What's anybody indebted to him for?
Nothin', they say.
He just likes to cause war.
Pride and prejudice and superstition indeed,
They wait for this bully like a dog waits to feed.
He's the neighborhood bully.
What has he done to wear so many scars?
Does he change the course of rivers?
Does he pollute the moon and stars?
Neighborhood bully, standing on the hill,
Running out the clock, time standing still,
Neighborhood bully.
I’m speechless and that is saying alot.Good for him.
Willie Nelson “sings” about the way Dylan does.
In retrospect, Bob Dylan’s poetry/lyrics were more about life and relationships than they were about politics. Like poetry, people read what they want into lyrics. He was probably more libertarian than conservative or liberal, explaining such songs as “Rainy Day Women #12 and 35”. I appreciated his CCM era recordings. They showed a much more complex individual, and the first hint that he wasn’t just about or for hippies. I think “Gotta Serve Somebody” explained this to those willing to listen. Also, getting older tends to make one more Conservative.
I never would have thought "The Big Country" would be on Dylan's list of favorite movies. I like him more just knowing that.
Pure musical genius and originality is why he has been the most celebrated figure in music for the last 45 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6i6NOfD48Gk&feature=related
True but where as Dylan is the thinker, Willie is a complete idiot. Don’t get me wrong, I like Dylan but just have never thought he could sing great.
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