Posted on 10/13/2009 6:01:52 AM PDT by La Lydia
This Christmas season, parents will introduce their children to a legendary sage from northern climes renowned for his unsettling facial hair and unmistakable voice. This man is, of course, Bob Dylan. His first-ever holiday album, "Christmas in the Heart," arrives today, with the 68-year-old ripping through a gaggle of jaunty Christmas carols as if they were so much gift wrap...it's a bizarre and bewildering collection that embodies the rough-hewn traditionalism and forehead-slapping surrealism that's defined Dylan's career. The man's serrated croon isn't just jarring -- it actually gives these chirpy old chestnuts a sense of menace.
And it is awesome.
The arrangements on "Christmas in the Heart" are both overtly cheerful and staunchly by-the-numbers, making Dylan's beleaguered croak sound both maddening and sentimental, kinda like the Christmas season itself.
He throws down the gauntlet immediately with the twinkling pep of "Here Comes Santa Claus," one of the most annoying carols ever written. "Here comes Santa Claus/Here comes Santa Claus/Right down Santa Claus lane," Dylan rasps, making yuletide glee feel more like lunacy. "Must Be Santa" ramps up the insanity to even dizzier levels, with accordions moaning and cymbals crashing away at the speed of polka.
...the slower carols feel creepy...the sparse "I'll Be Home for Christmas" sounds like a reason to bolt your doors...
So...don't let Dec. 25 pass you by without hearing Dylan's take on Mel Torme's beloved "Christmas Song."
As ever, chestnuts are roasting on an open fire, Jack Frost is nipping at your nose -- but this time, the man behind the microphone sounds as if he's trying to dislodge a piece of tinsel from his throat: "Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Dylan was very much a war protester before his motocycle accident in the summer of 1966. That event and his long recuperation changed a lot of things about Dylan.
Check out this article—you may or may not agree with it.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Protected/Articles/000/000/012/727xwxao.asp?pg=2
Heres another interetesting look at Dylan and Viet Nam—
worth a look.
After his accident in 1966 and his year-long recuperation he drew inward and became more reclusive, eventually resenting the role of moral arbiter for his generation and the next one.
I just listened to that track and I have to agree with the reviewer.
lol. What an idiot. There were student riots in France. In Chicago in 1968 it was a "police riot" where the Chicago cops over-reacted and beat the heck out of dozens of students. A government commission found the city, police force and Mayor Daley were responsible for the violence, and so dubbed the disturbances "The Chicago Police Riots."
History is written (and rewritten) by the the last man standing.
Lol. But the reviewer loved the album. I’m anxious to read his next autobiography. At least we won’t have to hear it.
Oh, the old “I know you are but what am I?” argument response, Geez....... BTW Thank your son from me for his sacrifice in service to our country under trying times. God bless him and keep him safe from harm.
What I am is a appreciative listener of Dylan’s music who has made the effort to learn a bit about the man - as much as he deigns to reveal, both through the spoken word and his music.
What you are - your comments on the thread speak clearly to that.
Messianic Jew, according to my understanding. He’s spoken at my wife’s old synagogue.
Just in time for Halloween!
Please tell me exactly what anti-war statements or demonstrations Dylan made or attended in the 60s?
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