My name is Daryl, but you can call me Darko. My friends do anyway. I'm a bit of an old geezer (49 years young), and yeah, I've been a deadbeat too. I've been in love with rock music since I started listening to San Francisco's rock station KYA back in 1965. The first record I ever got was the Flowers LP by the Rolling Stones. My dad gave it to me. The first band I ever loved though was The Doors. I've loved a lot of bands since then.
I'll tell you a story now that the new movie about Bob Dylan, I'm Not There got me thinking about.
I'll spare you the rigmarole of a standard review of this new film. You can read those anywhere on the Internet. Rather, let me tell you a personal story of discovery. This new film about the life of Bob Dylan is confusing. For that matter, Bob Dylan is confusing. And furthermore for that matter, life is confusing. It was the summer of my 48th year of life before I became able to appreciate the efforts of Bob Dylan to explain his understandings of life, death, love, heartbreak, relationships, women, giving a damn, being yourself and bucking the system. All of my life I hated Dylan. His whining and gnarly voice, the ceaseless drone of that damned harmonica, and the ludicrous-sounding lyrics that I couldn't understand the meaning of because I couldn't be bothered to force myself to give a damn.
Then a very young person, a 14-year-old girl gave a damn and took me aside said to me, "Hey man, slow down for a moment and listen deeply to what he is saying in these songs." I agreed. I started to listen to his albums from the 60s and 70s. Over and over and over until I became able to hear his voice, understand his voice, and slowly start to make sense of the words. Still, I could not make out everything he was saying. I'd catch a rough chorus here and a few leading lines there… still frustrated I decided to break out lyric sheets and find out exactly what was being sung.
One song in particular struck me with its haunting melody; “Idiot Wind” from the Blood on the Tracks album. I started with reading the lyrics to that one song. And that was all it took:
Someone's got it in for me, they're planting stories in the press
Whoever it is I wish they'd cut it out quick but when they will I can only guess
They say I shot a man named Gray and took his wife to Italy
She inherited a million bucks and when she died it came to me
I can't help it if I'm lucky.
What the hell was he talking about!? I've listened to this song probably 100 times since last summer and I still don't fully understand it but there are bits of gold in it. There is mystery in it, and there is genius in it. It is love, it is truth, it is pure art and the intent of Dylan is to enlighten by touching, hell, not just touching, but breaking into the heart. This song, the first time I listened to it while reading the lyrics made me break down crying. (I am on the verge of tears right now while writing about this memory, while those lyrics float in my mind.) And there have been many, many other songs of his that I can listen to now and experience deep moments of wonder and awe from. Reading, hearing and getting “Idiot Wind” was like a baptism that washed away a veil of confusion from my eyes.
My experience of coming to appreciate the genius of Dylan's writing, singing and instrumentation is similar to what watching I’m Not There will be like for many people. Some may say, "Why bother?" or "Dylan doesn't matter," or "But I hate his twangy voice!" I'm telling you though, go see this film! If you know nothing about him, you will learn things about him that may draw you into his world. If you know a little bit about him, this beautifully made film will give you a hunger to learn more about him. If you already know the story of his life extremely well, this film will be like an experience of fantastic lovemaking. The movie is as genius as the most confusing of Dylan's own songs, and therein lies the beauty. One day Dylan will leave this physical plane and everyone will want to be heard saying, "Dylan, yeah, he was great." Don't let those words be idle hearsay when they fall from your lips. Get to know him now while he is still here. Study him. This film is key to deciphering the mystery of his life. You won't be sorry. Who knows? Maybe it will even help you decipher the mysteries of your own life. Or help you realize that many of the secrets of life can be made simpler to understand by listening to and deeply contemplating Dylan's musings. Like I did.
See you next week…
I'm Not There – Trailer
