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People Should Stop Saying Mean Things About Bob Dylan
"I never liked him. He seems sort of unpleasant and uncomfortable."
—Bill "Smog" Callahan, in the (subscription-only) New Yorker, on Bob Dylan, who is having a tough week in the press. This kind of blows my mind. I mean, sure, I guess Dylan can come across that way. Like, his personality. It's been noted before. Lou Reed once said, "If you were at a party with him, I think you'd tell him to shut up." But still, he's the best at what he does, and it hurts me a little to hear other songwriters snipe like that. Though when Maureen Dowd (and/or whichever one or more of her friends wrote her column on Sunday) calls you a sell-out and a hypocrite and an idiot, that might be easily taken as a compliment.
http://www.newyorker.com/arts/critics/musical/2011/04/18/110418crmu_music_frerejones
Callahan said that? Rubber: glue.
Seriously, artists criticizing other artists personalities is a zero-sum game.
I love both their music, but Callahan is the iciest performer I've seen live. Doesn't make a difference to me though.
Everyone wants to think Bob Dylan agrees with them. But usually he doesn't.
Incidentally, this is exactly how I've always felt about Bill Callahan!
Ugh, Smog is the worst you guys. When will people figure that out?
Judas!
Never! Smog is good!
I agree, though, that his statement is very much calling the kettle black.
Man, between this and the article in the NY times yesterday, I'd wager Callahan's having the worse week.
Oh, good lord, these people should just shut up. They want this guy to sing the same worn-out shit again and again, like he was responsible for everyone's freedom-fighter conscience.
Instead, he sings some other worn-out shit, never sings it the same way twice, and cashes the checks. Which practice started, um, 40some years ago?
He never carried a banner even when they stapled one to his hands.
Said it better than I could. Dylan is not your mascot, and he never has been.
Dillon already has a mascot. PANTHER FOOTBALL!
He always has a free pass in my book for putting the thumbscrews to Donovan.
Much agreed. Didn't care then, doubt he cares now.
I don't know. If any of Dowd's facts are correct, that's pretty damnable behavior. For anyone. And it does feel worse coming from Dylan.
If you don't skip "Masters of War" every single time, you have a stronger stomach than me.
But we can continue to say mean things about MoDo, right?
Calling her MoDo is plenty.
Tell him we've lost his poems, so they're writing on the walls…
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like it's the better option for him to be allowed to perform at all.
This is especially funny in light of that Chinese report today criticizing the US for its human rights record and accusing the government of using human rights as a wedge issue against other nations to advance American hegemony.
Something something international geopolitics oddly similar to artistic bitchfests