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Apparently he tweeted then deleted the below:
When people say ‘surreal’ they mean ‘real’, it’s just most of your life is not very real, just repetition and routine. I went to his house and I met him. Only musician I’d ever met was one of my best friends, Billy Joe Shaver, and I told Dylan and he laughed and said he loved Billy Joe. Then he left and came back with an old vinyl of ‘Honky Tonk Heroes’ and put it on and we listened to it, all the way through, and didn’t talk. Then he talked to me at length. At length.
When Bob Dylan speaks, his words seem chosen long ago, his sentences are spare, and he looks right at you, and his countenance is stone. He spoke to me for many hours over two days. There was no alcohol or drugs consumed. He was interested only in writing. I remember wishing I had secretly recorded him, and I remember trying as hard as I could to remember every word he said. I remember he talked over and over about verbs and about ‘verbifying’, how anything could be ‘verbified’. He asked me my favorite book of the Bible and I said Job, and he said his favorite was Ecclesiastes. He then told me that the book of Job I was familiar with was not the original, and then he told me the original.
I began to notice his speech was naturally rich with imagery, and that listening to him had a mesmerizing effect. I noticed when looking at his face while listening to his words that it was like looking at an impressionistic painting. I cannot repeat any of what I heard that evening, but he invited me to stay the night and we ate dinner in silence. A girl cooked a beef stew and there were three other men, who I later learned were musicians. When Bob Dylan retired for the evening, I spoke freely with the three men. They took me to a recording studio in a guest house and I listened to them play. I asked them for their favorite Dylan stories. They told me, and the night happened and i didn’t sleep. I was very unknown at the time and asked why Bob Dylan had summoned me for this visit. One of the men told me.
The next morning, when Dylan reappeared, the big house seemed full again. He told me he wanted me to meet someone. He took me to the guard shack and I met the guard and Dylan told the old man to tell me ‘the story’. He did and it was very funny. While the old man was telling his funny story, Bob Dylan kept looking right at me and he was laughing hard and I was too. It was very funny. We went back to the house and Dylan poured two cups of black coffee and we each drank coffee. And that is when Bob Dylan began speaking about being a writer.
He said most ‘writers’ were what he called ‘stenographers’. He would put a record on his player and have me listen to it. He would have me silently read a passage from a classic book. Then Bob Dylan would explain why this was not writing, why it was stenography. One piece of fiction he had me read was one of my favorites. I saw that I had been wrong about one of my favorite pieces of fiction. Bob Dylan showed me how I had been deceived. I told him that I understood, but I did not, and I lied to Bob Dylan.
A week later, I understood, and phoned him and explained and he laughed. I don’t want to say what Bob Dylan said to me but one thing that he gave me permission to tell my friends was, ‘Don’t be fooled by typists.'”
Sep 28, 2024
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Norm wrote about these private moments so respectfully, and his honesty and humor just shine through. Bob is both one of the funniest guys of all time and then also like… so otherworldly be doesn’t seem like a guy at all
Sep 28, 2024
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most of my favorite music is made with intention. every song has a purpose, within that every line, every note has a reason to be there to move the story forward or build emotion or something. somehow bob dylan escapes all of this.
not every single word or verse in a bob dylan song is essential. you could delete plenty of verses and not feel lost or even emotionally incomplete. why? how?
most people like me are curators. we find things that make us say THAT. THAT right there, that has something. you can’t say what and that’s why it’s so special. most of us couldn’t fathom making a THAT if we tried. the essence is that its intangible, it couldn‘t be designed. it has to be found. i’ve made a THAT of my own once, maybe twice in my whole life.
anyway bob dylan is a factory of these. they just come, they happen. the lines that bypass your intellect, your reason, and go straight to your emotional centers. “my warehouse eyes, my arabian drums.“ i couldn’t say what it means but it pulls my heart out of my chest every time i hear it. that’s what his verses are for. each one is space for another nugget, another THAT. it’s incredible.
5d ago
Jan 15, 2025
😭
exam season is upon me 😭😭 and i’ve had a revelation: BOB DYLAN EATS 😔
through other bands and musicians (primarily THE band, the beatles), i was already familiar with his music, but why’s it suddenly the only music I listen to?? and i’m NOT the target audience tooooo, but like viva Dylan and Baez ig 💕
any music recs??? i need to BRANCH out, so partial ask too loll, thankyouuu :))
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