Expecting Rain

I know we got the Political sub forum,

But who do you think Bob Dylan would vote for in 2012? Has he ever come out and said what he leans towards.. I know he played for Obama.. I just always assumed he was very Liberal.

Nobody in the real world understands American politics.

He made a specific point of playing on a college campus (U of Minn) the night of the 2008 election, a very rare thing for Dylan to do. He opened with Times Are A-Changin' and during the encores, after playing Like A Rolling Stone and after Obama had been declared the winner, he went into the band introductions with Tony Garnier introduced last...

"Tony Garnier, wearin’ the Obama button — [applause] Alright! — Tony likes to think it’s a brand new time right now. An age of light. Me, I was born in 1941 — that’s the year they bombed Pearl Harbor. Well I been livin’ in a world of darkness ever since. But it looks like things are gonna change now"

They then closed with Blowin' In The Wind.

In an interview prior to the election he was asked what he thought of Obama and said he was "redefining the nature of politics from the ground up” and “redefining what a politician is”. He then said he was “hopeful that things might change” and that “some things are going to have to”. He also said he really liked Obama's first book, Dreams From My Father, and that he thought he was a good writer.

Nothing with Dylan is ever straight forward, and some have interpreted his on-stage remarks as poking fun at Tony for expecting change. But even if he's wise enough to know things won't change overnight, the evidence does seem to point to his thinking Obama was different and that change was possible. Some have even interpreted the song "I Feel A Change Comin' On" as relating to Obama's victory. Perhaps that is what the rumoured "Chicago After Dark" turned into.

If Dylan votes my money says it is for Obama. I can't imagine him voting for any of the lunatics on the other side.

Here's the audio of Dylan's onstage comments:
http://rightwingbob.com/files/age_of_light.mp3

bob is a pragmatist. he votes Dem every time, local, state and national. always by absentee of course...

His son, Jesse Dylan, produced a superb biographical film about Obama.

Though he would never admit it, I imagine Bob thinks Republicans should be fed into a wood chipper.

That may be true of current Republicans who aren't really Republicans...

Bob, unlike Springsteen and many other artists, has kept his cards close to his chest on this one. I have a hard time believing he would have voted Democrat during the late '50s and early '60s had he been in the South... but politics in the north were different from the south then.

I can't see him voting for any of the Republican candidates currently on the slate. I can see him playing some songs to indicate his thoughts on the matter...


But his thoughts are often obscure.

I always liked that song.

But wasn`t he on the side of the Civil Rights movement in the early 60`s ? This would have aligned him with the Democrats wouldn`t it ?

Where does Dylan stand on the issue of having lots of money?

He`s a human being so probably thinks having lots of money is desirable.

You do realise you just typed that?

I'm sure he's all for it, and so am I. It's how you get it and what you do with it. And paying your fair share of taxes.

In about 1976, I was living in Boston. I was taking the subway to Harvard Square, in Cambridge, one day. Bob was coming to town and Joan Baez was touring with him. I happened to be seated next to the owner of the Out of Town Newsstand and Ticket Agency. He told me he had just finished negotiating ticket sales with them for the show. His face morphed into a lovely smile and he said something like - "Joan Baez, what a wonderful woman!!", but then he took on a very scornful look - "But that Dylan Character, he is a nightmare to deal with!!".
Pretty funny.

You do realize you spelled realise wrong?

It was Woody Guthrie who wrote -

"Believe it or not
you won't find it so hot
if you aint got that do re me"

Still true today

'Realise' is the correct version of the word in English - a language, lest you forget, that we taught you fucking freaks in the first place. Mate.

Southern Democrats were adamantly opposed to civil rights in the 50s and early 60s... about the mid 60s the shift began. It was the residual affect of the War Between the States... Northern Republicans (and Abe Lincoln/Resconstruction) were abhored and southern Democrats were diametrically opposed politically to anything suggested by the north or Republicans. Northern Democrats, on the other hand, were supportive of Civil Rights... and Bob was living in New York City... a veritable bastion of northern liberalism...


and I like the song Political World... I would like to see it rolled out for the NET this year. It would be appropriate given the group of morally bankrupt despots running on the Republican ticket.

Excellent Benny. And I'll have you know my family came from England in 1632. The first one here was an influential Puritan in the Plymouth Plantation, but the rest of us long ago junked the Puritan lifestyle....

But more importantly, and back to your original question Benny -

"Where does Dylan stand on the issue of having lots of money?"

That made me think of something. In the early days, in the folk era, Bob was very tight with the far left crowd. That was also the time in which he was quickly becoming a major star, starting to make big money, and obviously could see the potential of making a lot more. It was at that precise time that he broke away from that crowd, went electric, and made it clear no group would control or seriously shape his own destiny.

I think he knew, among other things, that the far left might frown on his dreams of riches. I agree with his thinking, if I'm right about it. Mark Twain was exactly the same way. He railed against, and ridiculed the wealthy, in much of his writing, but went bankrupt once trying make a quick fortune with a printing press invention, and loved the super rich lifestyle.

I feel exactly the same way. I'm hoping the book I'm writing, advocating legal pot, does a lot of good and makes me wealthy. I call my efforts "the Dylan Model". Thanks Bob!!

I believe in free enterprise. I call it economic democracy. But I also believe in taking care of people, and the rich paying their fair share - which isn't happening right now. That's what the Occupy movement is all about, and I support them 100%.

Dylan earns his money honestly, pays his taxes and keeps the rest. Why would anyone have a problem with that ?

I'm looking at Dylan's business card and it says "Voice of a Generation~ Liberal Democrat"

then of course it can't be true...

Because he gets paid sums of money out of all proportion to the work he does. Dylan is still raking in a fortune, year-on-year for a song it took him 15 minutes to write in 1962 whereas some people do back-breaking labour all their lives and will never make a fraction of that.

That's true of many entertainers and athletes...it isn't really Bob Dylan's fault or responsibility that our society has some screwed up systems. Besides, those songs made (and still make) lots of people happy, and have caused no harm to anyone.

I wish we could take the money out of politics and political world threads. So now we are counting Bob's well earned money?

Bob Dylan has been making music for 50 years, he deserves every nickel he has to his name. He took the chances...he put his talent on the line.... he stepped onto a bus headed for NYC and made tremendous artistic decisions, the money followed. Good for him.

It has not been my impression that Bob has been in this for the money. Maybe the fame on some level. But not the cash. Focusing on a purpose that serves something greater than the self, the money follows.

Jon Stewart of The Daily Show has recently brought up a really good point. The problem is not capitalism or people making lots of money. The problem is when the rich use their wealth and influence to rig the laws in their favor (thru lobbyists, etc.), making it easier for them to get richer and richer while things get harder and harder for everyone else. In the U.S., many of the super rich pay a much lower tax rate than the average person because investment income is taxed at a much lower rate than salary income – and lots of money is paid to lobbyists who fight to keep this unfair discrepancy in place.

When an actor or artist speaks out against poverty and income inequality they are often called hypocrites (mostly by Republicans) because they themselves are rich and live a wealthy lifestyle. But if every wealthy person acted and voted and fought for change the way some of these actors and artists do, and if every CEO and investment tycoon took the same position as Warren Buffett (a strong proponent of higher taxes for the rich), then the world would be a very different and a much better place.

Then it`s time we voted in politicians who have the integrity to resist the infuence of the lobbyists hired by the wealthy to ensure that we get a fairer system.