OT: introductions and music-Dylan and Green Day

[Jen Reese]

> A Goldfeesh:
> You ladies are after my own heart. Just two days ago it was 
brought 
> forcibly to my attention that I both need to update and burn some 
> CDs.   I went to listen to Dylan's Planet Waves (Forever Young and 
> You Angel You) and Nashville Skyline (Lay Lady Lay) and found that 
> not only do I not have them on CD, that I don't even have them 
taped 
> off anymore.  On top of that I found my 1970s, awesome portable 
> record player needs a bit of speaker repair!  I get a fiancee and 
> neglect my record player and collection- who knew? :)

Jen: Oh, nostalgia! My first 45' was "Cheeseburger in Paradise" by 
Jimmy Buffet. Hopefully my taste in music has improved, but I still 
remember the thrill of buying records and playing them on a really 
horrible portable record-player with built-in scratchy speakers. 

And 8-tracks! I inherited my brother's collection when he moved up 
to cassettes, and thus developed an interest in 70's classic rock 
like Kansas, Rush, Steve Miller Band, Journey, etc. This I blame on 
him.

As for Dylan, I only have one, "Blood on the Tracks." So many great 
tunes on this one: "Tangled up in Blue"/"Idiot Wind"/"Buckets of 
Rain." Maybe I'll buy another soon, since I'm on a roll?


A Goldfeesh: 
> For anyone who loves, or at least, knows Dylan and needs a new 
book 
> to read, I can recommend two.  The first goes without saying, 
> Chronicles Vol. 1, his autobiography. He is so Bob in it, he talks 
> of his life yet is so so very elusive at the same time.  
<snipping> 
> The second book, the reason I was looking for my CDs, is by 
> Christopher Ricks, "Dylan's Visions of Sin." Ricks, a humanities 
> prof and Dylan fan focuses fourteen or so songs reflect the 7 
Deadly 
> Sins and the 7 Heavenly Virtues.  In additon, he brings in Keats, 
> William Blake and other poet comparisons.  This book made me 
> remember why I love Bob so much. He points out things on word 
usage 
> and rhymes that I would never dream of and made me reappreciate 
> songs that I'd became over-familiar with.

Jen: Thanks for the tips. The second book sounds perfect, as I do 
spend time pondering his lyrics and would like to know the meaning 
behind a few mysteries. Like this one:

"I lived with Emma on Montague street, a basement down the stairs. 
There was music in the cafes at night and revolution in the air. He 
started into dealing with slaves, and something inside of him died. 
She had to sell all the things she owned and froze up inside."

So, why the sudden switch to third person? It's the only place in 
the song he does that. And I've always wondered if he's referring to 
actual slavery, or someone who has become enslaved to drugs or the 
like. 

A Goldfeesh:
> There is so much I'd like to say about the media and politics and 
> the media eating out of the hands of the politicians and lobbyists 
> and the powerlessness of the average person but- I'd better not.

Jen: The Texas Legislature is in session, and my dh has spent much 
of his working life there in some form or fashion. When I lament the 
proceedings, he tells me his favorite quote from a former Texas 
politician, Carl Parker: "If you took all the fools out of the 
legislature, it wouldn't be a representative body anymore." Well, I 
don't feel any better, but it explains quite a bit. :)