4. Some Thoughts On Bob Dylan

I love Bob Dylan. Simple enough statement, right, but how what exactly do I saying here? Do I love him like friend? Do I love him like a fan? Do I love him like a brother? Or, do I love him like fat kid loves a Butterfinger?

I've come to find that a love for Bob Dylan has a very bipolar effect. On the one hand not a lot of people really like him--esp. those who have never heard his shockingly grating voice. I remember a friend of mine emphasizing how much more brilliant Tom Petty was than "this guy". I was so appalled that I didn't even know how to formulate a coherent rebuttal.

On the other hand, proclaiming yourself as a fan of Bob has it's cache. Anyone who's read a decent amount of Rolling Stone, knows anything about rock history or has had parents that smoked their fair share of weed have at least heard of him--let alone could hum the tune of "Blowin in The Wind."

But those experts of music--daily readers of pitchfork.com, owners of at least one Beatles poster, those who've synced "The Wizard of Oz" to Pink Floyd's "Dark Side of The Moon", or those who claim "Almost Famous" to be the greatest movie ever mad--feel they understand Dylan's importance to rock and know very well the arithmetic involved in the "cool-points" boost that a proclamation of love for Dylan would incite.

On the one side of the coin you've got alienation from the Tom Petty-lovers and a back-stage pass with the sonic youth-lovers on the other. Who woulda thought that diggin Bob Dylan would be so polarizing?

I don't really identify completely with either of these groups, but I feel a piece of both of them tugging inside of me. I mean, I like to occationally read pitchfork.com, but I also enjoy listening to Tom Petty. I listen to Dylan aware of his importance in rock history, but I also just like him in the same way some 12 year old girl likes Miley Cyrus. My listening to Dylan reveals to me that I'm both incredibly self-aware, but also clueless to the world. He makes me a bit of a shape-shifter, which I believe makes him something of an artist.