Potentially Great New Film on the Many Sides of Dylan: "I'm Not There"

On November 17, 2007 one of the most creative, innovative films, so far, about the career of Bob Dylan will be released. To read more about this "metaphorical masterpiece", starring Australian actress extrodinaire Cate Blanchett as on of the actors portraying Dylan in this film, see I'm Not There at IMDb.

A Sermon -- Johnny Cash style

A while back, I wrote in some detail about the American Recordings, produced by Rick Rubin, that Johnny Cash made in the last years of his life. While listening to some of these songs last Sunday, I reflected on Cash's message and the hollow sermons given in churches these days. It hit me that somebody ought to piece together a great sermon based on Cash's end-of-the-trail lyrics. Here's my humble attempt:
______________________________

Unchained

I have been ungrateful
And I have been unwise
Restless from the cradle
But now I realize
It's so hard to see the rainbow
Through glasses dark as these
Maybe I'll be able from down on my knees

Oh I am weak
Oh I know I am vain
Take this weight from me
Let my spirit be unchained

Old man swearin' at the sidewalk
And I am overcome
Seems that we've both forgotten
Forgotten to go home
Have I seen an angel
Or have I seen a ghost
Where's that Rock of Ages
When you need it most

It's so hard to see the rainbow
Through glasses dark as these
Maybe I'll be able
From down on my knees

*****

from When The Man Comes Around

And I heard, as it were, the noise of thunder:
One of the four beasts saying: "Come and see."
And I saw.
And behold, a white horse
There's a Man goin' 'round takin' names
An' He decides who to free and who to blame
Everybody won't be treated all the same
There'll be a golden ladder reaching down

When the Man comes around
The hairs on your arm will stand up
At the terror in each sip and in each sup'
For you partake of that last offered cup,
Or disappear into the potter's ground.
When the Man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
One hundred million angels singin'
Multitudes are marching to the big kettle drum.
Voices callin', voices cryin'
Some are born an' some are dyin'.
It's Alpha's and Omega's Kingdom come.

And the whirlwind is in the thorn tree
The virgins are all trimming their wicks
The whirlwind is in the thorn tree
It's hard for thee to kick against the pricks
'Till Armageddon, no Shalam, no Shalom
Then the Father hen will call his chickens home.

The wise men will bow down before the throne.
And at His feet they'll cast their golden crown,
When the Man comes around.

Whoever is unjust, let him be unjust still.
Whoever is righteous, let him be righteous still.
Whoever is filthy, let him be filthy still.
Listen to the words long written down,
When the Man comes around.

Hear the trumpets, hear the pipers
When The Man Comes Around ....

******

from Redemption

From the hands it came down
From the side it came down
From the feet it came down
And ran to the ground.

Between heaven and hell
A teardrop fell
In the deep crimson dew
The tree of life grew

And the blood gave life
To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free
And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood
Clung to the tree
And were redeemed by the blood.

From the tree streamed a light
That started the fight
'Round the tree grew a vine
On whose fruit I could dine

My old friend Lucifer came
Fought to keep me in chains
But I saw through the tricks
Of six-sixty-six

And the blood gave life
To the branches of the tree
And the blood was the price
That set the captives free
And the numbers that came
Through the fire and the flood
Clung to the tree
And were redeemed by the blood. ...

*****

from "Why Me Lord"

Why me Lord, what have I ever done?
To deserve even one
Of the pleasures I've known
Tell me Lord, what did I ever do?
That was worth loving You
Or the kindness You've shown.

Lord help me Jesus, I've wasted it so
Help me Jesus
I know what I am
Now that I know that I've need You so
Help me Jesus, my soul's in Your hand.

Tell me Lord, if You think there's a way
I can try to repay
All I've taken from You?
Maybe Lord, I can show someone else
What I've been through myself
On my way back to You. ...

*****
from Personal Jesus

.... Reach out and touch faith.

*****

Amen.
______________________________

'A Divided Civilization Subjected to Scrutiny'

From WashingtonPost.com:

Lessing Wins Nobel Literature Prize

By Linton Weeks
Washington Post Staff Writer
October 11, 2007

For six decades, British novelist Doris Lessing has written works of fiction that explore the sometimes painful intertwining of the political and the personal. Today, those efforts landed her the 2007 Nobel Prize for literature.

In awarding her the prize-of-all-writing-prizes, the Swedish Academy championed Lessing as "that epicist of the female experience, who with skepticism, fire and visionary power has subjected a divided civilization to scrutiny."

Lessing's work had been of great importance both to other writers and to the broader field of literature, academy secretary Horace Engdahl told Reuters news service. He said members of the academy had discussed her as a potential laureate for years.

"Now the moment was right. Perhaps we could say that she is one of the most carefully considered decisions in the history of the Nobel Prize," Engdahl told the wire service. "She has opened up a new area of experience that earlier had not been very accepted in literature. That has to do with, for instance, female sexuality." ....

Congratulations to Ms. Lessing.

Epigram: I learned later in this day that her watershed masterpiece is her 1962 novel The Golden Notebook.

Hughie Thomasson: The Passing of an Outlaw

One of The Outlaws last gigs

On September 9, 2007, Hughie Thomasson, vocalist and influential guitarist for The Outlaws, passed away. Another loss of one of our greatest Southern Rock musicians.

On a personal note, The Outlaws formed in Tampa, Florida (my hometown), and the lightning-strike of a song Green Grass and High Tides was a huge part of my musical education. For videos of this song and interviews with the band, click here.

Hughie, rest in peace.

Transcendental Blues: "The Revolution Starts ... Now"

You gotta check out Steve Earle's 2004 The Revolution Starts ... Now. Tracks (emphasis mine):

1. "The Revolution Starts ..." – 3:10
2. "Home to Houston" – 2:41
3. "Rich Man's War" – 3:25
4. "Warrior" – 4:11
5. "The Gringo's Tale" – 4:33
6. "Condi, Condi" – 3:08
7. "F the CC" – 3:12
8. "Comin' Around" – 3:41
9. "I Thought You Should Know" – 3:46
10. "The Seeker" – 3:11
11. "The Revolution Starts ... Now" – 4:23

This masterwork by Mr. Earle is the best protest rock I've heard in years. Are you down with that?

For the whole story on why Earle is the new man, check out David McGee and Earle's story of this artist's road: Steve Earle: Fearless Heart, Outlaw Poet. Fearless Heart indeed.

I'm with Steve, we are in a revolution -- are you in or out? I want to see the deaths and disappearaces of Bhuddist monks and protesters in Burma stop now!

*****************************************

History is the Set of Questions ... (Epigram)

I completed viewing all 16 hours of Ken Burns' documentary The War last Tuesday night. I though about my great uncle's (European theater tail gunner) experiences. I spoke twice with his wife (brave homeland supporter and the person who met, among other things, all his post-war emotional needs). I reached two conclusions:

1.) As with all good history, Burns' The War asks more questions than the thousands it answers.

2.) I am 50 now, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, a non-veteran. And I will never look at war, any war, in the same way. Burns' documentary has reshaped not only my views of war, but also the questions I ask of military history.

As the old saying goes, "There are no atheists in the trenches."

History is the Set of Questions ...

Given my attempt, however successful, for historical analysis interwoven in all these posts; and given that, as of this writing, I have watched every episode broadcast so far of Ken Burns' The War; and given the quality of the music controlled by Wynton Marsalis (who calls on Norah Jones along with vintage artists of the early forties, for a contribution to his score, this documentary is a monumental achievement.

In a tip of the hat to Mr. Burns' work promoting the film, I quote the following from his September 27, 2007 appearance on The Daily Show:

"History is the Set of Questions
We of the Present
Ask of the Past"

Tell it, man!