Sunday, May 30, 2021

Debt of Honor

I gave an ambiguous review of a Bob Dylan song over at my friend Charles Gardner's site (Maggie's Farm), and promised to do something nice for Bob in return.  Like Zimmerman needs it and I don't. 

There is a lot to see here if you want to dig deeper. "Remember me to one who lives there. She once was a true love of mine," is recognisable to people of my generation and is an echo of several songs from the Child Ballads, and Dylan claims to have been inspired by Martin Carthy on his trip to England in 1963 1962 for this song in particular. Carthy was a central, though intermittent member of Steeleye Span.

Critical remarks of the early Dylan, prior to Dylan Goes Electric! the Night That Split the 60s  might be in order, but... honor...promises. He was overrated from 1960-1970, underrated from 1970-1995, overrated from 1995-2010, and underrated from 2010-2020. He is 80 and overrated again as everyone worries he might die one of these days. I think he will in the end be regarded as anticipating his times, then simply reflecting his times, then transcending his times. I would consider it amazing if people thought the same of me, so I won't kick too hard.

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