Moss doesn't grow fat on this rolling stone

By Taylor Auclair
Collegian Staff
October 11, 2006

For over four decades, Bob Dylan has been one of the most iconic figures in American music. Over that time, he has reinvented himself and his music, as well as challenged his fans and the world to take a deeper look at life. He has also remained one of the most studied and written about figures in modern music – winning passionate and inquisitive fans from all generations.

Recently with his new record, Modern Times, Dylan debuted at number one on the charts. But why is it so important that a 65 year old man, who was a central figure in our parents’ generation of revolution, remains as vital today as he did back then?

Perhaps the answer lies in the fact that Dylan is the most important person in American music. He is more important than even his own hero, Woody Guthrie, or contemporaries like Johnny Cash. Hundreds of years from now when people look back at the 20th and 21st centuries, Dylan’s name will undoubtedly triumph.

After making a name for himself playing folk music, he completely changed his sound by playing dirty basement rock-and-roll songs showcased on records like Bringing It All Back Home and Blonde on Blonde. Then, he again reinvented himself by returning to more stripped-down, acoustic-based music, finding Jesus and eventually reemerging in the ’90s with some of his best material to date. No matter what era he found himself in however, Dylan never stayed complacent. He never felt completely comfortable sticking with a defined and limited genre; thus he thrived in his ability to reinvent himself over and over again.

When Dylan noticed he was a key spokesman for the 1960s, he took genuinely, as he did not see the media attention as a way to remain prominent. His awareness and consciousness for himself protected him from becoming a pop star in the way the Beatles became, and helped define who he was.

His unwillingness to become what society wanted him to be developed his iconic persona and his significance in American culture. He is an example of a classic American principle: independence.

In a legendary live recording of the song “Like a Rolling Stone” from 1966, a frustrated fan vents because of Dylan’s supposed “betrayal” after his switch to the electric guitar shouting “Judas!” at him before the song begins. After responses of cheering, Dylan walks over to the microphone and says, “I don’t believe you…ya’r liar.” Then he turns towards his band and pronounces, “Play it f***ing loud,” as they launch into a callous and defiant version of the song that defined his new sound. Such natural and authentic rebellion to even his fans showed this independence.

The fact that that man, four decades later, is still at number one on the charts says something about how we, as Americans, honor such independence of spirit. Many of those sales come from both old and new fans alike. Collectively, we have not forgotten about Dylan’s performance at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 or him openly humiliating the press in public. Just last year, Martin Scorcese released the fantastic documentary, No Direction Home. In short, Bob Dylan, or at least our memories and perceptions of him, are not going anywhere.

Like Paul Bunyan or Johnny Appleseed of the past, Dylan is modern America’s own living folk hero. He gives us a sense of belief, and a comfort in the mysterious and perilous, no matter how ambiguous. He is a pillar in our country’s roots, and the fact that his records still today are on top prove that we recognize how vital that is to our culture.

auclairt1@lasalle.edu