Welcome to Indigo Kalliope: Poems from The Left-Bob Dylan: The Poet Laureate of Rock and Roll
Join us every Monday evening for drinks at the new Kos community political poetry club. Drop by and speak your mind in rhyme or blank verse. Let’s use language to scream our passion to the world. Bongos, berets and turtle neck sweaters are optional. The keypad is mightier than the sword. This new weekly community diary is a poetry reading, a jam, a workshop and a classroom.
Formats
• Individual hosts presenting their own politically-themed poetry
• Theme diaries; for when we have collected enough original poetry on a particular theme
• Poetry workshops, including tips on how to make poetry work, how to choose words, how to decide whether to put it in form or use free verse, how to pump the brain when there is nothing there but writer’s block, and so on
• Presentations of a favorite conscientious poet’s work in the public domain
• Other ideas for diary formats are welcome
Comments
• Poetry and verse are always welcome in the comments
Shadows are falling and I’ve been here all day
It’s too hot to sleep, time is running away
Feel like my soul has turned into steel
I’ve still got the scars that the sun didn’t heal
There’s not even room enough to be anywhere
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
Bob Dylan
My premise of this poetry/diary, and something I have believed for a long time, is that music is the poetry of our time. No one better reflects this sentiment than Bob Dylan who has been dubbed “The Poet Laureate of Rock and Roll.” I took my name from a Dylan song because it reflected how I feel about the politics, the world, the environment and my own emotional and physical state the last couple years. Eight words hold a hint of hope with a large dose of reality. It’s not dark yet. But it’s gettin there. The direction things are going is getting darker.
With his songs, Dylan has provided a running commentary on our restless age. His biting, imagistic and often cryptic lyrics served to capture and define the mood of a generation.
For this, he’s been elevated to the role of spokesmen - and yet the elusive Dylan won’t even admit to being a poet. “I don’t call myself a poet because I don’t like the word,” he has said. “I’m a trapeze artist.”
http://rockhall.com/...
I’ve always loved Dylan and I think a lot of people see him as a poet. We don’t buy his records for the singing. (Even though he is one person I can sing along with and not feel like a bad singer.) I can remember very little poetry that I have read, (I once memorized all of the Raven by EA Poe, and still know a couple verses), but I know thousands of song lyrics. I often just think of the lyrics, like a person would think of a poem, when I am musing over things, a line from a song will pop into my head. I’ll highlight four songs and you all can fill in the blanks.
It’s been a really hard week in the world, and to bring it to a lower level, in my life this week. When I don’t know what to do or think, when I feel like I just don’t know anything, anymore, I turn to music. My husband could play every single Dylan song on the harmonica (he was really good, better than Dylan) and on all our road trips we would pop in Dylan, Skip would play the harmonica and I would sing in my very best Dylan voice. When I close my eyes and play Dylan, I see Skip driving down the highway playing the harmonica.....
"There must be some way out of here," said the joker to the thief,
"There's too much confusion, I can't get no relief.
Businessmen, they drink my wine, plowmen dig my earth,
None of them along the line know what any of it is worth."
"No reason to get excited," the thief, he kindly spoke,
"There are many here among us who feel that life is but a joke.
But you and I, we've been through that, and this is not our fate,
So let us not talk falsely now, the hour is getting late."
All along the watchtower, princes kept the view
While all the women came and went, barefoot servants, too.
Outside in the distance a wildcat did growl,
Two riders were approaching, the wind began to howl.
"
All Along the Watchtower" is a song written and recorded by American singer-songwriter Bob Dylan. The song, which has been included on most of Dylan's greatest hits compilations, initially appeared on his 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Over the past 35 years, he has performed it in concert more than any of his other songs. Different versions appear on four of Dylan's live albums.
Covered by numerous artists in various genres, "All Along the Watchtower" is strongly identified with the interpretation Jimi Hendrix recorded for Electric Ladyland with the Jimi Hendrix Experience.[2] The Hendrix version, released six months after Dylan's original recording, became a Top 10 single in 1968 and was ranked 48th in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Here is one typical interpretation of the lyrics:
Biblical in origin (but not with religious intent), the song likely can be more applied to Dylan's view of the loss of humanity and a general societal statement about our need to dominate and not appreciate. Basically, the song pulls verses from the bible centering on the crucifixion of Christ, the tower of babel, and the end of times. The song jumps around but weaves a story similar to the Biblical verses...
Dylan resented society's arrogance and often sang of us losing our innocence and lack of appreciation for life. While I don't think of him as too religious, I do not see him lost on the allegories in the bible...
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ttp://www.lyricinterpretations.com/Bob-Dylan/All-Along-the-Watchtower
It’s Not Dark Yet performed by Dylan:
http://www.youtube.com/...
"Not Dark Yet" is a song by Bob Dylan, released on his 1997 album Time Out of Mind and also as the first single on March 2, 1998. It appears on the album The Passion of the Christ: Songs Inspired By, and also features on the Wonder Boys soundtrack. "Not Dark Yet" is also played in the ending part of the documentary Why We Fight. It was covered by Robyn Hitchcock for his 2002 album of Dylan covers Robyn Sings and Eric Clapton during his 2009 Ireland/UK tour.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain
She wrote me a letter and she wrote it so kind
She put down in writing what was in her mind
I just don’t see why I should even care
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
Well, I’ve been to London and I’ve been to gay Paree
I’ve followed the river and I got to the sea
I’ve been down on the bottom of a world full of lies
I ain’t looking for nothing in anyone’s eyes
Sometimes my burden seems more than I can bear
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
I was born here and I’ll die here against my will
I know it looks like I’m moving, but I’m standing still
Every nerve in my body is so vacant and numb
I can’t even remember what it was I came here to get away from
Don’t even hear a murmur of a prayer
It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there
"Knockin' on Heaven's Door" is a song written and performed by Bob Dylan for the soundtrack of the 1973 film Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid. It reached #12 on the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart. In 2004, representatives of the music industry and the press voted this song #190 in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Although it was originally recorded as an acoustic song, "Knockin' On Heaven's Door" has been covered extensively in many styles. Arthur Louis was the first to record the song with a cross-over feel and Eric Clapton along with Guns N' Roses are the best known artists to have recorded it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/...
Knockin On Heavens Door performed by Dylan:
http://www.youtube.com/...
Mama, take this badge off of me
I can’t use it anymore
It’s gettin’ dark, too dark for me to see
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door
Mama, put my guns in the ground
I can’t shoot them anymore
That long black cloud is comin’ down
I feel like I’m knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
Knock, knock, knockin’ on heaven’s door
"Forever Young" is a song by Bob Dylan that always reminds me of my husband. He stayed young in his heart. The song first appeared (in two different versions) on Dylan's 1974 album Planet Waves. I still have this original album. Ending this diary on a more positive note, I have tried to live my life by the words of this song.
Sung by Bob Dylan:
http://www.youtube.com/...
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the lights surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young
May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
May your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young