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By Tony Attwood
To try and summarise, as best I can, my argument about Bob Dylan and his ability to jump from one subject to another as he writes song after song, I have been looking at the “Dissociative Identity Disorder” to which Bob has himself refereed, and which he says he suffers from.
I am considering in this series how this disorder (which gives him, among other things, the ability to see the world from multiple different points of view, depending on which particular personality is occupying his mind at the time of writing the lyrics of a new song) has influenced and affected the songs that Bob has written, and the messages he has put across.
Now of course it is possible to argue that Bob does not (despite this comments) suffer from “Dissociative Identity Disorder” but just said this to try and bring the debate about his lyrics to an end – or maybe even throw us all onto the wrong track. I recognise that could be true, and I am, slowly, learning more about this disorder, and considering it in relation to Bob’s songwriting, live performances and recordings.
And as part of this I am accepting (at least for the moment) that Bob does indeed suffer from “Dissociative Identity Disorder” and has done for many years. You’ll find more about the disorder in the earlier articles in this series, particularly I don’t know who I am most of the time. It doesn’t even matter to me”.
But now to return to the point as far as it has been developed in this series. The argument is that Bob has given us, through his songs, insights into issues he has experienced. But these insights often change because, according to his own reporting, he suffers not just from this disorder, but from an extreme case of “Dissociative Identity Disorder”. Put simply, he is not the same person this afternoon as he was this morning.
Now although I do feel I have already made my point as best I can in relation to Bob’s disorder and what he says in his songs, I am continuing with this exploration, because of what happens next.
The writing of I shall be free number 10 – a humorous talking blues is of interest at this point for two major reasons. One is the seemingly nonsensical element within the lyrics at the end, and the other is what happened next.
The final two verses of “number 10” can be described perhaps as an ultimate verse
I’m gonna grow my hair down to my feet so strange So I look like a walking mountain range And I’m gonna ride into Omaha on a horse Out to the country club and the golf course Carry The New York Times, shoot a few holes, blow their minds
and then a postscript
Now you’re probably wondering by now Just what this song is all about What’s probably got you baffled more Is what this thing here is for [harmonica break] It’s nothing It’s something I learned over in England
The first of these two verses states quite simply that Bob’s plan is to behave strangely, seemingly with the idea of ensuring that no one knows quite what he is thinking, and/or (perhaps) no one actually knows what his songs really are about.
Bob could have had many reasons for making such a statement, and indeed so eccentric is the song it might well not have anything to do with reality at all. Yet on the other hand it seems to be one of the few moments in which he is actually addressing the issue of his “Dissociative Identity Disorder” which is explained later. For if one really is moving from one personality to another but leaving a trail of notes along the way (which in this regard is what the songs actually become) then ultimately the notion must arise that one might explain to the audience what is going on.
So in this case Bob is saying that the very short interruption of the changing guitar chords accompanied by the harmonica, which occurs in each verse of “Number 10” has no consequence at all. It just is something that he threw into the song without the intention of it having an meaning, while knowing that his critics love to find meaning in everything he does.
Indeed one could go on further with such thoughts, taking perhaps the particular meaning that the phrase “Number 10” has to most adults in England. For that brief phrase is often used in media reporting, to refer to the office of the British Prime Minister (the most senior politician in the country) – which is at 10 Downing Street, London W1.
Or indeed maybe not – by this stage in events we really don’t know. And that I think is Bob’s point. He is writing whatever he feels – sometimes meaningful political statements as “Times they are a changin,” sometimes humorous songs that have no point at all. As such we can’t know what “number 10” actually means (if anything). And indeed even if Bob tells us, we don’t know if he is telling the truth or not.
Thus in a real sense it it is quite possible the song is indeed a response to the way in which commentators have tried to find ever deeper meanings in every song Dylan has written. And they have done this simply because “Times they are a changin'” clearly itself had a specific meaning – that social and political change is happening whether you want it or not.
But, Bob is saying – at least through this interpretation – not every song has a meaning. And indeed his very use of the name “Dylan” gives us a hint in this direction, since it is clear that some of Dylan Thomas’ poems do not have a meaning in the sense that most poems written previously do have a meaning. Sometimes Bob just puts phrases together because they sound good and fit with the music. Sometimes Dylan Thomas seemed to do that with words just because of how they “feel” together.
And indeed in this regard we might consider that just a few songs before Bob Dylan wrote “Times they are a-changin’,” he wrote “Eternal Circle” within which the key message is that nothing changes. That song is largely forgotten while “Times” is forever remember.
Yet maybe we should look at the songs Bob wrote around this time, for just a few songs before “Times” Bob wrote “Eternal Circle” which has the message within its lyrics that nothing changes.
In short it is a perfectly reasonable response to Bob’s songwriting at this time to say that he was writing about whatever came to his mind that day without necessarily having a reference to the meanings within the phrases he used. And this would be very much in keeping with his statement years later that he did indeed suffer from “Dissociative Identity Disorder”.
This implies that while those of us buying the records might be influenced by the clear message within “Times they are a changin”, both because it was an excellent piece of songwriting, and because it was what we, in the 1960s wanted to hear. Bob in short, because of his “Dissociative Identity Disorder” happened to come up with that song on that day, and it turned out to be one that fitted exactly with the times, our feelings, our experiences and indeed our needs. But it emerged from Bob’s mind because of what is disorder was dong on that day, not because it was what Bob wanted to say.
In short, we gave it the meaning, not Bob.
And a certain strength is given to this interpretation of events by the fact that not too long after, Bob wrote All I really want to do. This, I am sure you will recall is a song of farewell and individualism, which really doesn’t have have anything to do with the inevitable march of history and the changing of the times.
In fact Bob seemed to reinforce this message with his next song, I’ll keep it with mine which is about the need not to follow new movements or new leaders, but rather to stay as an individual and follow one’s own thoughts.
In fact, following that view, the next song, in terms of taking the songs in the order they were written, My back pages, is again very much about being an individual, and following one’s old path. It is also, through its repeated line saying, “I was so much older then” a song that reveals how the individual’s view of the world can change but not always in a logical sequence. So, we might wonder if “Times they are a changing” is not talking about things changing in a regulated chronological manner. We could be jumping back and forth in time.
This makes the interpretation of Bob’s lyrics, when taken not as individual songs but as connected series of songs portraying a particular viewpoint, almost impressible to create, since he does seem to be jumping from one view of the world to another. Which is exactly what he told us he was doing!
Of course what this means is that in order to get a firmer grip on what Bob was writing about, we have to turn with some urgency to what Bob wrote in 1963 after “Times they are a changin’.”
In fact is if one doesn’t know the chronology off by heart it can be hard even now, over sixty years later, to realise that after his masterpiece telling us that the world is changing, and it is the young people who are doing it, Bob told us the human world was wracked with prejudice (Hattie Carroll), that the natural world is superior to anything mankind can do (Weary Tune), and that really is actually is time to move on because there is nothing we can do (One too many mornings, and Restless Farewell.)
There was no call to rise up whether passively or otherwise, all we could do was say goodbye and move on to something else.
And what this implies is that if “Times” does not actually mean what people think it means, this is also true for most other Dylan compositions.
Now such a thought might seem a bit radical some 50 or so years after “Times” appeared but if we think of the songs which Bob wrote through the remainder of that year it is hard to find too many connections in those songs, with the message that times are changing, and it is the young who are making the changes.
Percy’s Song which followed “Times” is a song about the failure of justice, as indeed is The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll which highlights the presence of racism in American society. Perhaps considering this Bob composed Lay Down your Weary Tune which makes the point that the natural world is superior to anything mankind can make, and this in turn was followed by the ultimate song of leaving – One too many mornings – in which everything (not just the lover) is abandoned. How absolute then is the fact that that the final composition of this year was the ultimate song of leaving, Restless Farewell.
In short these are not the songs are the revolutionary wanting to change the world, but the man who sees the world changing each day as he looked at it. This is indeed the mind of the man with “Dissociative Identity Disorder”
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