Cheryl and I went to see the Bob Dylan biopic a few weeks ago and we both really liked it a lot. I’ve never been a big fan of his, but after seeing the movie, have a new appreciation for him. And soon thereafter, Peter Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary fame passed away.
So I listened to a few of their songs. And a handful of
Dylan’s. And what hit me most solidly, well besides trying to make any sense of
meaning of Dylan’s lyrics at all, my previous post about poetry and lyrics
notwithstanding, was the earnestness which drip from their every word. They
delivered each lyric with great intent and feeling and importance.
And it all took me back to that time – the 60’s - when I was
a kid and the world was pretty darn wonderful. Not only was it wonderful, if
kind of boring to be honest, but it was a time of simplicity and great hope and
excitement about the future. Our family hung out with people like us, many of
them Quakers: the Marohns, Kietzmans, Browns, McQuails, and, at Quarterly Meeting
gatherings, the Zorns. All people who shared our values and our belief in love
and caring for each other and a gleaming future absent of prejudice and war.
And seemingly all the families drove VWs – bugs, buses, Carmen Ghias,
squarebacks – and they were a beautiful simple political statement of their
own.
We had soundly defeated the extremism of Goldwater and the John Birch Society and we were sure we were going to march and protest and wear our peace sign medallions until we had left Vietnam. It was a time of great promise.
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