Shot in black-and-white with a hand-held camera, Dont Look Back (1967) has been called a “fly on the wall” perspective on Bob Dylan. It was filmed in 1965 by noted filmmaker D.A. Pennemaker, who later made film documentaries of John Lennon and David Bowie. At one level, the film is meant to give audiences a close-up and personal view of Dylan, just as he’s beginning to gain wider acclaim, on his first tour of the UK. However, this is less a traditional documentary than an “impressionistic film portrait.” (Farrel, 2006). There is no voice-over narration, and no consistent narrative. Most of the footage consists of snippets of Dylan hanging out, often in crowded hotel rooms, with other musicians, occasionally playing his signature songs, such as “The Times They Are A-Changing.” There is also extensive footage of Dylan answering “serious” questions from reporters, about the content of his music and its influence. Invariably Dylan’s replies are witty and ironic – or just plain frivolous.
This interplay between Dylan, the “serious” folk musician, and Dylan, the comedic, self-mocking pop idol riffing on the very media culture he’s now uncomfortably a part of, is apparent from the opening sequence of Don’t Look Back. The sequence runs just over two minutes (2:18) and is actually set off from the rest of the film, serving as a kind of formal introduction. In it, Dylan appears standing in the foreground of the frame, the obvious “star.” He’s at the entrance to what appears to be an alley or a small dirt road, a symbol that works on several levels. It is the “road” in the musical sense, the path of mass public performance onto which Dylan has just entered. But, it is also a symbol of a larger journey that is set out before u...
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... “I’m just a guitar player, really,” he tells one journalist, without a hint of irony. Or maybe just a man writing his own cue cards, but forgetting, in the end, to read them.
References
Don’t Look Back (1967) Film. Directed by D.A. Pennemaker. US:Leacock/Pennemaker.
Hilburn, Robert. (2004, April 4). Rock's enigmatic poet opens a long-private door. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved from http://www.latimes.com.
Mamacampos. (2013, November 19). Bob Dylan Newport Festival. [You tube video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbn_rKAW28U. Retrieved on March 24, 2014.
O’Farrel, Tim. (2006). No direction home: Looking forward from ‘Don’t Look Back.’ Senses of Cinema. 38. Retrieved from http://sensesofcinema.com.
Shelton, Robert. (2003). No direction home: The life and music of Bob Dylan, New York: Da Capo Press.
Bruce Springsteen once wrote in his song “Spirit In The Night” does “anybody wanna go on up to Greasy Lake?” T. Coraghessan Boyle referenced this Springsteen song in his short story “Greasy Lake.” Unlike the song which is supposed to be about people having a fun and rebellious night, Boyle turns Springsteen’s lyrics into dark and painful memories. The story was about the narrator, who remained unnamed throughout the entirety of it, and his friends Digby and Jeff who went to hang out at Greasy Lake. They lived in a time where it was “good to be bad” and they did not care about anything in the world. These characters did whatever they wanted, and their actions did have consequences. Throughout the story, the narrator’s personal growth was seen with how he viewed the
...of such a process. At the same time, this process is not simply a sentimental return to the folk, or a new primitivism on the part of the intellectual, but also involves the intellectual-poet's giving a new consciousness to the folk that allows it to see its power and destiny more clearly while recognizing its weaknesses” (Southern Road). Southern Road is about a black man working on a chain gang. The man is a prisoner. His daughter is a hooker on the streets, his son already dead, and his wife pregnant.
The poem “Southern Road” by Sterling Brown is about a man in prison contemplating his life. On either side of the jail fences, his life is depressing, and the blues tone sets the mood. Two prominent characteristics of the poem is the low language dialect and onomatopoeia. Brown uses these literary devices to paint a picture. He does not mention that the protagonist is black or that he is from the south, but from his dialect, the readers are able to tell his ethnicity. The literary devices used in the poem reveals the story of the protagonist and captivates the hardships of African American.
middle of paper ... ... to American History. New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Goodman, Dean. “Dylan fans get tangled up in academic views,” Reuters (1998): February, p. PG.
Kidder, Rushworth M. Dylan Thomas: The Country of the Spirit. Princeton: PrincetonUniversity Press, 1984. 94, 187-190, 197.
Regardless of the achievements of great men like William Blake, the particular of situation of Bob Dylan isn’t comparable because of the great headway
One artist that was extremely influential in the time of crisis was Bob Dylan. He was born on May 24, 1941 as Robert Allen Zimmerman. When he began to perform in college, he adopted the stage name that he is known for today, Bob Dylan. He got his last name from the poet Dylan Thomas, who was one of his major motivations along with Hank Williams and Woody Guthrie. He wrote songs about real occurrences like his song, “Hurricane” which was about the renowned African American boxer Rubin Carter, who was wrongly accused of murder even though he was all the way across town at the time the murder took place. Throughout his musical career, he was awarded an abundance of awards for his lyrics and song writing that inspired and moved many struggling people all across the troubled country.
Moritz, Michael. Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg: Singing and Howling their American Selves. Diss. University College Dublin, 2002.
When first reading the reader is met with a dedication before the story begins, “To Bob Dylan.” Though it seems like a silly dedication by a simple fan of his work it is actually apparent once reading the story that the influence of Bob Dylan added an extra layer. Joyce Carol
In an interview with time magazine, Dylan said “I haven’t got anything to say about the things I write, I just write em’, I don’t have anything to say about them, I don’t write them for any reason, theres no great “message”, if you wanna tell other people that then go ahead and tell...
Bob Dylan was an artist that recorded protest music. He recorded “Times Are A-Changin” in 1963. The lines “There’s a battle outside and it’s ragin’. It’ll soon shake your windows, rattle your walls” are a reference to the Vietnam War. At first, you think he is trying to get the public to not try to understand the war. In all reality, he was talking about how confused and frustrated at how many parents sons’ and daughters were sent to war. Another song by him is “Blowin’ in the Wind” and it became an anthem for the civil rights era. “Chimes of Freedom” by Bob Dylan is another protest song. He uses imagery from wind, hurricanes, etc. to tell a bigger
As a child Dylan was comfortable being the center of attention, often writing creative poetry for his mother and on occasion singing. Dylan had no formal music lessons, but none the less he began to compose. Later at age 14, he took up the guitar and shortly after formed a band, one of many he played the guitar in. Always plunging ahead, performing to his up most potentional, Dylan absorbed his surroundings as a source of inspiration. Even during his early efforts Dylan responded very positivly to mainstream musicians, such as country star Hank Williams. Yet, he responded especially well to early rock stars such as Little Richard, Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis. In the summer of 1959, after graduation Dylan began to work at a cafe, where he began to pay increasing attention to folksingers such as Judy Collins and Jesse Fuller. Finding an instant connection with their songs, songs relevant to social issues. Dylan was drawn into both the musical style and the social message of these indivisuals.
Poetry is a form of art in which an exclusive arrangement and choice of words help bring about a desired emotional effect. Robert Frost said that a poem is formed when “an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words.” His popular poem, "The Road Not Taken," like any other poem, has as many interpretations as it has readers. Using rhetorical analysis, one can break down the meaning(s) of this seemingly simple poem.
Dylan Thomas was born in 1914 of intellectual parents both being literature professors. Long before he could read, his father would recite poetry from classic authors. Many of his poems can be traced to the illustrated style of D.H Lawrence. The imagery he provides of disparity and death in many of his poems. In the span of Dylan’s life, he witnessed both Great Wars. The first war may have been the main topic of discussion by his parents at childhood. And later at service in the air defense over London. Because of his determined health Thomas was not able to enroll in an active combat role during World War II. Thomas life’s experiences played a major role in influencing his writing...
Today, the most difficult day in my family’s life, we gather to say farewell to our son, brother, fiancé and friend. To those of you here and elsewhere who know Dylan you already are aware of the type of person he was and these words you will hear are already in your memory. To those who were not as fortunate, these words will give you a sense of the type of man he was and as an ideal for which we should strive. My son has been often described as a gentle soul. He was pure of heart and had great sensitivity for the world around him. He had a way with people that made them feel comfortable around him and infected others to gravitate toward him. Dylan exuded kindness and pulled generosity and altruism out from everyone he touched. He was everyone's best friend.