Nobody ever really understands a Bob Dylan record the first time round. I know that’s a bold opening statement but it’s true. Dylan’s most iconic albums are filled with hidden nuances. They are overflowing with so much humour, rhythm, wisdom, scorn, and heartbreak that decades after they first hit the shelves, these records still offer fresh insights aplenty. This should surprise nobody. But the artist’s less beloved works have also earned critical reappraisal as time has gone by. His most recent box set release, ‘The Complete Budokan 1978’, has offered fans an extended reissue of an old live album, one that was reviled by contemporary critics.
Dylan is a man of the world. Like Woody Gutherie and Jack Kerouac, the heroes of his youth, he has spent his life on the road. And his creative output reflects this, a cultural melting pot of art and music from across the globe. He has drawn inspiration from sources as varied as French poet Arthur Rimbaud, German playwright Bertolt Brecht, Italian filmmaker Federico Fellini – and yes, The Clancy Brothers, from our very own Emerald Isle.
We are dealing here with an artist so accomplished that he has received an Academy Award, a plethora of Grammys, and even the Nobel Prize for Literature. Sixty years into his career, even his past failures have been accepted as successes in retrospect. So just what exactly is left for this guy to achieve?
Well, let’s put his face on a stamp and see what he thinks of that.
If that sounds facetious, I can only promise that it isn’t intended to. I’m deadly serious.
Anna McHugh, a representative of An Post, noted in 2010 that when you live in a country without knighthoods or titles of nobility, “a stamp is the highest honour the public can bestow.” Indeed, in recent years, everyone from Che Guevara, to Pope Francis, to Rory Gallagher has found themselves on an Irish envelope at one point or another. Personally, I think Bob Dylan would be pleased to find himself in the company of a revolutionary, a man of God, and a blues guitarist.
If the proposed honour seems a tad parochial or twee, just consider that any stamp, like Dylan himself, is essentially a traveller. The real Bob Dylan can only be in so many places at once but there is no reason his image must abide by the same rule. From postbox to postbox, it could criss-cross land, sea, and sky for as long as supplies last – charting a Never-Ending Tour all its own.
Of course, some may argue that we can do better. Perhaps Trinity College could grant the Tambourine Man an honorary doctorate? Or maybe the Minnesota bard could be permitted rare entry among the ranks of The Aosdána? In truth, Dylan has always bristled in the past at such academic attention and prestige. I think he would better appreciate the more practical nature of my suggested form of kudos. He must be sick of people kissing his ass – let them lick his face instead!
Naturally, I am not trying to suggest that this is a man in need of humbling. He has consistently avoided the trappings of celebrity and he spends much more time touring than he does enjoying any of his hard-earned money. No, I sincerely believe that he is an artist worthy of recognition by our nation, just as he has always endorsed the finest works of our own culture.
Stretching right back from 1964’s ‘God on Our Side’, to 2020’s ‘I Contain Multitudes’, Dylan’s songs have referenced our music, poetry, and literature. Furthermore, both in concert and on record, he has covered Irish folk tunes like ‘Easy and Slow’, ‘The Auld Triangle’, and ‘Arthur McBride’. Whether he is name-checking James Joyce alongside Billy Joe Shaver, or posing for a photo with Seamus Heaney in Moscow, Dylan has always given us our dues. It’s time to return the favour, signed, sealed, and delivered.
Yes, I am aware that not everybody is a fan of the man. Like any artist, Dylan has his detractors. All throughout his career, for every supporter in his corner of the ring, he has had an opponent waiting in the wings. Personally, I just can’t relate to those who say he cannot sing, decry his songs as overly long, and disregard his intricate lyrics.
Some have argued that his music is dated or old fashioned. In terms of production style and instrumentation, he has certainly avoided following fashionable fads or dropping bold sonic statements, but he has done so with great purpose. While his contemporary Tom Waits has leaned further and further toward experimentation since his initial output, Dylan has chosen to focus increasingly more on his earliest influences: classic radio hits and obscurities from the first half of the twentieth century.
This choice has served his material best. Dylan has continually crafted songs that sound both fresh and timeless. His raw, stripped-back approach actually serves to highlight the lean and mean concision of the words he sings. Not one note on his last studio album, ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, is misplaced. Call them vintage if you like but his records remain potent. Ultimately, a Dylan song is to a modern pop track what a letter is to an email – more tangible, more intimate, and far more personal.
Finally, it should be noted that I am not arguing for some collector’s item that could fill a gap in the nichest of niche markets. These stamps shouldn’t be rarified, they should be available to everyone, like an old folk ballad. And hey, if Dylan is lucky, maybe we’ll give him his own postcard next.
