Neil Young and Meta-Memoir

I've been quite curious about the new Neil Young memoir since it came out earlier this month. I have been a Neil Young fan for a long time - Rust Never Sleeps is easily one of the best rock & roll records of all time; Harvest, Harvest Moon, Everybody Knows This is Nowhere - the list goes on. As well, the concert film Heart of Gold is fantastic, and a new concert film, Neil Young Journeys, is also out this month. He released Neil Young Archives, Vol 1: 1963-1972 a few years ago - home recordings, early demos, personal stuff. So it is natural to think that his memoir would be illuminating - Young is looking back on his life and career, and has the desire to share it with his fans.

I listened to Neil Young on NPR's Fresh Air a couple of weeks ago - and however astute and interviewer Terry Gross is, Neil Young was still, well, Neil Young, as mysterious and reluctant to share as ever. Perhaps he isn't reluctant to share, just reluctant to submit to someone else's terms. Levi Asher at Literary Kicks thinks so, too. His latest blog post is titled "Neil Young's Book Is Not a Great Memoir, But It's a Great Something":

A memoir? Waging Heavy Peace is a stream-of-consciousness, sucking in to itself like a vortex every thought, idea, opinion, business plan, musical memory, old grudge, old friendship or hilarious observation that flits past Neil's eyes as he sits there trying to write. Heavy Peace is a highly self-conscious work -- meta-memoir, to be sure -- and Neil does not seem happy about the fact that he has committed to writing an autobiography, even though he did so of his own free will. He swerves crazily, like a drunken bus driver on a mountain trail, between past and present tense, between the 1960s and the 1980s and now, between technology talk and random memories and musical explanations and tributes to his long-lost friends. The book will keep you awake and amused, but it won't deliver the punch of truth and honesty that a great memoir should deliver, and that recent books by Bob Dylan, Keith Richards and Patti Smith all delivered.

The rest of the article is a great review of the book - I am still intrigued about the book; however, when I read it, I won't be looking for answers.

Bob Dylan for Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prize for Literature is set to be announced sometime this week, and, as is the trend the last few years, Bob Dylan is rumoured to be in the mix. Obviously, I think he deserves it; then again, I am biased. I had the chance to see him live in concert last night, and it was impressive. At 71, he is still making things new every chance he gets.

"Tangled Up In Blue" is my favourite Dylan song of all time, and here's why:

Early one mornin’ the sun was shinin’

I was layin’ in bed
Wond’rin’ if she’d changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like Mama’s homemade dress
Papa’s bankbook wasn’t big enough
And I was standin’ on the side of the road
Rain fallin’ on my shoes
Heading out for the East Coast
Lord knows I’ve paid some dues gettin’ through
Tangled up in blue

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam, I guess
But I used a little too much force
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out West
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin’ away
I heard her say over my shoulder
“We’ll meet again someday on the avenue”
Tangled up in blue

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the ax just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I happened to be employed
Workin’ for a while on a fishin’ boat
Right outside of Delacroix
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind, and I just grew
Tangled up in blue

She was workin’ in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept lookin’ at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I’s just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, “Don’t I know your name?”
I muttered somethin’ underneath my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces of my shoe
Tangled up in blue

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
“I thought you’d never say hello,” she said
“You look like the silent type”
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And every one of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin’ coal
Pourin’ off of every page
Like it was written in my soul from me to you
Tangled up in blue

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafés at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin’ on like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue

So now I’m goin’ back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They’re an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters’ wives
Don’t know how it all got started
I don’t know what they’re doin’ with their lives
But me, I’m still on the road
Headin’ for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point of view
Tangled up in blue

(http://www.bobdylan.com/us/songs/tangled-blue)

Dylan was going through a divorce at the time, and the entirety of Blood on the Tracks is consumed with loss, heartbreak and anger. Tangled Up in Blue, though, is still hopeful, with "I got to get to her somehow". It leads the album, before moving through the stages of grief - "Simple Twist of Fate", You're Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go," "Idiot Wind" to "If You See Her, Say Hello" and "Shelter From the Storm", finally accepting the loss and moving forward with his own life. I like to think that "Tangled Up in Blue" is a reference not only to the emotion, but specifically to Joni Mitchell's Blue, released a few years earlier, and a breakup album of her own. Both are brilliant expressions of grief - the fact that Dylan still plays it live is a treat to his fans.

Jian Ghomeshi's Musical Life

Each Friday, I have noticed, I have mentioned something relating to music with my posts. Today, I am cheating a little, as I came across the Maclean’s review of Jian Ghomeshi’s memoir 1982:

The book suffers from one rather large problem: it is addressed to teenagers who will probably not appreciate most of its cultural references. His subject is the timeless teenage quest to be cool, but at times the book feels like an excuse to write about his favourite ’80s bands. The wafer-thin storyline—loser likes girl, gets hip, gets girl—punctuates far richer tributes to the tunes of David Bowie, the Clash, and Talking Heads. Ghomeshi had crushes on girls, but he loved music.

Andrew Stobo Sniderman feels that the book does not succeed as it intends. As a memoir, it is only effective if the subject can create empathy with its readers. With such a fixed time frame (the title should be a giveaway), this book may only appeal to, as Sniderman suggests, those who are old enough to remember this era. However, music fans of all ages should be able to close that gap quite easily. For instance, another writer that I appreciate, Jonathan Lethem, wrote a book dedicated to Talking Heads’s Fear of Music for 33⅓. It is an excellent book about an excellent album, one of my favourites (both the book and the album). Lethem carefully explicates each song based on its musical, lyrical, cultural and artistic merits. I listened to the album several times over while reading this book. His love of the album clearly shows in his writing.

Of course, Lethem’s experience with the album is listening to it for the first time when it came out, on vinyl, when he was a teenager. His attachment to the album are tied with growing up, attending his first Talking Heads concert, sharing the music with friends and strangers. My experience, certainly, is different than his, separated by time and distance. I will never be able to experience Talking Heads live in concert, nor can I replicate the experience of listening to the album for the first time as a moody teenager. But I had a similar response, even though our initial experiences were so different. It elicited memories of my own teenage years, as I remembered listening to R.E.M., U2, Nirvana, etc. for the first time. I have Cameron Crowe to thank for my first listen of Blood on the Tracks, as he used "Shelter From the Storm" in his film Jerry Maguire. After I saw that movie, I came home and search through my dad’s vinyl collection until I came to Blood on the Tracks, and proceeded to listen to the album several times over start to finish. I will never have the experience of hearing Dylan for the very first time, as listeners in the ‘60s would have. But I would argue that I will have a similar experience in listening to Dylan, and as I get older the experience of listening to Dylan’s music changes as my life does.

I am intrigued now by Jian Ghomeshi’s memoir, as he seems to connect the important times in his life to the music that was on in the background. Just like me.

The Relevance of Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan released a new album this week, his 35th studio album, Tempest, and he is once again thrust into the spotlight. I haven't been able to give it a proper listen, but my first couple of listens had my toe tapping and brain spinning. He's 71! And still relevant - not in a Tony-Bennett-duet-with-Amy-Winehouse way, or a Neil -Diamond-pretty-good-for-an-old-guy way, but in a real, meaningful way - perhaps only Neil Young has managed to stay relevant as long.

First, start out with the video for the lead single, Duquesne Whistle: 

                   

                   

                   

This video summarizes Tempest: love is a series of crushing disappointments. And through it, over it, Dylan walks with the outcasts and violent, oblivious to anything except his eventual destination. 

Next, read reviews of the album from several excellent publications, courtesy of bobdylan.com: Hype.

Will Hermes of Rolling Stone writes: "Lyrically, Dylan is at the top of his game, joking around, dropping wordplay and allegories that evade pat readings and quoting other folks' words like a freestyle rapper on fire."

Vish Khanna at CBC Music writes:

Lifting the veil and standing in plain sight, Tempest is Dylan’s most musically daring record in years and he sings with the conviction of a wronged outlaw who tastes blood. These songs aren’t threats, they’re outright warnings of gory eventualities, and that’s an important distinction to make; on Tempest, things are gonna get lowdown one way or another. You must hang on just to survive.

Now it's time to listen to the album. You can find it wherever fine music is sold!

Finally, read Steven Hyden's article on Tempest from Grantland.com, comparing it to two other newly released albums from The Dave Matthews Band and The Avett Brothers. Basically, he writes that Dylan still kicks ass.

The overall theme through the reviews and articles is "carnage." The darkness of the album, the focus on death, the body count - Dylan sings about death better than anyone. Heck, even Nick Cave covers a Dylan song on his album Murder Ballads. At 71, Dylan is still teaching others with his words and music, proving he is still relevant to fans, critics, and artists.

BONUS CONTENT: two lists that I have come across fit perfectly to this post:

The 15 Best Bob Dylan Albums

The Top 10 All-Time Best Bob Dylan Lyrics