Bob Dylan on London Calling

Clash clash clash. ¡VIVAN LOS NORTEAMERICANOS DEL IMCT Y LAS BRIGADAS DEL CADILLAC NUEVO!
msza2
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Re: Bob Dylan on London Calling

Post by msza2 »

Low Down Low wrote:
05 Nov 2022, 7:56am
msza2 wrote:
02 Nov 2022, 5:43pm
joe darkie wrote:
01 Nov 2022, 5:51am
From his new book ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song’:-

“Punk rock is the music of frustration, and anger, but the Clash are different. Theirs is the music of desperation. They were a desperate group. They have to get it all in. And they have so little time. A lot of their songs are overblown, overwritten, well-intentioned. But not this one. This is probably the Clash at their best and most relevant, their most desperate. The Clash were always the group they imagined themselves to be.”

Love that last line - so true.
Interesting comment from he of 17 verses-per-song. Does he go into any more detail about their "overblown, overwritten" material?

I can only assume he's referring to other songs on LC given the context.
I respect Dylan's opinions and his own writings, but i think it's interesting that the song about pestilence and nuclear annihilation is the one he absolves from the charge of being overblown and overwritten. Not that I believe it is, mind, but i do look forward to reading his thoughts in full about it.
Ha, good catch.

I was also wondering to what extent he is referring to the lyrics or music (or both) with his barbs. Given his statement that theirs is music of desperation, I could see him taking the position that any Clash song with so much as an organ in the mix is "overblown" and that he takes issue with their genre hopping.

I'm not really sure what he's getting at though, and my experience with Dylan tells me that's probably intentional.

Dr. Medulla
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Re: Bob Dylan on London Calling

Post by Dr. Medulla »

The essay where BD opines on marriage and divorce is hilarious. He fully embraces "old man with opinions" mode in that one.
"I never doubted myself for a minute for I knew that my monkey-strong bowels were girded with strength, like the loins of a dragon ribboned with fat and the opulence of buffalo dung." - Richard Nixon, Checkers Speech, abandoned early draft

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