[Bob] Dylan is a contemporary Don Quixote, at once besotted by the promise of America and yet also undermining it.
Jay MichaelsonI suspect many readers might associate [Bob Dylan] with one of the shortest phases of his career, the time from 1963 to '65 when he wrote his most famous "protest songs," like "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin.'"
Jay MichaelsonExcept in these latter-day songs, [Bob] Dylan is a grizzled old prophet who's already been to hell and back.
Jay MichaelsonProbably the high-watermark of [Bob] Dylan's career came after he plugged in his guitar ("Judas!" one fan shouted during a concert) and exploded American poetry, combining Beat aesthetics, psychedelic imagery, collage techniques.
Jay MichaelsonIn late [Bob] Dylan, music is the key to immortality, even though the summer days are long gone.
Jay MichaelsonThere has been a ton of excellent music in this period (along with a few misses), evoking scenes like a bar-room brawl at a border-town dive, a washed-up singer in a smoky lounge, and the scenes of violence in Bob Dylan latter-day music videos.I think the ethos of this period is best summed up in the 2001 song "Summer Days".
Jay Michaelson