Change Comin' On

My first exposure to Bob Dylan was ten years ago.  And ten years later, and Bob Dylan can still nail my emotions like few other artists (although I did change the words to one song to say "feels like my soul has turned into oatmeal" instead of steel...it just made more sense for a 19 year old).  And in three weeks, Dylan's putting out a new album!  I've already got mine on pre-order.  I know the recent albums pretty well as I've listened to them all right when they came out (although the mix of "bootleg" albums confuses my mental timeline).  Recently a friend was asking me about the chronology of some albums, and as much as I like Bob Dylan, I have no idea off the top of my head of the order any of his records.  I tend to remember things if I can picture hearing it/seeing it/learning it (I can't remember anything about my field hockey career that I don't have a picture for or any baseball statistics that I didn't witness personally, but I can tell you all about imaginary numbers because I can see the stuff on the blackboard when I learned about it in ninth grade).  

So, if I grew up with Bob Dylan from the early days, I'm sure I would remember which albums came when.  But, "Blood on the Tracks" springs to mind my sophomore year dorm room, sitting at my gigantic desktop computer, with headphones on...listening and relistening until I knew all the words.  But I was also listening to new variants on the same songs, which messes up the timeline even more.  I do not picture the year of 1975, when the album came out, when the feeling was that "there is no politician that can move anyone to hope" (Peter Hamill New York 1974).  Can you imagine that time?  Of course, I'm speaking to those who did not experience it.

The artists that I tend to enjoy the most are those who change with the times (and I'm fine with their voices changing along with it).  Dylan's new album includes a song whose title I stole for the title of this post and the song totally hit me.  You can listen here.  There's a new interview with Dylan that is linked to on that page and his comments highlight why he is still relevant to me.

BF: But the new album is all about love--love found, love lost, love remembered, love denied.
BD: Inspiration is hard to come by. You have to take it where you find it.

If you're hurtin' for some Bob Dylan, go to his website where you can hear a clip from any song on any album).  Pretty sweet.  That makes me wish I had a job where I sat at my desk in the office, so I could have this soundtrack playing all the time.  I know there are a great many people who cannot listen to Bob Dylan...complaints about his voice are the most frequent.  I like someone who can belt it just like the next person, but if I need to commiserate with someone who I think has really seen it all, I go to The Master.