Reply #12: And maybe the could be the problematic thinking right there...

[Oregone]

Associating those folk people as the political left. Wasn't the political left so much more than some musical movement? You think Dylan, an artist, wanted to be confined in a political box (which demeans his art and existence as nothing but a dogmatic expression of political thought)? You notice how Dylan only played at a single "political" event in his entire career, which was not announced and done in as little political manner as possible (an event regarding civil rights)?

I honestly didn't think that man wanted a damn thing to do with politics. He says he wrote songs because they needed to be sung. There were words, ideas, and images in his head (like a big painting), and he just got them out there for the world (Like Visions of Johanna, for example, which is a verbal masterpiece, similar to a painting that evokes emotion without grounds). I'm finally in his corner regarding this. I honestly don't think he was trying to change the world...he was merely expressing these songs he had inside him. And something else Ive finally come to realize...not all his songs mean something or tell any kind of coherent story. They are words, ideas and concepts arranged from his mental palette just as a painter arranges their colors on a canvass.