A Lesson from Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan is a cultural icon. (Excuse the cliché.) Through his brilliant songwriting and lyric craftsmanship, he surely could be honored as America’s greatest poet for the second half of the 20th century, but he soldiers on in the new millennium frequently touring often in some of the most remote and small venues. Again, piling on the clichés, songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a Changing” could be considered anthems for a generation. Dylan produced a catalog of great rock hits “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Just Like A Woman,” “I Want You,” “Positively 4th Street,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” all the way up to “It’s Not Dark Yet” and beyond.
So wouldn’t someone have to be a little bit of a dolt not to know of Bob Dylan? Well, apparently two police officers in a New Jersey beach resort did not. A resident of the community called to report a suspicious person wandering around the neighborhood in the community of Long Branch. Dylan was in the community as a stopover for a concert in Lakeland where he, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp would appear at the local baseball stadium.
A 24 year old officer asked him for identification according to the Long Branch business administrator, Howard Woolley.
Last Friday, according to the Associated Press report, a local observed a man wandering around a low income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the beach. The suspect was “looking at houses.”
Dylan was dressed in a blue jacket when the officer arrived and enquired for his identity. Here’s the exchange from the A/P report:
"What is your name, sir?" the officer asked.
"Bob Dylan," Dylan said.
"OK, what are you doing here?" the officer asked.
"I'm on tour," the singer replied.
A second officer assisting did not know who Bob Dylan was either according to Woolley.
Since Dylan was just killing time in a casual setting, he had no ID with him, so the officers asked Dylan to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa where Mr. Dylan was staying. Tour staff identified the songwriting genius, and the issue ended peacefully.
The officers thanked him for his cooperation. Mr. Woolley noted, “He couldn’t have been any nicer to them.”
Think about this episode in light of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. episode, the Harvard professor who went ballistic when police were called to his residence because a concerned neighbor thought she was witnessing a break-in. Gates immediately took issue with the police who were attempting to establish his identity, and by creating a huge disturbance and making it a racial issue, thanks to Barack Obama, his misunderstanding became a national event leading to the great “Beer Summit.”
For a person who was lauded as a hero by 1960’s rebels, Dylan’s polite unassuming behavior would serve well as example for Professor Gates to heed. Bob Dylan, now 68, perhaps demonstrates age does provide wisdom, but perhaps it’s truly more a matter of just simple civility and common sense.
***
Bob Dylan is a cultural icon. (Excuse the cliché.) Through his brilliant songwriting and lyric craftsmanship, he surely could be honored as America’s greatest poet for the second half of the 20th century, but he soldiers on in the new millennium frequently touring often in some of the most remote and small venues. Again, piling on the clichés, songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are a Changing” could be considered anthems for a generation. Dylan produced a catalog of great rock hits “Like a Rolling Stone,” “Just Like A Woman,” “I Want You,” “Positively 4th Street,” “Lay Lady Lay,” “Tangled Up in Blue,” “Knocking on Heaven’s Door,” all the way up to “It’s Not Dark Yet” and beyond.
So wouldn’t someone have to be a little bit of a dolt not to know of Bob Dylan? Well, apparently two police officers in a New Jersey beach resort did not. A resident of the community called to report a suspicious person wandering around the neighborhood in the community of Long Branch. Dylan was in the community as a stopover for a concert in Lakeland where he, Willie Nelson, and John Mellencamp would appear at the local baseball stadium.
A 24 year old officer asked him for identification according to the Long Branch business administrator, Howard Woolley.
Last Friday, according to the Associated Press report, a local observed a man wandering around a low income, predominantly minority neighborhood several blocks from the beach. The suspect was “looking at houses.”
Dylan was dressed in a blue jacket when the officer arrived and enquired for his identity. Here’s the exchange from the A/P report:
"What is your name, sir?" the officer asked.
"Bob Dylan," Dylan said.
"OK, what are you doing here?" the officer asked.
"I'm on tour," the singer replied.
A second officer assisting did not know who Bob Dylan was either according to Woolley.
Since Dylan was just killing time in a casual setting, he had no ID with him, so the officers asked Dylan to accompany them back to the Ocean Place Resort and Spa where Mr. Dylan was staying. Tour staff identified the songwriting genius, and the issue ended peacefully.
The officers thanked him for his cooperation. Mr. Woolley noted, “He couldn’t have been any nicer to them.”
Think about this episode in light of the Henry Louis Gates Jr. episode, the Harvard professor who went ballistic when police were called to his residence because a concerned neighbor thought she was witnessing a break-in. Gates immediately took issue with the police who were attempting to establish his identity, and by creating a huge disturbance and making it a racial issue, thanks to Barack Obama, his misunderstanding became a national event leading to the great “Beer Summit.”
For a person who was lauded as a hero by 1960’s rebels, Dylan’s polite unassuming behavior would serve well as example for Professor Gates to heed. Bob Dylan, now 68, perhaps demonstrates age does provide wisdom, but perhaps it’s truly more a matter of just simple civility and common sense.
***
No comments:
Post a Comment