Tag Archives: Bob Dylan

on life

every place I've lived
Milton Glazer's Dylan framed
together through life

~

n.b. The last frame (which was the first) broke in the move…now re-framed. Is that a metaphor?

CLP 16/03/2023

on Ukraine

private enterprise
providing bodies for cause
who does this profit?

~

n.b. As has been seen in Eritrea and Somalia, the persistence of a war, the subsequent escalation of arms supplies to a region, leads to local groups establishing their own power bases, baronial lands. In Ukraine’s Soledar, the Wagner group is cutting out a piece of territory for itself, one that has been smashed beyond recognition above ground.

Why is this pointless slaughter, using the ultimate sacrifice of those who are in effect employees, being pursued for land that is rapidly becoming uninhabitable? Some say for what lies beneath, mineral wealth, for private expropriation.

It is also suggested that up to 25% of the military forces assaulting Ukraine are now comprised of mercenaries. This makes the war increasingly a commercial enterprise, one of the people of Ukraine versus capital.

Furthermore, for all the alleged negative impacts of the war on other national economies, those making the weaponry are cashing in big time. This is not just Iran and North Korea selling arms to Moscow, but every business selling its products to help Ukraine defend itself. Patriot weapons systems are bought from the profit oriented manufacturers, not just given away by the USA government from a magic vault.

The balance sheet of this war is far from simple.

Recommended further listening:

Masters of War by Bob Dylan.

~

CLP 11/01/2023

on time

don't be afraid, look back
there's water, other stuff too
bridges have been crossed

~

CLP 19/06/2022

On Playing xviii

If I put it all

on the hope of winning you

when would the wheel stop?

~

n.b. There is much sensible advice to hand for gamblers. For example: when the fun stops, stop; only bet what you can afford to lose.

What if you never take a chance? What do you win then? Do you stick, play safe, stay home and make the best of what you have got?

Life is a journey where “the highway is for gamblers.” *

There is neither wrong nor right in this. It’s your choice how to play.

*from Bob Dylan’s ‘It’s All Over Now,Baby Blue’

~

CLP 29/01/2021

On the Street i

Australian with

guitar, adapting Dylan

to a-changing times

~

n.b. You can find Mike Chrome playing in Norwich and you can tip him for his quality tunes through https://ko-fi.com/mikecrome

~

CLP 02/10/2020

Oh, Where Have You Come From, My Blue-Eyed Boy?

I come from Malmo

Its low gentle farmland

Mudflats by the Øresund

I come from beneath the cavernous sky

Of the Lincolnshire fens

I come from the tops of Cork’s raging cliffs

And sea-carved bays

I come from coal-stained valleys that cut

Through Merthyr’s coal-drained hills

To Cardiff’s terraced streets

I come from the Blitzed houses of Portsmouth

And its wartime volunteer committees

I come from the smog of The Smoke

And Maidenhead’s Thames

I come from a dormitory town laid out

South of the Downs

 

I come from so many places

Across such a long time

Can I still trust my sources?

I don’t know anymore

 

So, where have I come from

This blue-eyed boy?

 

n.b. NaPoWriMo 2019: Day 11 prompt is origins. As ever I owe Bob Dylan credit and an apology for twisting his lyrics from “Hard Rain”

CLP 11thApril 2019