Bob Dylan is 71

Three days ago, on May 24, Dylan turned 71. (Please note: the post is from 2012)

There's no doubt that things have changed since I listened to him as a young man. In 1965, "The Times they are a-changin" was being shouted in the street, while in the video below, from February 2010, Dylan sings it at the White House. This year, Obama will present him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor. As John Cage predicted, "everything we do will eventually become melodic."

Meanwhile, in a lengthy interview with 60 Minutes, Bob Dylan said something that could be interpreted as a admission to selling his soul to the devil. Even more surprisingly, a lot of people believed him. It's amazing how people are willing to believe someone who claimed to be called Alias in a movie (Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid).

Perhaps it's best to listen to this same song in the original version, under the opening scene of Watchmen, in this other video with the story twisting into the grotesque of an alternate reality.

I still like Dylan, though. He seems like a survivor, one of the most honest in the entire pop scene. Which says it all.

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