Different Trajectories

You dark the sun you
Rain down fire on everyone
Scabs, police, government thieves
Venal psychic amputees

I see your auto suggestion psychology
Elimination policy
A military industrial
Illusion of democracy
--Swastika Eyes, Primal Scream

I know a place
Ain't nobody cryin'
Ain't nobody worried
Ain't no smilin' faces
Mmm, no no
Lyin' to the races
--I'll Take You There, Alvertis Isbell
___________

It's just interesting to see how folks end up. Not saying that Bob Dylan was exploitative of his time, but this troubadour of change is now hawking the Cadillac mega SUV, the Escalade. Not exactly a green day sort of vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxlgjhb9x6M

YouTube - Bob Dylan in Cadillac Escalade 60 sec.flv

The video has all the working man trappings: trains, windmills, clotheslines, cattle, 16-wheelers and a dusty terrain. And Mr. Dylan certainly does look bad in his black suit and gloves. The clip closes with the text, "Life. Liberty. And the Pursuit." I suppose somehow the Escalade will take you there.

In contrast, Dylan contemporary Joni Mitchell continues to burn the flame for responsible living. The New Yorker magazine ran her poem, "Bad Dreams are Good" (9/17/07). It goes, in part,

Everyone’s a victim here
Nobody’s hands are clean
There’s so very little left of wild Eden Earth
So near the jaws of our machines
We live in these electric scabs
These lesions once were lakes
We don’t know how to shoulder blame
Or learn from past mistakes

Mitchell's poem ran a month or so before Dylan's foray into the luxury SUV market, but the stanza below could damn him:

And you cannot be trusted
Do you even know you are lying?
It’s dangerous to kid yourself
You go deaf, dumb, and blind
You take with such entitlement
You give bad attitude
You have No grace
No empathy
No gratitude
You have no sense of consequence
Oh, my head is in my hands
Bad Dreams are good
In the Great Plan