Music for stressful times
The tunes that echo through my head
It’s that time when I post comics about Bob Dylan from my old sketchbook journal The Drawing Book. There’s just one problem, though… I don’t have an infinite supply of Bob Dylan comics! There are still a few more (and they are good ones), but I’m not quite ready to post them yet. As I looked through The Drawing Book, though, I saw a picture of Bob on a page drawn in 2003, just after George Bush had declared a war. Unfortunately, living through wartime is still a topical subject today! Here’s what I wrote after hearing that announcement…
(Back then, I didn’t know that the famous quote, “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel,” originated with the British essayist and political thinker Samuel Johnson. But that’s one of the good things about Dylan’s music… it’s full of references that can teach you a lot!)
That Bob Dylan quote comes from a song called Sweetheart Like You, by the way. And the next line in that quote? “Steal a little and they throw you in jail - steal a lot and they make you kings.” Yeah, that still sounds relevant!
Feels like we are living through some hard times. I am not feeling too optimistic about 2024! Will we (humanity!) ever figure out how to get this right?? This stresses me out! Luckily, I found this half-finished page in the old drawing book…
I don’t often have either of those old tunes in my head, anymore. It’s nice to remember them! You might like them, too! Musetta’s Waltz (by Giacomo Puccini) is beautiful: here’s a classic version of it (and here’s an instrumental version from the movie Moonstruck, that’s got a bit of a swing to it). As for the love theme from A Fish Called Wanda - why did I ever get that in my head?? It looks like John Du Prez composed the score for that movie. Here’s a clip that features the tune I have in mind (about 1:15 in, when it shows the fish in the fish tank). It’s lovely!
Sorry I didn’t have more to say about Bob Dylan today. But there are still a few more Dylan comics coming up in the weeks ahead!
In these stressful times, I hope you have beautiful tunes in your head to help get you through - whatever they may be!