This whole paragraph summed up my relationship with music as a whole: Rarely in my life have I had a conversation with a man about how Dylan makes them feel.
I find that when you say you’re a fan of something, you have to legitimize it by becoming an encyclopedia. But I don’t listen to music to learn about the artist’s biodata or the producer’s pet cat or the type of concrete poured outside the studio in which the song was recorded. I listen to music to be moved, to be entertained, to feel connected to the heartbeat of another. While I believe that the societal context in which music is made matters, it’s not the why. Not for me anyway. You got it exactly right. It’s the feeling.
i worried about spending two days in the queue for the Nashville shows because it would mostly be very fervent dudes. with one exception, everyone was truly lovely. and there were other women and at no point did anyone make us feel like we were unicorns. it was so refreshing.
the one exception was a dude so sure I was wrong about something I said that he spent like 10 minutes doing a web search via siri on his watch (which didn't get pouched; it should have) only to begrudgingly tell me I wasn't wrong. not that I was *right*, just that I wasn't wrong.
he was also the kind of guy who wore a hedge fund polo shirt to a Dylan show, so
I have learned to never try and dissect or convince anyone to love or not love a singer or their songs. It's so personal, that when someone talks about their favorites, I try and ask about what it is about the music that draws them in. And often I find things in the music through them that I hadn't seen before. And sometimes I don't. As I said, it's very personal.
I always feel as if I should be a bigger Dylan fan than I am. I love his songs and I have seen a couple of concerts over the years. But for what it's worth, I enjoy his writing much more than his performing. I'm actually a bit jealous when someone connects with him in a more direct way. So I am happy for you.
I would love to hear a different perspective about Dylan or The Replacements or any other artist that causes “dudes” to wax rhapsodic about. There’s insignificantly little more ground to cover from men about music anyways.
I definitely read as male and am more or less cool with/kinda ambivalent about that gender ID, so I know I never have to deal with the kinda BS you have to with Dylan (and so many other musicians’) fans but he is an artist I’ve never dug into deeply and frankly the kind of fans you describe are part of the reason I’ve kept him at a distance. I’m a dude and want to avoid them so I can only imagine how it feels for you.
Of course that has left me with an incredibly daunting discography and no idea where to start. All this to say that, as one of my fav music writers, if you ever feel like making a primer playlist on where to start with ole Mr Zimmerman, I’d be all over that. No pressure of course, so many other playlists and recs of yours and Natalie’s I still need to get to(not to mention I figure I’m probably in the minority of this lil community re: minimal Dylan familiarity but hey, why not ask?).
This whole paragraph summed up my relationship with music as a whole: Rarely in my life have I had a conversation with a man about how Dylan makes them feel.
I find that when you say you’re a fan of something, you have to legitimize it by becoming an encyclopedia. But I don’t listen to music to learn about the artist’s biodata or the producer’s pet cat or the type of concrete poured outside the studio in which the song was recorded. I listen to music to be moved, to be entertained, to feel connected to the heartbeat of another. While I believe that the societal context in which music is made matters, it’s not the why. Not for me anyway. You got it exactly right. It’s the feeling.
all the snaps, sister. all the snaps.
i worried about spending two days in the queue for the Nashville shows because it would mostly be very fervent dudes. with one exception, everyone was truly lovely. and there were other women and at no point did anyone make us feel like we were unicorns. it was so refreshing.
the one exception was a dude so sure I was wrong about something I said that he spent like 10 minutes doing a web search via siri on his watch (which didn't get pouched; it should have) only to begrudgingly tell me I wasn't wrong. not that I was *right*, just that I wasn't wrong.
he was also the kind of guy who wore a hedge fund polo shirt to a Dylan show, so
I have learned to never try and dissect or convince anyone to love or not love a singer or their songs. It's so personal, that when someone talks about their favorites, I try and ask about what it is about the music that draws them in. And often I find things in the music through them that I hadn't seen before. And sometimes I don't. As I said, it's very personal.
I always feel as if I should be a bigger Dylan fan than I am. I love his songs and I have seen a couple of concerts over the years. But for what it's worth, I enjoy his writing much more than his performing. I'm actually a bit jealous when someone connects with him in a more direct way. So I am happy for you.
I would love to hear a different perspective about Dylan or The Replacements or any other artist that causes “dudes” to wax rhapsodic about. There’s insignificantly little more ground to cover from men about music anyways.
I definitely read as male and am more or less cool with/kinda ambivalent about that gender ID, so I know I never have to deal with the kinda BS you have to with Dylan (and so many other musicians’) fans but he is an artist I’ve never dug into deeply and frankly the kind of fans you describe are part of the reason I’ve kept him at a distance. I’m a dude and want to avoid them so I can only imagine how it feels for you.
Of course that has left me with an incredibly daunting discography and no idea where to start. All this to say that, as one of my fav music writers, if you ever feel like making a primer playlist on where to start with ole Mr Zimmerman, I’d be all over that. No pressure of course, so many other playlists and recs of yours and Natalie’s I still need to get to(not to mention I figure I’m probably in the minority of this lil community re: minimal Dylan familiarity but hey, why not ask?).