Sunday, August 16, 2009
Ice Cream & Bob Dylan
Last week, we had some beautiful weather in Chicago, and fortunately I was off work to enjoy it. One afternoon, I felt a sudden hankering for some ice cream, so I walked over to the local ice cream parlor. When I got there I ordered my milk shake and sat down to enjoy it. Behind me in a separate booth were a father and mother with their two sons. The parents were probably in their mid-40s, and their two sons were seven and four, I would guess. Playing over the store's speakers was the local oldies radio station.
And then, over the radio came a beat on a snare drum, an intro on a Hammond organ, and then that famously nasal voice: Bob Dylan's "Like a Rolling Stone" was playing. At that moment, I heard the father behind me ask, "Bobby, who sings this?" The older son answered: "Bob Dylan," and both his parents congratulated him, obviously impressed at and pleased with his knowledge of 1960's music.
More than impressed, though, I was puzzled that his parents wanted him to know this song and singer in particular; they didn't quiz him on any other songs or singers while I was there. Now, some have interpreted "Like a Rolling Stone" as a paean to the restlessness of the 1960s--probably because of the exultant melody--but the lyrics, addressed to a woman who has fallen on hard times, seem to be a cautionary tale about the consequences of the bohemian lifestyle. Whatever one's interpretation, though, the song's theme is definitely aimed at adolescents and young adults, not parents already settled in life, nor their children.
I think it's good to challenge children in some ways, especially musically, but can't these parents find a different way to challenge their son musically? Or, am I just overreacting?
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5 comments:
Pop songs are ubiquitous, but rarely are they closely examined. The famous example is Springsteen's "Born in the USA", a post-Vietnam protest song that was almost never viewed as anything but jingoism. (And was thus sought after for use in commercials by both Reagan and Mondale...)
I would say the parents probably have no idea what the song is about, but it sounds good on the radio and is considered iconic. I mean, it's a bitter social commentary that criticizes an obtuse middle-class naivete. It will rarely be remembered as such, though. The parents were probably just pleased that their child recognized a figure in pop culture history. To be fair, how many parents teach their children about Abe Lincoln without truly having a grasp of his complexities?
So I guess it's not so much a question of musical education as it is cultural and historical education. Dylan, Lincoln, or whomever else-- often they are taught as names to memorize, dates to recite. Understanding their lives and work is another matter.
You're probably right, Mike; I overreacted. And you're certainly right that most people don't analyze what they listen to. These moments, though, when I actually think more closely about a familiar song bring out some of the absurdity in the songs' popularity.
I think, though, that "Rolling Stone" encourages that problem because the melody and the lyrics don't very well. For instance, when the chorus begins with "How does it feel," it's meant to ask the woman: Aren't you sick of this kind of life? But, the music sounds so upbeat, that most people draw the conclusion that it's good to "be on your own, like a rolling stone."
In the end, though, it sounds like you think that the parents are not challenging their child at all, only asking him to recite the name of a famous singer. Again, you're probably right.
Either they are just quizzing him or the song has some significance for them as a family. I tend to be irked by situations like that often to discover that there is some meaning for the family- a shared memory for example. However, I'm glad to see I'm not the only one wondering what parents choose to teach their children.
I have to agree with Caitlin on this. And more than that, because it is a song I recognized and enjoyed musically as a kid, but it didn't really mean anything to me till I was a drifting college graduate trying to figure out how to live as an adult. The restlessness he talks about in that song is in some ways universal, even if you aren't a sex-drugs-and-rock'n'roll thrill seeker, but a sensible thoughtful believing Christian.
While we're on the topic of songs whose lyrics don't seem to match the tune, can I offer the Decemberists' Crane Wife 3? The song is one of shame and guilt, but the chorus - "I will hang my head low," repeated numerous times - is quite catchy and is frequently sung with enthusiasm by the audience at live performances (such as those that happen in my living room). There's a pretty serious disconnect.
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