\nJa, hvordan f\u00f8les det s\u00e5 at fylde 65? Det g\u00f8r Bob Dylan i dag. For 5 \u00e5r siden blev hans 60-\u00e5rsdag fejret med en k\u00e6mpe koncert i Gr\u00e5 Hal p\u00e5 Christiania, hvor mange meget forskellige danske vokalister gav respektive Dylan-favoritter. Selv sang jeg undtagelsesvis engelsk den aften, p\u00e5 en Gun Club-ificeret 4\/4-version af “Man In The Long Black Coat”, en af de mange sublime sange fra Oh Mercy-pladen. At skulle v\u00e6re med den aften l\u00e5 ellers ikke umiddelbart i kortene. Da jeg voksede op br\u00f8d jeg mig ikke om Dylan. Han var ham der p\u00e5 afstand br\u00e6gede som en ged, n\u00e5r man gik forbi den lukkede d\u00f8r til ens stores\u00f8sters v\u00e6relse. Meget senere begyndte enkelte sange med ham s\u00e5 at tr\u00e6nge sig p\u00e5, og tilsidst blev jeg n\u00f8dt til at k\u00f8be Oh Mercy samt Greatest Hits 3-pladen, den som bl.a. indeholder fan-tas-tis-ke “Brownsville Girl”, og var solgt. Siden har jeg med forn\u00f8jelse brugt penge p\u00e5 at komme ind og l\u00e6ngere ned i hans imponerende sangkatalog. Ikke alt d\u00e9r er lige godt eller sp\u00e6ndende, men det bedste er – indiskutabelt! – noget af det mest komplette rytmiske musik, der nogensinde er lavet. Et engelsk kulturmagasin, hvis navn vi her allerede har glemt, h\u00e6vdede for f\u00e5 \u00e5r siden, at kun 3 “moderne” amerikanske sangskrivere fra det 20’ende \u00e5rhundrede vil blive husket ud bag fremtiden: Woody Guthrie, Hank Williams og s\u00e5 alts\u00e5 Bob Dylan. Store oplevelser spilder ingens tid, s\u00e5 gem din kedelige nye Pet Shop Boys-plade v\u00e6k og h\u00f8r istedet en af de absolutte mestre i dag!<\/p>\n
MAN IN THE LONG BLACK COAT<\/p>\n
Crickets are chirpin’, the water is high,
\n There’s a soft cotton dress on the line hangin’ dry,
\n Window wide open, African trees
\n Bent over backwards from a hurricane breeze.
\n Not a word of goodbye, note even a note,
\n She gone with the man
\n In the long black coat.<\/p>\n
Somebody seen him hanging around
\n At the old dance hall on the outskirts of town,
\n He looked into her eyes when she stopped to ask
\n If he wanted to dance, he had a face like a mask.
\n Somebody said from the Bible he’d quote
\n There was dust on the man
\n In the long black coat.<\/p>\n
Preacher was a talkin’ there’s a sermon he gave,
\n He said every man’s conscience is vile and depraved,
\n You cannot depend on it to be your guide
\n When it’s you who must keep it satisfied.
\n It ain’t easy to swallow, it sticks in the throat,
\n She gave her heart to the man
\n In the long black coat.<\/p>\n
There are no mistakes in life some people say
\n It is true sometimes you can see it that way.
\nBut people don’t live or die, people just float.
\n She went with the man
\n In the long black coat.<\/p>\n
There’s smoke on the water, it’s been there since June,
\n Tree trunks uprooted, ‘neath the high crescent moon
\n Feel the pulse and vibration and the rumbling force
\n Somebody is out there beating the dead horse.
\n She never said nothing there was nothing she wrote,
\n She gone with the man
\n In the long black coat.<\/p>\n
\u00a9 Bob Dylan<\/p>\n