Here’s the story, in brief:
Bob Dylan appears in an ad campaign for Cadillac. A “multiplatform” campaign, they call this — TV, print, Internet, etc. In the first series, he utters a couple of terse, jocular remarks. The ads end.
Naturally this appears as a topic for discussion on Dylan fansites and message boards. On one, The Never Ending Pool, not ten messages have been posted before two posters have declared their wish that Dylan’s house burn down, the second one even after being admonished that such talk is most unfortunate considering that in southern California many houses are, even as we type, burning down.
The reason for this perfectly unembarrassed malice*: apparently any association with Cadillac means that Dylan is indifferent to climate change. His “contribution” is to the side of gas-guzzlers; that is to say, to the side of the enemy. Treason! is the charge against Bob Dylan. May his house burn down!
To all this comical stupidity — its ugliness made amusing by absurdity, and by the fact that Dylan has done this to the Lefties many a time — one can only add:
Well, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Yes, I see you got your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you must tell me, baby
How your head feels under somethin’ like that
Under your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat
Well, you look so pretty in it
Honey, can I jump on it sometime?
Yes, I just wanna see
If it’s really that expensive kind
You know it balances on your head
Just like a mattress balances
On a bottle of wine
Your brand new leopard-skin pill-box hat.
“Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat,” by Bob Dylan
(Copyright © 1966; renewed 1994 Dwarf Music.)
* I should add, in fairness, that some commenters did explain, more thoughtfully and respectfully, and without malice, their alarm at the ad series.
Comments (5)
It is the viciousness of the left that is arresting in all of this. It is, apparently, not sufficient to chide someone gently, advising that a message of conservation might be more appropriate for this or that reason. Beyond this, there are abundant reasons to support conservation that do not touch upon the controverted question of global warming, the apocalyptic faith of the left, apparently, which, when challenged in any way, produces a fulminant reaction.
There is also something infinitely precious about such leftists, whose exotic lifestyles are often dependent upon the global availability of various goods, services, and commodities. What would the average soi-disant leftist do without foodstuffs flown in from far-flung locales, and so forth?
In the end, Dylan's "sin" here was not only in advertising Cadillacs - some of which are quite nice - but in failing to make the requisite confession of faith, and to purchase the requisite indulgences carbon offsets/credits, which afford the luxury of moral purity combined with prosperity - a prosperity that will be further beyond the reach of the masses should the left succeed in enacting its policy fantasies, since the masses will not be able to afford the secular indulgences carbon credits that entitle one to sin with abandon live in the manner to which one is entitled.
Posted by Maximos | October 23, 2007 11:55 AM
Huh. I didn't know that this platform does not support strike-throughs in comments. Well, imagine both uses of "indulgences" struck through, as well as "sin with abandon", and the effect will be the same, I suppose.
Posted by Maximos | October 23, 2007 11:57 AM
It is my sense, and always has been, that Dylan does not think in terms of right and left, but in terms of right and wrong. He has never catered to his fans, and he has never spared his enemies, other than by holding to be beneath contempt.
Dylan has been flipping the bird to anyone and everyone who would set him up as some kind of leader for so long that I'm surprised that he would be seen as an effective commercial icon.
But, that Dylan should get the same treatment from the left that Al Gore is getting from the right is, imho, hilarious.
Posted by irodak47 | October 23, 2007 12:37 PM
I've read the criticism of Bob and the ad campaign and it's completely unwarranted. The people that have lobbed jabs at Dylan are living in their fantasy of who they think Mr. Zimmerman is. That's thier trip, their hang-up.
Rob Z. has never prophesed to be many of the things that some see him as. These delusionalists need to realize that Dylan never changed anything for them and see that a commercial campaign aint gonna change diddly. And by the by, Al Gore is flying 5000 miles right now to give a 30 minute speech on conscientious global stewardship. Hope he has his Nobel with him.
'Ah, you never turned around to see the frowns
on the jugglers and the clowns,
when they all did..tricks for you'
Posted by golfmonkey | October 24, 2007 10:04 AM
As I recall, these same people were devastated to learn, after his death, that Jerry Garcia drove a BMW.
Posted by Brandon Field | October 24, 2007 12:48 PM