Reconsidering "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down"

 #285: A 51-year-old Classic

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A recent celebration, in Nashville, of The Last Waltz, The Band's final concert and acclaimed film from 1976, featured altered lyrics to "The Night They Drove Old Dixie Down".

I read about this year's celebratory event in Rolling Stone online, the day after; then, several days later, read a Salon article questioning the song's meaning: was it in any way pro-Confederate?  

My reading of the article's comments section underscored several insights the article's author had missed.  For example, that the lyrics are: "Back with my wife in Tennessee, when one day she said to me: 'Virgil, quick come see, there goes the Robert E. Lee'", referring to a steamboat on the Mississippi years after the war. 

Another example: that the character who narrates the verses, Virgil Caine, is a likely reference to the biblical Cain, who slew his brother Abel.

These points got me thinking about what the author refers to as the song's one ambiguous line: “They should never have taken the very best” He suggests that this 'they' "...could refer to either the Confederate war machine or the Union army".  As with all high art, ambiguity can be used to include all sides in a single whole.  In this case, the Confederate perspective is obvious.  The Union view comes into focus once we acknowledge the inherent immorality of slavery and its bent economy.  

Thus, "They should never have taken the very best", once split into four parts, becomes:

"They should never have" (a simple definition of slavery)

"taken" (appropriation)

"the very" (or, thievery)

"best" 

In other words, the notion that slavery is the best we can do is absurd, and thus, slaves should never have been stolen, and the system can't possibly be considered 'best'--a proposition both Blacks, and also poor whites (who had to compete in a rigged system) agreed with to varying degrees.

Several other wonderful references:

* the chorus includes "...and all the bells were ringing" (right, the belles now figuratively wore rings, a reference to the impending end of rape as a commonplace--literally, and again, figuratively, as slavery was rape writ large).

* "I don't mind chopping wood, and I don't care if the money's no good..." a possible reference to President Lincoln, who was known as The Railsplitter, combined with the acknowledgement that even the great Lincoln toiled for a living (since the setting is 1870, the "money's no good" reference can't be to Confederate currency).  If so, "They should never have taken the very best", which follows "I don't mind...", points, additionally, to Lincoln (great art, as mentioned earlier, packs many different meanings into a singular expression).

* And finally, who did the biblical Cain murder?  The answer: Abe L.  

Brother against brother, as in the war between the states; there really couldn't be a better metaphor for our Civil War.  Which is why the song is a classic.  Its lyrics are intentional and state the war's outcome in a nutshell: Slaves should never have been taken, stolen, to be used as beasts.

Even better, the songwriter shows us where he stands by alluding to his own name, Robbie Robertson, in that climatic statement that brings on the song's chorus: "But they should never have taken the very best." 

Jerry Garcia, 25 Years On

#284:  I Rejigger Rolling Stones Top 50 Garcia Songs

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This will be an ongoing project, but with the 25th anniversary of Garcia's passing last month, here is the Rolling Stone list, with my preliminary changes (in green):

#50  He’s Gone

#49  New Speedway Boogie (to #28)

#48  Doin’ That Rag

#47  Might As Well

#46  Brokedown Palace

#45  Standing On The Moon

#44  The Golden Road

#43  Terrapin Station

#42  Shakendown Street

#41  Here Comes Sunshine

#40  So Many Roads

#39  Ramble On Rose (to #11)

#38  Black Muddy River (removed)

#37  They Love Each Other

#36  Rubin and Cherise

#35  Loser

#34  Run For The Roses

#33  Mississippi Half-Step Uptown Toodeloo

#32  Help On The Way/Slipknot!

#31  High Time

#30  Days Between

#29  Black Peter

#28  Ship of Fools (removed)

#27  Mountains of the Moon

#26  Deal

#25  China Cat Sunflower (to #5)

#24  Tennessee Jed

#23  China Doll (removed)

#22  Dire Wolf

#21  Casey Jones

#20  Althea

#19  Mission In The Rain

#18  The Wheel

#17  That’s It For The Other One

#16  U.S. Blues

#15  Bird Song

#14  Touch of Grey

#13  Brown-Eyed Women (to #4)

#12  Stella Blue

#11  Franklin’s Tower  (to #39)

#10  Scarlet Begonias

#9  Sugaree

#8  St. Stephen/The Eleven

#7  Wharf Rat

#6  Bertha

#5  Ripple (to #25)

#4  Friend of the Devil (to #13)

#3  Eyes Of The World

#2  Dark Star

#1  Uncle John’s Band

Unlisted

To Lay Me Down (to #49)

Cumberland Blues (to #38) 

Truckin (to #23)

Post Office Changes

 #283: The Good, The Bad (Timing), and The Ugly

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The Good Changes

Working at the Post Office has changed me.  For one thing I eat just twice a day on days when I work (breakfast and supper).  I'm also more focused on getting things done.  Overall, my work has given me a chance to see how jobs could conceivably be made more enjoyable.  Really?  Jobs that are fun?  Yes, and I've written about this in some detail, here.  This is the good change that is possible, and the Post Office is a likely candidate to lead the way.

The Bad (timing) Changes

There are also changes that any would-be efficient organization can make to streamline operations, and so help the bottom line.  These changes, like removing excess drop-boxes (in an era of lower mail volume), are best carried out during the off season in the Spring and Summer when mail volume is especially low.  Executing efficiencies during the Christmas rush, combined with an important national election that will see increased vote-by-mail is simply bad timing or worse.

The Ugly

Finally, there's the manifestly criminal intent behind any effort to deny certain voters their right to vote.  Impeding the mail for that purpose must be stopped, and punished.  

This Blog's Climate Proposal Finds A Friend

#282: Update: Military Spending Reductions To Fight Climate Change

David Roberts, writing at Vox, brings our attention to a coalition of specialists that hopes to quantify greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in real time.

If successful, this effort would provide opposing nations in a military spending reduction pact with a way to know, objectively, whether their opponents were in fact reducing GHG emissions with the savings from their promised military drawdown.

Per my original blog post from late last year, my three step proposal calling for military spending reductions to fight Climate Change:

1. Focused Protests.  In addition to aiming for small, local victories, we should harness global protests to address a specific, comprehensive process.  For each year in the 2020s, divert first 1%, in 2021, then 2%, etc., of each nation's military spending to fighting Climate Change.  So, referring to the first year's 1%, 'One for Climate' could be a handy slogan.  Given that 2018 global military spending was $1.8 trillion, this would mean $18 billion the first year, and a total of roughly a trillion by 2030--a start, with much more from private sources as the process gets underway.

2. Initial Leadership.  With a focus on individual nation-states making the minimum 1% commitment, diplomacy and leadership are at a premium.  European and East Asian countries would be expected to lead the way, initially, and to assist developing nations.

3. The US.  Because we account for nearly half of all military spending, the US joining the 'One for Climate' process would likely be the clincher, allowing hope to bloom, and accelerating the process.  While this is unlikely to occur before the next US election, the broad authority given the US president on foreign policy makes this diplomacy-based approach possible, given the constraints of the US political system.  As for the US Senate, where legislation to implement 'One for Climate' would normally need a steep 60-vote majority (assuming, of course, that Democrats are in charge), senators could adopt a 50+1 majority policy for any legislation based on overwhelming scientific evidence (existing scientific advisory panels could confirm the science on any legislation being considered).  This would allow the next president to successfully shepherd One for Climate legislation through Congress.

Dylan's "Black Diamond Bay"

#281: A Dylan Classic
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I recently linked to a 100 greatest Bob Dylan songs list.  In perusing it, I noticed a favorite missing.  I looked a second time, and sure enough, Black Diamond Bay, released in 1976, on Dylan’s “Desire", was indeed missing.

To be fair, Dylan has released 39 studio albums (plus live performances, compilations, and so on), meaning any one album would see an average of only 2-3 songs making any list of 100.

Even so, I feel compelled to make a case for “…Bay", since I did notice its absence, and upon further reflection, consider it a top-10 favorite.

First, it has a jaunty, fun, upbeat pace, despite the lyrics' storyline of seeming disfunction (which may account for some not taking it seriously).  This divergence, though, should be our first clue that things are not as they seem.

Next, the symbolism is well crafted, as are the verse structure and rhymes.  The desk clerk, for example, who’d be in charge of the room keys, is wearing a fez, something usually associated with Turkey.  And “the Greek”, the main male character, has a second story room (symbolically, the human intellect, setting itself apart from, and above earth).

The main female character, meanwhile, turns down all offers, while focusing on the Greek, who is instead intent on his own hanging.  Or so it would seem.

In reality, as the desk clerk says: “it happens every day.”  Masculinity is rescued from its disjointed tendencies by the feminine—that is, by the beauty of earth.  So, in the final verse, the items that remain after the fact are the woman’s hat and the man’s shoes—polar opposites finding redemption.

And hidden in the song’s serial frustrations are the evidence that a consummation has occurred:  After the woman says: “Please open up the door.” the volcano erupts, and lava flows down "from the mountain high above”.  So, high to low.

Many a critic has faulted Dylan for careless lyrics; but, are they really careless?  Look how he sets up the high to low lava flow: 

"I've got to talk to someone quick

But the Greek said, go away, and he kicked the chair to the floor

He hung there from the chandelier

She cried, help, there's danger near

Please open up the door

...."

With the rhyme of "quick" and "kicked", the emphasis is on "the chair to the floor",

which is itself a set-up for the final verse's "Panama hat and a pair of old Greek shoes."

Of course, what makes this all magical are the ‘one liners’.  For example:
“The desk clerk heard the woman laugh
As he looked around the aftermath, and the soldier got tough
He tried to grab the woman’s hand
Said, here’s a ring, it cost a grand
She said, that ain’t enough
…."

Another great one-liner, this time from the desk clerk (to the Greek):

"As the morning light breaks open, the Greek comes down

And asks for a rope and a pen that will write

Pardon, monsieur, the desk clerk says

Carefully removing his fez

Am I hearing you right

..."

"Am I hearing you right" seems to draw our attention to the lyrics, so here they are in full.

(Note: "Pardon, monsieur" is the first of three French phrases in the song, suggesting a tropical island with a French history as the song's setting.  Perhaps La Désirade, part of Guadeloupe, in the Caribbean,  since the album's name was "Desire".)

According to the book, "Bob Dylan, All The Songs", Black Diamond Bay was a collaboration with Jacques Levy, and was recorded on July 30th, 1975.  It features excellent back-up from Emmylou Harris (vocals), Scarlet Rivera (violin), Sheena Seidenberg (percussion), Howard Wyeth (drums) and Robert Stoner (bass).  

Counting Down The Dylan Catalog

#280: Rethinking Greatness

I just read through the "100 greatest" Bob Dylan songs, beginning with #100 and counting down.  When I reached #52, "Tears of Rage", with its perfect line about parents writing a girl's name in sand, and she thinking it a place to stand, I couldn't imagine how another 51 songs would be better.

And yet they almost all brought forth an 'oh yeah'.

Here's the list, from Rolling Stone.  Some songs have a few paragraphs written by staff, others are commented on by Dylan's contemporaries and subsequent artists.

My 'Essential Worker' Experience

#279: 'Low-Exposure', so far, thankfully
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At the risk of sounding flippant, I can say that some 'essential work' is relatively risk free.  If, that is, one adopts a few safety precautions:
  * the big one: wear a mark
  * wash hands, use hand-sanitizer, wipe down surfaces, maintain social distancing, stay at home
and, in addition, if one is lucky enough to:
  * live in an area where the virus is not common

And that describes my circumstances fairly well.

That being said, a few observations that may sound familiar to those in the same boat:

Wearing A Mask
If you wear a mask (for example: the common surgical mask: blue on one side, white on the other, elastic around the ears) you'll recognize these things:
 * you forget that people can't see you smiling; I get around this by using hand gestures, especially the quickly conceived, rushed, fanning action that is just as quickly withdrawn, which expresses an intense friendliness that is nevertheless under control
 * you discover that the hotter the weather, the more unbearable the mask (simply remind oneself of the horrors of the virus)
 * in a job like mine, which is mainly doing what amounts to aerobic exercise, mixed with the occasional strenuous pushing/lifting, the latter will mean one must lower one's mask to get enough fresh air
 * the tightness of one's mask can irritate the area behind one's ears; one wonders whether some human heads may be too large--high bridged noses for instance--for standard masks
 * or, the reverse, that low-bridged noses may mean a much more snug fit, and more air flowing through the cloth, rather than around it; high- and low-bridged noses are, of course, more prevalent in certain areas of the world and could perhaps account for some of a region's success in combating Covid
 * possibly the least significant issue I have with the common surgical mask is how the synthetic material can tickle one's nostrils; this happens when a strand of the fabric is hanging off, due to wear-and-tear

Social Distancing
 * it's surprisingly difficult to remember to keep one's distance; this is especially true for people who are lonely, or for those who regularly bond with others in social settings (being aloof means "see you later" on an intuitive level)
 * I suppose it's possible that over hundreds of thousands of years viruses have caused the evolution of humans to veer away from a more communal lifestyle, and have encouraged things like monogamy (as those who practiced a primitive social distancing would tend to survive and have children who learned that this was normal)
 * theoretically, if this were the case, it's possible that over the centuries, barring a vaccine, Covid (and possibly other such viruses) could steer the human experience away from things like hugging one's neighbor at a church service; packing oneself into a large indoor crowd (rock concert fade away); or even urban life in general