If national anthems are meant to encompass a nation's spirit, we can only guess what some anthems reveal about their nations. "Where slow you see the Alzette flow," begins the Luxembourg national anthem, "the Sura plays wild pranks." The Taiwanese anthem's opening line translates to: "The three principles of democracy our party does revere." "The Star-Spangled Banner, the US national anthem, took its tune from a popular British drinking song. Australians were actually allowed to vote for their anthem in 1977, to find a replacement for the colonial remnant, "God Save the Queen". Nonetheless, it is difficult to find many Australians who will admit to liking their anthem (which proudly states that "Our home is girt by sea," whatever that means). Musical tastes change. Just as Australians have stopped buying Abba records since 1977, they seem to have lost interest in their national song. Fortunately, some national anthems have won more lasting and universal acclaim. Take "La Marseillaise", which still stirs passion among French people (and others) after more than 200 years. The Beatles might have used its first line in the opening bars of "All You Need is Love" (which was something of a peace anthem), but its origins are somewhat less pacifistic.
It's no surprise that the rousing French National Anthem, with its talk of flag-raising and blood flowing in veins, was written in 1792 for the French Revolution - but oddly, its authorship was possibly shared by one of the King's men (rather than a revolutionary) and an Austrian composer, Ignaz Joseph Pleyel, who moved to Paris around that time, and would spend his last years running a piano factory. Like a great national hero, "La Marseillaise" has suffered over the centuries to earn its status. It was banned three times (under the empires of Napoleon and Napoleon III, and the during the German occupation of World War II). Yet, unlike most national anthems, its appeal goes beyond its home nation. According to legend, Confederate artillery Major John Pelham happily sang the song during the US Civil War Battle, in his victorious battle against the Army of the Potomac. The song was later adopted as the unofficial anthem for the new Soviet Union in 1917. More recently, it has been deemed hawkish, and there has been a movement to replace it, or at least change the lyrics.
However violent the sentiments, however, it has long been a song of national pride, retaining a certain power in times of both war and peace. If only all anthems could inspire such national pride... Never have rules mattered so little, have so many boundaries been lyrics overcome, has such a lonely furrow been ploughed as with the incomparable Bob Dylan. Lyrically prophetic, musically dynamic and incredibly prolific, Bob Dylan never bows to fads or fashions, never strays from his own private path and never lets anybody into his poetic mind.
He leaves us to muse over his storybook lyrics, trying to extract meaning and message, whilst he tips his hat, gives a small smile and retreats back to his mysterious world to deliver another small piece of genius to us. He doesn’t court publicity, he doesn’t crave fame, he believes he is like the tide, it wouldn’t matter if we were here or not, it would still go in and out, and Bob Dylan would still write his music. Bob Dylan can’t make a bad album because he defines what is good and what isn’t. He can’t hit a bum note or make a duff rhyme for one simple reason, If Bob Dylan writes a song, it’s because it means something, not that he’d ever tell you what that is, he doesn’t work to a timetable.
If Bob Dylan has been making albums. From 1966’s Blonde on Blonde, to his latest album, Modern Times, his vigor has never waned. It would be possible to interchange any song from these albums because Bob Dylan doesn’t pretend he has the answers, he doesn’t act like a savior, he is just trying to make his own way in the world, he just happens to be a living legend, that is all. For over forty years, Bob Dylan has never been relevant, obviously the author disagrees with this but owing to the mystery of the man, they could well be.
The thing about Bob Dylan is a law unto himself. If Bob Dylan has never been relevant, obviously the author disagrees with this but owing to the sense that Bob has always been the same, he must be just as irrelevant now as he was forty years ago. This article has so far avoided cliches and the author is well aware that this is such but Bob is different. Bob Dylan isn’t a messiah, he isn’t even a saint, I bet he doesn’t even wash every day, he isn’t perfect. But his interpretation of the world is such that you can almost believe he is from a higher place.
Romantic tragedy is his forte, tales of the underdog, victories in unlikely places and trials of the soul are what he knows..