Bob Dylan: Bob Dylan's Dream

Bob Dylan's Dream (1963) was released on The Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan album. Bob Dylan (1941) is a Pulitzer Prize winner for literature as a songwriter and musician. This is a first and a testament to his worldwide historical impact on our culture (like him or not). And, it seems most folks either like him or clearly do not (though today more and more don't even know who he is). I could write a long time on what Dylan seems to mean to music, literature and America and maybe longer on what he means to me. I certainly list him in any top 10 most important American musicians of the 20th Century and as one of the top ten most influential musicians on me and my enjoyment. His song "Bob Dylan's Dream" from his early and highly rated Free Wheelin' Bob Dylan album is one of my many favorites, but it speaks to me in these days. When asked about song meanings, Dylan has often said "nothing, they mean nothing" or "it's up to you to decide". So I am unsure what Dylan or critics say about this song, but its a lot more than nothing for me. Making, loving, leaving and losing friends is a core experience to most of our lives and is so to mine. I have thought of friends from all times in life so often it seems a normal part of my mental life. One of the great challenges of being human is having to face comings and goings; moves and relocations, going away for school or just for travels, but also the emotional, intellectual or even religious leavings that many of us experience as we change or others change around us. Life seems more about navigating these comings and goings than stopping them' they seem such a natural mostly unavoidable part of life. In this song, Dylan recalls the rich life once shared and the confused, sometimes painful parting of ways among old friends. The song does make me sad, but in being sad I sometimes feel most alive and in touch with what matters most to me and friendships matter, a lot!