Bob Dylan_The Never Ending Star by Lee Marshall

Author:Lee Marshall [Marshall, Lee]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: music
ISBN: 9780745636429
Amazon: 074563642X
Goodreads: 1630192
Publisher: Polity
Published: 2007-09-24T04:00:00+00:00

6

DECLINING STARDOM NOSTALGIA AND THE ‘DEATH OF ROCK’

Whether or not Janne Mäkela is correct to suggest that ‘rock stardom may celebrate the present moment, but the past is built into the present’,1 it is certainly the case for Dylan. Dylan’s mythologised past has been a prominent part of his star-image since at least 1970. During the 1970s, Dylan struggled to not be entirely overshadowed by this past (the release of Blood On The Tracks in 1975 is a pivotal event in this regard, giving critics and fans enough evidence to convince them that he was still a creative force). As the eighties developed, however, wider social changes involving a reconceptualisation of both ‘rock’ and ‘the sixties’ meant that Dylan gradually began to lose the battle with his history. During this period Dylan became understood almost entirely in nostalgic terms and his live shows and public appearances functioned as living reproductions of past glories. This period of Dylan’s career – roughly from 1981 to 1987 – is often portrayed as his mid-life crisis, viewed as precipitated either by his turning forty in 1981 or by his divorce in 1977. While these factors undoubtedly had some impact on Dylan’s creativity, to use them as the central explanation for Dylan’s errant decade would be as incomplete as solely relying upon a biographical reading of a song. In order to understand what happened, we once more need to consider Dylan’s stardom in a broader context, in relation to changes in the music industry as well as broader social developments. This argument becomes more compelling when it is noted that Dylan’s creativity did not falter as much as is commonly believed during these years: while he may not have been as prolific as he was in the sixties and seventies, he still managed to produce some of his greatest songs during this decade – though many of them did not make it into the public arena. We need to investigate Dylan’s public role, his positioning as a star in the 1980s. The question, it seems to me, is not ‘what happened to Dylan’s muse?’ but rather ‘what happened to Dylan’s stardom that so alienated him from his music?’ How did the burden of being Bob Dylan prevent him from doing the things that Bob Dylan was supposedly so good at?

My argument is that the period in question can be roughly divided into two sections. In the first section, from about 1981 to 1983, Dylan’s stardom is marked by ambiguity and uncertainty. In common with many other sixties rock stars, the question of what ‘Bob Dylan’ stands for cannot be easily answered. This uncertainty can be seen in Dylan’s output at this time, in his lack of public presence and his editorial choices. The second part of this period – roughly 1984 to 1987 – marks a period in which the meaning of ‘Bob Dylan’ is relatively clear. During this period Dylan attains a particular kind of ‘living legend’ status as his star-meaning becomes dominated by his past.

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