09 Jun Bob Dylan turned 80

[vc_row css_animation="" row_type="row" use_row_as_full_screen_section="no" type="full_width" angled_section="no" text_align="left" background_image_as_pattern="without_pattern"][vc_column css=".vc_custom_1621365636104{padding-top: 10px !important;}"][vc_column_text]Bob Dylan turned 80 years old two weeks ago, on May 24, 2021. For those of us who experienced him as a rebel of the 1960s, it's difficult to imagine him as an octogenarian. And yet, he's still here: seemingly as indefatigable as ever in his desire to write songs and take his music on the road. I loved Bob Dylan before I even knew his name. In the summer of 1963, the year I turned 14, I discovered the music of Peter, Paul, and Mary. The artist couple who taught arts and crafts at the summer camp I attended played the famous folk trio's first three albums continually in their studio. I was entranced the moment I heard them. It was the first music in my life I felt passionate about, and it had an enormous impact on my musical tastes going forward. Bruce Springsteen was in the car with his mother when he first heard "Like a Rolling Stone." He said it was as if "somebody kicked open the door to your mind." For me, it was more like someone had ripped open a window into my emotions. In the wake of my parents' separation, I felt confused, uncertain, scared, sad, and lonely. But there was something about how Dylan sang out the line "How does it feel?" that electrified me. It felt as though he'd tracked me down in my bedroom and challenged me to stop being so numb — to think about what I was feeling. Dylan is quoted as saying, "OK, a lot of people say there is no happiness in this life, and certainly there's no permanent happiness. But self-sufficiency creates happiness. Just because you're satisfied one moment — saying yes, it's a good meal, makes me happy — well, that's not going to necessarily be true the next hour. Life has its ups and downs, and time has to be your partner, you know? Really, time is your soul mate. I'm not exactly sure what happiness even means, to tell you the truth. I don't know if I personally could define it." Dylan isn't obsessed with aging: he has aged well, and his work in these latter years has reflected someone who doesn't have to struggle to come to terms with old age, but rather someone still filled with vibrancy, trying to make the most of whatever days remain. He's comfortable in his aged skin; in fact, he looks more comfortable than he ever has before, the master of his domain. "To live outside the law, you must be honest." True to his word, that's what Bob Dylan is, honest. The man doesn't shy away from his age. When you listen to Dylan's recent compositions, you hear the silvery voice of an 80-year-old man and all that he has experienced in those years. I met Bob Dylan in February 1971 at a synagogue in Far Rockaway, NY. The occasion was a Sheva Brachot Meal. The seven blessings (Sheva Brachot...