#1

[Erthona]

#1



Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out at Newport.
Judas: because you didn’t remain the image
of what they thought you were.
Inane questions asked by Mr. Jones
and the file thirteeners’— answered more civilly
than they deserved—they couldn’t believe you
told the truth so they just kept at you.
“Where does this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know, from the Devil or from God?”
Would any of us answer any differently?
Give them the truth and you're just giving them the dodge.
They say, "Do you expect use to swallow this swill?"
What can one say? We are Jesters all;
or,
“Song and dance Men,”
if you will!


–Erthona


©2014

Original

Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out.
Judas: because you didn’t remain the image
of what they thought you were.
Inane questions asked by the file thirteeners’
answered more civilly than they deserved:
they couldn’t believe you told the truth,
so they kept at you, a bone for hungry dogs.
“Where does this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know, from the Devil or from God?”
Would any of us answer any differently?
Give them the truth and you're just giving them the dodge.
They say, "Do you expect use to swallow this swill?"
What can one say? We are Jesters all;
or,
“Song and dance Men,”
if you will!

–Erthona


©2011

[LorettaYoung]

#1


Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out.
Judas: because you didn’t remain the image
of what they thought you were.
Inane questions asked by the file thirteeners’
answered more civilly than they deserved:
they couldn’t believe you told the truth,
so they kept at you, a bone for hungry dogs.
“Where does this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know, from the Devil or from God?”
Would any of us answer any differently?
Give them the truth and you're just giving them the dodge.
They say, "Do you expect use to swallow this swill?"
What can one say? We are Jesters all;
or,
“Song and dance Men,”
if you will!

–Erthona


©2011

---

This to me is an example of a poem free, everything comes naturally; the flow rhymes without it, it has humor, and pathos, and yes, Jesters we are. Great story and read. Loretta

[Brownlie]

#1


Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out.
Judas: because you didn’t remain the image
of what they thought you were.
Inane questions asked by the file thirteeners’
answered more civilly than they deserved:
they couldn’t believe you told the truth,
so they kept at you, a bone for hungry dogs.
“Where does this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know, from the Devil or from God?”
Would any of us answer any differently?
Give them the truth and you're just giving them the dodge.
They say, "Do you expect use to swallow this swill?"
What can one say? We are Jesters all;
or,
“Song and dance Men,”
if you will!

–Erthona


©2011

I must admit I was a little confused here, but that's probably due to some ignorance on my part. Maybe some better punctuation would help. A colon should have an independent article before it in prose. Jesters we are seems like an awkward linguistic inversion as well. However, there seems to be a good theme in here that I would probably enjoy if I understood it better.

[ellajam]

Hi, Dale. What are file thirteeners?" I think of song and dance men being the same as jesters. What am I missing there?

#1


Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out.
Judas: because you didn’t remain the image
of what they thought you were.
Inane questions asked by the file thirteeners’
answered more civilly than they deserved:
they couldn’t believe you told the truth,
so they kept at you, a bone for hungry dogs.
“Where does this stuff come from?”
“I don’t know, from the Devil or from God?”
Would any of us answer any differently?
Give them the truth and you're just giving them the dodge.
They say, "Do you expect use to swallow this swill?"
What can one say? We are Jesters all;
or,
“Song and dance Men,”
if you will!

–Erthona


©2011

[Erthona]

Marcella,

Sorry, I thought "Judas" would give away that this was about Bob Dylan. That was what he was called when he went electric and distanced himself from the sixties movement, or as one writer from the "Rolling Stone" called him, "The voice of a Generation." "file thirteeners" are tabloid writers. File thirteen is a euphemism for trash can. Dylan was often called a jester, and in a classic interview by the reporter he would later characterize as "Mister Jones", Dylan referred to himself as a "
song and dance man". "Robby and Rick et. al" Robby Robertson and Rick Danko, along with Garth Hudson, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel, were the backing group called "The Band" who backed Dylan's tour of England when he went electric.

B,

"colon should have an independent article before it in prose" Agreed, should have been a semi-colon, typo on my part. I realise "We are Jesters all" is an inversion, but in this instance I think it says more the ubiquitous "We are all Jesters." I think it echos the Shakespearean line from 'Julius Caesar', "So are they all, all honorable men, ...".

I find a parallel between "We are Jesters all", and "So are they all".

I'm not saying I am correct in this, but that was my thinking at the time, and for some reason I am reluctant to let it go, although reason would counsel otherwise.

This interview might shed some light on things, I thought it was fairly well known, but maybe not.

[Wjames]

I believe I "got" all the allusions in there, nice little tribute. I think it could use a title like "Rainy Day Newsmen #'s X, Y, & Z" or something similar, but I enjoyed it.

[ellajam]

Ah, sure I know that story. Here I was going through what I know of 2000 years of history and applying it to all sorts of groups. It's not a story unique to Dylan, though that makes all the pieces fit. I guess Rick and Robby where the specifics that should have clued me in. Judas? That led me all sorts of places. It's interesting that it made me think of so many different things, being dense can be fun sometimes.

[Erthona]

Ell-train
"being dense can be fun sometimes" Well I'm glad you find it so. I guess the difference is between occasionally dense (you) and always dense (me). Everything makes my brain hurt//segue into Python number (it'll have to come out...but it's such a small thing...yes I know but it has metastasized, it's either remove it or enlarge the skull, and you know the difficulty in that...Quite right, out it comes, after all, it's not as though it is an important organ like the penis!).
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
"I believe I "got" all the allusions in there, nice little tribute. I think it could use a title like "Rainy Day Newsmen #'s X, Y, & Z" or something similar, but I enjoyed it." The "#1" was an allusion to "Like a Rolling Stone". "our latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted".

Thanks Dub-J

Dale

[ellajam]

Ell-train
"being dense can be fun sometimes" Well I'm glad you find it so. I guess the difference is between occasionally dense (you) and always dense (me). Everything makes my brain hurt//segue into Python number (it'll have to come out...but it's such a small thing...yes I know but it has metastasized, it's either remove it or enlarge the skull, and you know the difficulty in that...Quite right, out it comes, after all, it's not as though it is an important organ like the penis!).


Dale

Good thing this is in Misc.

[LorettaYoung]

I thought at first is was an artist talking about their producers, etc. Reads really nice knowing it was Dylan; it sounds like the way he talked and wrote. Adding to Judas, Jesters, song and dance man and et al., should there be? another symbol for clarity, or is it OK that people may be guessing? You did say "song and dance" man; what about a reference to a song, perhaps "subterranian". just trying, Loretta

[Erthona]

I thought at first is was an artist talking about their producers, etc. Reads really nice knowing it was Dylan; it sounds like the way he talked and wrote. Adding to Judas, Jesters, song and dance man and et al., should there be? another symbol for clarity, or is it OK that people may be guessing? You did say "song and dance" man; what about a reference to a song, perhaps "subterranian". just trying, Loretta

Well it was more about the creative process, and he was simply the vehicle I used to talk about it. Specifically the idea about when non-creative people ask inane questions about the creative process like "where does the inspiration come from", or "who is your muse"? It's not really their fault that they can't understand it (hell, most artists don't know how to conceptualize it), but what is irritating is this the assumption that they could understand if only we would tell them, like we are playing coy or something. I thought the interview of Dylan in 65 showed this quite explicitly.
However to answer your question, I thought to make it more explicitly about Dylan would take the focus off of the point of the thing. It was not my intent to just re-write a brief event in Dylan's history. I thought I left enough "clues".

#1 song, "Like a Rolling Stone"

"Your latter writings, better than the first:
so of course, the first is what they wanted,
before you hooked with Robby and Rick et. al.,
and really blew their ears out."

Makes reference when he went electric, even citing two of "The Band's" members that back him during this time. I would have included Levon Helm, but he wasn't with them at this point.

"really blew their ears out" a reference to Pete Seeger at the "Newport Folk Festival" wanting to cut the electrical lines because the distortion was so bad that it was agitating his father who wore a hearing aid.

And of course he was called "Judas" during his tour in England.

I think that is quite a lot. I could have included a reference to "Mister Jones" asking questions, or "blowing their ears out at Maggie's Farm", still if people didn't get it from what was there, I'm not sure that would have helped. I could have titled it Dylan, but once again that would move the focus from where I intended it to be. To me it is a fine line to walk.

What are you thoughts on this?


Dale

[LorettaYoung]

I think I had the idea in the first place; about artists and their interactions with the world they had to deal with; Dylan then is a clue; and you do give inflection to his voice; the money, publicity absurdities the song and dance men have to contend with. Loretta

[Erthona]

Maybe I'll put it in serious workshop latter and see what kind of response I get. I may include mention of "Newport Folk Festival" and "Mister Jones" in with the file thirteeners. Thanks for your thoughts and comments,

dale

[LorettaYoung]

The Newport Folk Festival; do you think without Dylan going electric; the versatility of the guitar as a most incredible instrument would have been realised. And thanks for answering, and posting this interesting piece. Loretta

[Truerenigma]

You don't need the comma after "course" in L2. I Like the irony in L1-2. i think you could do much better with a Dylan anti-ode though.

[Erthona]

TE,

Thanks for the comma note, I corrected it w/o a complete new edit.
________________________________________________________________________
"i think you could do much better with a Dylan anti-ode though."

Actually yes, I have written several in that vein. The focus was not meant to be on Dylan in this one, he was simply the vehicle which is one of the reasons I hesitated to make "him" so obvious.


Dale