Bob Dylan interviews have a way of turning into metaphysical sparring matches. Back in the ’60s, this was Dylan’s modus operandi, but lately that tactic seems to have shifted from subject to interviewer.
So that’s why the newest interview with Dylan, which serves as the cover story of the new issue of AARP The Magazine, is surprising — this is actually a civil conversation in which the often-cagey 73-year-old music legend gives straightforward and damn near enlightening answer. (It’s also surprising because, yes, the one interview Dylan is giving to promote his upcoming album is to AARP — and it was Dylan’s idea to reach out to them.)
Dylan talked to the magazine for the 50-plus crowd to promote his upcoming album, “Shadows in the Night,” which is a collection of American standards, many of which are best-known as Frank Sinatra songs. Below are some of Dylan’s most interesting responses; the interview, conducted by Robert Love, can be read on the AARP website, with an extended version apparently coming in February.
— On Frank Sinatra:
“(H)e is the mountain. That’s the mountain you have to climb, even if you only get part of the way there. And it’s hard to find a song he did not do. He’d be the guy you got to check with. People talk about Frank all the time. He had this ability to get inside of the song in a sort of a conversational way. Frank sang to you — not at you. I never wanted to be a singer that sings at somebody. I’ve always wanted to sing to somebody. … Comparing me with Frank Sinatra? You must be joking. To be mentioned in the same breath as him must be some sort of high compliment. As far as touching him goes, nobody touches him. Not me or anyone else.”
— On what is communicated during a song:
“An actor is pretending to be somebody, but a singer isn’t. He’s not hiding behind anything. So a song like “I’m a Fool to Want You” — I know that song. I can sing that song. I’ve felt every word in that song. I mean, I know that song. It’s like I wrote it. It’s easier for me to sing that song than it is to sing “Won’t you come see me, Queen Jane.” At one time that wouldn’t have been so. But now it is. Because “Queen Jane” might be a little bit outdated. But this song is not outdated. It has to do with human emotion. There’s nothing contrived in these songs. There’s not one false word in any of them. They’re eternal.”
— On aging:
“Look, you get older. Passion is a young man’s game. Young people can be passionate. Older people gotta be more wise. I mean, you’re around awhile, you leave certain things to the young. Don’t try to act like you’re young. You could really hurt yourself.”
— On improving America :
“People have to create jobs, and these big billionaires are the ones who can do it. We don’t see that happening. We see crime and inner cities exploding with people who have nothing to do, turning to drink and drugs. They could all have work created for them by all these hotshot billionaires. For sure that would create lot of happiness. Now, I’m not saying they have to — I’m not talking about communism — but what do they do with their money? Do they use it in virtuous ways? … Well, I think they should, yeah, because there are a lot of things that are wrong in America, and especially in the inner cities, that they could solve. Those are dangerous grounds, and they don’t have to be. There are good people there, but they’ve been oppressed by lack of work. Those people can all be working at something. These multibillionaires can create industries right here in America. But no one can tell them what to do. God’s got to lead them.”
The interview ends with Dylan actually telling the interviewer how much he enjoyed himself. (“I found the questions really interesting. The last time I did an interview, the guy wanted to know about everything except the music. People have been doing that to me since the ’60s — they ask questions like they would ask a medical doctor or a psychiatrist or a professor or a politician.”) That last interview, with Mikal Gilmore in Rolling Stone in 2012, found Dylan and Gilmore challenging each other on the finer points of transfiguration. So yeah.
Dylan gets a little philosophical this time around, but pretty much the perfect amount you’d want him to: “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.”