Sunset on November 2nd happened at 4:59pm. This photo happened at 5:24pm. Let us learn to be patient. // minneapolis, 2020.
In 1963—and only in 1963—Bob Dylan performed a poem he had written, called “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie.” He said he had the piece with him accidentally during a show. After he sang his last song, he came back on stage to read it.
Woody Guthrie, if you didn’t know, is the one who wrote “This Land is Your Land” about 80 years ago. It was written in response to the overplaying of Irving Berlin’s “God Bless America” and was initially and sarcastically titled “God Bless America For Me.” (It should be noted too, that Guthrie was known for performing with a guitar stickered with the phrase “This Machine Kills Fascists.”) While writing the song, Guthrie used a tune partially originating from a Carter Family song titled “When The World’s on Fire.” If that’s not symbolism, I don’t know what is.
In true Dylan form, ignoring a request to write just 25 words about Guthrie, he wound up writing five pages. Then, on that April evening, he performed it in the spoken world style for just over seven minutes. The piece starts “When your head gets twisted and your mind grows numb...in a slow motion crawl of life’s busy race.” In a particularly thoughtful moment, I was reminded of the poem as I spent the evening before Election Day looking out at a blazing orange sunset. (Can you see it? The world on fire symbolism now becomes two-fold...)
It’s important to know that these five pages came after Bob Dylan had already written a piece for Guthrie two years prior, titled “Song to Woody.” In that song, he shares some of Guthrie’s disappointment in the country. Dylan laments about the “funny old world” calling it “sick and hungry and tired and torn” and “it looks like it’s dying and it’s hardly been born.” But there’s also an element of comfort and resolve as Dylan essentially thanks him for all that he’s done, and praises some of Guthrie’s collaborators - Cisco Houston, Sonny Terry and Lead Belly. It’s a sweet and simple tune. A tune of recognition, thanks and even, perhaps, a hint of responsibility. This, too, resonated as I found myself waiting for politics and protests and some kind of peace.
As I looked out at a setting sun—almost too bright to bear—I thought mostly of the final lines of “Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie.” After 7 minutes of rhyming (and saying and playing and accusing and diffusing), Dylan comes to a question: “Where do you look for this hope that you’re seeking?” And he gives a kind of answer, too. “You can either go to the church of your choice or you can go to Brooklyn State Hospital. / You’ll find God in the church of your choice / You’ll find Woody Guthrie in Brooklyn State Hospital. / And though it’s only my opinion, I may be right or wrong / You’ll find them both / In the Grand Canyon / At sundown.”
I thought a lot that evening about sunsets and how time passes and how it stands still. I could feel life’s busy race and I was anticipating the slow motion crawl. I thought about how, for the duration of that sunset, many of us were taken out of anxious anticipation and into a moment of peace and presence.
Lately as my mind traced these links and symbols, dipping into rabbit holes along the way, I kept coming back to Dylan’s question: “Where do you look for this hope that you’re seeking?” Evidently, I look for this hope in commentary and in tributes and in old folk songs. I look for it in the moments of inquiry, and justice and also reprieve. I look for it in yesterday, today and tomorrow—when the sun rises and sets and rises once again.
Smile. Give Thanks. Wave. Make Peace.
Lauren
If you want to listen to the words and songs mentioned here…
Last Thoughts on Woody Guthrie // Song to Woody // This Land is Your Land
Beautiful - great reminder. I also sought comfort in Dylan on Election Day - listened to the Freewheelin album on my morning walk. Glad to hear you found hope in his words and the sun as well!
Nicely done Lauren.