Originally published in the May 2021 issue of "China Three Gorges"
"The beauty parlor is filled with sailors. The circus is in town." (The beauty parlor is filled with sailors. The circus has come to town.
-----Desolation Row Translated by Du Peng
These two lyrics come from the song "Desolation Row" (Desolation Row) in Bob Dylan's 1965 album "Highway 61 Revisited" (Return to Route 61). This 11 minute and 20 second single is the longest song of the time. Although it is far less famous than the other song on the album, "Like a rolling stone" (Like a Rolling Stone), it is difficult to understand because of its incomprehensible lyrics. In addition, there are many allusions, so it is regarded by many critics as one of the highest literary achievements in all the lyrics of Bob Dylan. It is often used in conjunction with Eliot's "The Wasteland" and Ginsburg Compare with "Howl".
When I watched the "Rolling Thunder Tour" documentary directed by Martin Scorsese, the two lyrics in this song "Desolate Path" reverberated in my mind. Because these two lyrics are like summarizing this "mobile feast" in advance. Literally, "the circus has come to town" means the beginning of a performance, a seemingly clear declaration, and combined with the previous sentence "the beauty salon is full of sailors", this clarity is on the contrary Become fuzzy and chaotic. In Western tradition, "sailors" are often "prodigal sons", which can be understood as "revelers" in an individual sense. The "circus" is a mobile group with the nature of "carnival". When a "sailor" meets a "circus" in the same context, although each sentence expresses a different meaning, colliding in the same context, to some extent, means that someone The beginning of a chaotic state of carnival.
In rock performances in the usual sense, even hardcore punk performances known for creating chaos, there are distances and boundaries between onstage and offstage. Especially for musicians who have been recognized by the mainstream and have achieved commercial success, the distance and boundaries will become clearer. Even if some "accidents" occur, most of these "accidents" are within the controllable range. Even if it encounters those "uncontrollable" factors, such as the notorious cases of music fans being injured by the "Hell Angels" who were invited to be security guards during the Rolling Stones performance, it will definitely make the performance as it should be. Some artistry is greatly compromised. The biggest feature of Bob Dylan's "Rolling Thunder Tour" is that those "uncontrollable" factors account for the majority. Both the performers on the stage and the audience below the stage are in a state similar to carnival. What is valuable is that this carnival does not dilute the artistic explosiveness that a tour should have, but strengthens the appeal of the entire tour. In the performance, Dylan put on a clown makeup and a "mask" for himself to "tell the truth", and Dylan, who wears a "mask", is obviously more comfortable and presumptuous. . If in the 1960s, Dylan’s change started by putting on a leather jacket and plugging in electricity for the guitar; then in the 1970s, Dylan’s change started by putting on makeup on the stage of the "Rolling Thunder Tour".
Not only Dylan himself, but other people on the tour also joined the carnival. The center of the Rolling Thunder tour does not only belong to Dylan and his artist friends, but also to many people who are willing to create themselves. And Bob Dylan, who has been affixed with the symbol of "the spokesperson of the times" since his early twenties, is a man who is used to being the protagonist. Even on this tour, he is willing to put down his body and act as his gang from time to time. Drivers of friends, take everyone to travel. And Martin Scorsese, this "director" who did not tour with the team, just completed this "pseudo documentary" through a large amount of video material, is also using a large number of "fiction" or "masks". After the tour in the 21st century, "joining" the carnival again, adding fuel to this "history" that was originally full of uncertainties. As Dylan said in the opening of the movie, he thought that when he was on "Rolling Thunder Tour", "he" was not born yet. And I believe that after watching this movie by Scorsese, Dylan may have a feeling of looking back at his birth. It is not so much that Scorsese helped Dylan "remember" that period of "history" in the form of a film, but it is Scorsese that brought that period of "history" into the 21st century and let this carnival Continue on the big screen. If the film is required by "documentary" standards, then perhaps it is not qualified. However, it records the "birth" process of a group of people. At the same time, it also records the "birth" of the film's director, Martin Scorsese, who was nearly eighty years old, being catalyzed by this tour 40 years ago.
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