We can't all be Bob Dylan . . .

Saturday. Sofa. Coffee.

Bob Dylan turned seventy this week. I attended his birthday party Tuesday. He wasn't there in body, but no doubt his spirit showed up, pulled up a chair, and leaned against the wall in the back at Moonlight on the Mountain in Bluff Park as a stream of local musicians each took ten minutes more or less to give expression to one or two of their favorite Dylan tunes. The inimitable Courtney Hayden (check his writing out in Birmingham Weekly) a Birmingham treasure in his own right, moved the evening along nicely, segueing between acts by dipping into his seemingly endless store of record industry lore, a gift gained from working in broadcast radio back when men were men and computers had not yet taken over. Thinking and talking and cueing and eating pizza at the same time were a necessary skill back in those days. He makes it look easy. Proceeds from the event went to the Greater Birmingham Humane Society whose expenses have skyrocketed as a results of rescue and assistance needs after this spring's tornadoes. There is still time to contribute.

I love Bob Dylan's songs. He is probably first on my list of people who wrote lines that I wish I had written. Then he set his poetry into such addictably singable settings. As the various artists played their choices for the evening, the crowd would begin to sing along, or at least move their lips mouthing the words, as if it could not be helped, most often smiling, but a few with tears.

But Bob is an interesting character and I wonder what he would think about all this. I have no doubt he would like it, after all, he still courts the crowds and fans, doing concerts at the ripe old age of seventy.

But I do have doubt that he would admit it.

Before allowing us to leave he would slowly rise from his tilted back chair and admonish us to find our own songs and sing them for ourselves.

Because we can't all be Bob Dylan.

But we can be us.

And then he might sing:

May God bless and keep you always, may all your wishes come true,

May you always do for others, and let others do for you.

May you build a ladder to the stars and climb on every rung,

May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous, may you grow up to be true,

May you always know the truth, and see the lights surrounding you,

May you always be courageous, stand upright and be strong,

May you stay forever young.

May your hand always be busy, may your feet always be swift,

May you have a strong foundation, when the winds of changes shift,

May your heart always be joyful, may your song always be sung,

May you stay forever young.

"Forever Young", Bob Dylan, Copyright 1973, Ram's Horn Music.

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