Rec.Music.Dylan Transcript of
July 1983 Dylan Interview

Ben Taylor answers:
>Could this be it? --
>
> Early July 1983 Empire Hotel New York
> Interviewer : Martin Keller
> Published in NME 6 Aug 1983 as "Religion Today Bondage Tomorrow"
> Chicago Tribune 11 Sept 1983
> City Pages (Date?)
> Washington Post (Date?)

Also in Fiddler Now Upspoke, Vol 1, where it is dated as 5 Jul 1983.

Ron Chester

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MK: Do you believe in reincarnation?

BD: Yeah - I do. I don't think there are any new souls on Earth. Caesar, Alexandra, Nebuchadnezzar, Baal, Nimrod. They've all been here time and time again. Spirit talks to flesh- flesh talks to spirit. But you never know which is which. I'm not seeking the truth- nor was I ever. I was born knowing the truth. Everybody is. Trouble is they get it knocked out of them before they can walk.

MK: What do you think about the current philosophy and modern trends?

BD: You turn a deaf ear to all that can save you while pursuing a wall, a strange mirage. Seeking freedom where freedom isn't, and both feet are caught in a trap, and you're bleeding to death but you can't feel it, 'cause you're high on the drugs of illusion.

MK: I think that's what people look for in your work and what they'll be looking for on this upcoming record [Infidels]- whether you're still talking about those things and how you're talking about them.

BD: I hope so. But no one's gonna buy anything or talk about anything that they don't understand. My work is understood in the blood of the heart. That's what messes all these people up, trying to talk about it. 'Cause they can't talk about it. The most they can do is to try to categorize it. They call it folk-rock or white rhythm and blues or country-punk or religious message music. And it means nothing. Most people's sensibilities are determined by the newspaper they read this morning, whether it be the New York Times or the Wall Street Journal. It's all the same. They cut down trees to print them all. What's the difference? It's doing nothing to get you into the world to come. No small wonder everyone's walking around insane. That's why I like Waylon Jenning's song "I've Always Been Crazy But It Keeps Me From Going Insane."

When you go into a department store to buy an umbrella, your mind is attacked by fictitious sound- The B52's, The Pretenders or somebody- and you kind of end up drifting in and out while the cash registers ring.

I don't remember that being the purpose of music. The purpose of music is to elevate the spirit and inspire. Not to help push some product down your throat. To those who care now where Bob Dylan is at, they should listen to "Shot of Love" off the Shot of Love album. It's my most perfect song. It defines where I am at spiritually, musically, romantically and whatever else. It shows where my sympathies lie. No need to wonder if I'm this or that. I'm not hiding anything. It's all there in that one song. That's all you can ask.

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