Why Bob Dylan thinks “censorship doesn’t apply to me”
Throughout his career, Bob Dylan has been the source of wonder and, perhaps more often, surreal puzzlement. In personality, musicianship and aesthetic, he’s arguably the distinctive musician of all time. Since his days of the protest song in the early 1960s, Dylan has embarked on something akin to a modern-day odyssey. This has seen him blur the lines between fact and fiction, creating a mythos so extensive that it is befitting of the man once dubbed the ‘Voice of a Generation’.
There are many storied chapters from Dylan’s career. These include the protest period, the moment he went electric, and his controversial foray into Christendom and evangelical music. Duly, his life reads like a work of fantasy. There’s no wonder that Todd Haynes’ 2007 biographical drama I’m Not There used six different actors to play different facets of his public personas.
One chapter of Dylan’s career noted as significant is that of the mid-1980s, a time when he had returned to secularism and more weighty themes than the religious notes he’d been concerned with during the late 1970s. One of the albums marking his return was 1983’s Infidels.
This return from the creative heath also led to him being more prominent in the media again, and in December 1985, he gave an extensive interview with SPIN, which at the time was the “largest” they’d ever run.
In the wide-ranging interview, Dylan delivered numerous interesting takes, with his comment on censorship one of the most compelling. He explained that he doesn’t think that “censorship applies” to him because he’s not the sort of artist who scores hit records, meaning he doesn’t have to concern himself with the implications of his words. In typical Dylan style, he maintained that he’s “going to write any old song I feel like writing”. True to his word, that’s exactly what he’s done for the past four decades.
Dylan said: “I don’t think censorship applies to me. It applies more to top 40 artists. People who have hit records might have to be concerned with that, but I don’t have those kinds of records that I’d have to be concerned about what I say. I’m just going to write any old song I feel like writing. The way I feel about it, I don’t buy any of those records, anyway.”
He continued: “I don’t even like most of that music. I couldn’t care at all if the records you hear on the radio are X-rated or R-rated. I don’t think it’s right. However, I’m opposed to it. I think every single song that you hear can be seen in another point of view from what it is. People have been reading stuff into my songs for years. I’d probably be the first one with a letter on their record.”
Never Miss A Tale
The Far Out Bob Dylan Newsletter
All the latest stories about Bob Dylan from the independent voice of culture.
Straight to your inbox.