Wednesday Wisdom

Wagon Wheel

August 23, 2023

WHO?

Bob Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman on May 24, 1941, is an iconic American singer-songwriter, musician, and poet. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the history of popular music and songwriting. Dylan was born in Duluth, Minnesota, and raised in a small mining city of Hibbing. He developed an early interest in music, influenced by artists like Woody Guthrie and Hank Williams. In college, he adopted the stage name "Bob Dylan" after being inspired by the poetry of Dylan Thomas. He moved to New York City in the early 1960s to pursue a music career. His songs tapestries led him to become a folk song icon in the sixties with songs like “Times they are changing” and “Blowing in the wind”.

What he produced

In the summer of 65, while on stage at the iconic Newport Jazz festival held at Fort Adams, Dylan caused a stir known as “the pivot”. With Al Kooper on organ and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band backing him, Dylan took to the stage with his Fender Stratocaster on the evening of July 25 and launched into an electrified version of “Maggie’s Farm.” Almost immediately, the jeering and yelling from the audience grew loud enough nearly to drown out the sound of Dylan and his band. Dylan’s next number, which was just released 5 days earlier, the now classic “Like A Rolling Stone” left the folk crowd with a sense of dismay and betrayal as the audience was unprepared for the singer’s new artistic direction. Bob Dylan continued to tour with musicians led by Levon Helm and Robbie Robertson which became known as The Band. Robbie Roberston would recall, Dylan played a set of acoustics to a crowd followed by a second set of electric with The Band to cheers, jeers and boos. A motorcycle accident, some disillusionment about music industry and the country, Dylan went through a quiet period. In 1973 he started work on musical score for a western named "Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid," in which Dylan also had a minor acting role. Part of the soundtrack was a song “Knock’ on Heaven's Door” which became one of the most covered songs of all times. The song's simple and poignant lyrics explore themes of mortality, death, and the acceptance of one's fate. The chorus features the iconic lines "Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door," which convey a sense of longing and contemplation about what lies beyond. Dylan also recorded an unfinished song that had an acoustic guitar and only the chorus of "Rock me, mama, like a wagon wheel Rock me, mama, any way you feel Hey, mama rock me Rock me, mama, like the wind and the rain Rock me, mama, like a southbound train Hey, mama rock me"

The unfinished song went largely unnoticed for 35 years until Ketch Secor received a bootleg record from London. Recalling his high school days at Phillips Exeter in NH and its cold winters, Secor added lyrics to Dylans song. His song is a journey, hitchhiking his way from New Hampshire to his home in Virginia. His band Old Crow Medicine show played the song as a country blue grass tune and gained some notoriety. Realizing his liability to copywrite, he reached out to Jacon Dylan, Bob’s son, agreeing to share authorship. Secor found that Dylan had credited legendary bluesman Arthur Big Boy Crudup with the phrase “Rock Me Mama”. In 2013 Darius Rucker covered the song with it reaching No. 1 on the country charts. The song, about a journey, made its own journey as it evolved over 75 years.

2023 why do we care?

Aesthetics is the branch of philosophy that aims to answer the question of why something is pleasing to people or whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder. It’s a question with no concrete or objective answer because of the subjective nature. The Ancient Greek philosopher Plato suggests in The Republic that music has a direct effect on the soul. For “wagon wheel”, perhaps the stories originality and integrity combined with harmony makes it such a popular song.

AESTHETICS: What is beautiful? Philosophers try to understand, qualify, and quantify what makes art what it is. Aesthetics also takes a deeper look at the artwork itself, trying to understand the meaning behind it, both art as a whole and art on an individual level. A question an aesthetics philosopher would seek to address is whether or not beauty truly is in the eye of the beholder.

The virtues of aesthetics refer to qualities or attributes that are considered desirable or valuable in the realm of artistic and visual appreciation. These virtues help define and evaluate the aesthetic appeal and quality of artworks, designs, and other visual creations. Some common virtues of aesthetics include:

Beauty: The quality of being visually pleasing, harmonious, and attractive. Beauty often plays a central role in aesthetic appreciation.
Harmony: The pleasing arrangement of elements, colors, shapes, and textures in a way that creates a sense of balance and unity.
Proportion: The appropriate relationship and size of different elements within a composition, contributing to a sense of visual balance and coherence.
Symmetry: A balanced arrangement of elements on either side of an axis, creating a sense of order and stability.
Contrast: The juxtaposition of different elements (such as light and dark, large and small) to create visual interest and highlight certain aspects.
Originality: The quality of being unique, inventive, or innovative, contributing to the creation of new and fresh visual experiences.
Expressiveness: The ability of an artwork to evoke emotions, thoughts, or ideas in the viewer through its visual elements.
Depth and Perspective: The illusion of three-dimensional space and distance on a two-dimensional surface, creating a sense of depth and realism.
Texture: The visual and tactile quality of different surfaces and materials, contributing to the overall sensory experience.
Integrity: The coherence and consistency of the artistic vision and execution, ensuring that the elements work together to convey a unified concept.
Subtlety: Delicate or nuanced qualities that may require closer inspection to fully appreciate.
Engagement: The ability of the artwork to captivate the viewer's attention and hold their interest.

These virtues can vary based on cultural and personal preferences, and different artworks may emphasize different virtues depending on their intended purpose and style.

And now you know...

Philosophy is the art of thinking, the building block of progress that shapes critical thinking across economics, ethics, religion, art and science.