weekly columns

This is a companion piece to the Wed. April 6th episode of Footnotes that streams on WGTB from 9-10pm.

On a rainy night in August 2009, a man sporting a beard, dark-sunglasses, and a hat pushed down to his eyes was looking around Long Branch, NJ. Afraid, a local family called the police, who questioned and then detained the man, when they did not believe his claims to be Bob Dylan. Eventually, at the station the policewoman’s superior recognized him and sent him on his way. Why was Bob Dylan skulking around the New Jersey suburbs during a storm? The block was where Bruce Springsteen lived during the Born to Run era, and Dylan had been visiting former homes of his favorite contemporary artists. During the year prior, he was noticed on a public bus tour around London sights related to John Lennon and visiting Neil Young’s former house, showing that Dylan was seeking to understand what they were thinking. Other artists have explored similar themes, without police confrontation and braving stormy nights, though song. Read More »

[INTRODUCTION TO BETWEEN THE LINES: OK, books, right? Music, right? Musicians writing songs about books, right? Those songs are the best kind because they pander to those of us who like both. This may be the hands-down nerdiest thing I will ever have to say, but: I’m always so, so satisfied with myself when I pick up on a literary allusion in a song. I’ll always remember finally getting the Nathaniel Hawthorne Scarlet Letter reference in the Music Man soundtrack’s “The Sadder But Wiser Girl” on yet another never-ending family roadtrip. I excitedly announced my epiphany to the entire car, especially exalted because I had finally beaten my English professor father to understanding some reference of literary merit for the first (and, for all I knew, last) time in my long 15 years of life. I have since managed to make a few more such song-to-book connections, and have come to see literary allusions by musicians as secret high-fives between artist and listener—it’s like we have our own inside joke, isn’t it? And just like everybody loves puppies and winning, everybody loves inside jokes—there’s an eternal satisfaction, even a vindication in being able to pick apart a song and trace it back to the pages of your favorite books. So I thought I’d write a column about these songs. And no, not about this song, though it does fit the category, even a little too well.] Read More »