[Xmca-l] Re: Dylan at the super bowl

[Bruce Robinson]

I'm not really concerned about Dylan selling out (again) but disagree that 'Buy American' is something dissociated from American imperialism or is something to be supported. Its message is nationalist, implicitly protectionist and preaches that American workers have more in common with indigenous employers than with the Chinese or other third world workers this policy would put out of a job. Plus it's utopian to think people will put patriotism before buying a better and cheaper product from elsewhere. There are other solutions to rust belt unemployment like using the workers' skills to make socially useful products.
I'm not an American but ok would say the same thing about a 'Buy British' campaign (they was one in the 60-s that  sankwithout trace).
Bruce R

Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:
>Dylan was also excoriated by his folk fan base when he first played
>electric instruments in the 1960s, so the "sellout" accusation has been
>offered before. I'm not in the business of telling musicians how to
>make a living, so am not making that judgment myself. But Dylan has
>always been an iconoclast. 
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: xmca-l-bounces+smago=uga.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu
>[mailto:xmca-l-bounces+smago=uga.edu@mailman.ucsd.edu] On Behalf Of
>Peter Hourdequin
>Sent: Monday, February 03, 2014 6:31 AM
>To: eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity
>Subject: [Xmca-l] Re: Dylan at the super bowl
>
>I also found this puzzling when I read about it today, but I must say
>that my first reaction was mixed feelings. Patriotism has many
>varieties, and the "buy American" message is quite different from
>supporting American imperialism. Back on his 1983 album, Infidels,
>Dylan took a fairly straight-forward stand on these issues in two
>songs.  On "Sweetheart like you" he paraphrases Samuel Johnson when he
>sings: 
>"They say that patriotism is the last refuge / To which a scoundrel
>clings. / Steal a little and they throw you in jail, /Steal a lot and
>they make you king. / "
>Then on a later track entitled Union Sundown, he writes: 
>"Well, you know, lots of people complainin' that there is no work. / I
>say, "Why you say that for / When nothin' you got is U.S.-made?" /They
>don't make nothin' here no more, / You know, capitalism is above the
>law. /It say, "It don't count 'less it sells." / When it costs too much
>to build it at home/ You just build it cheaper someplace else./
>
>Well, it's sundown on the union /And what's made in the U.S.A. /Sure
>was a good idea / 'Til greed got in the way." 
>
>In this light, Dylan's Super Bowl message is consistent with a
>pro-American worker stance that I think was shared by Pete Seeger as
>well.  Still, shilling for an American automaker on the most sacred day
>of America's consumerist culture does leave me with mixed feeling about
>the artist and his role. But since Dylan has been part of American
>consumer culture for five decades, I think the argument that he is
>selling out some principle that he once avowed is less than convincing.
>
>
>> On Feb 3, 2014, at 7:49 PM, Peter Smagorinsky <smago@uga.edu> wrote:
>> 
>> Apologies to Pete Seeger......
>> 
>> For those of you who don't follow American football, the "Super
>Bowl"-the championship game-is the mecca of US advertising. In rather a
>surprise, Bob Dylan was featured in a lengthy ad for Chrysler, the car
>manufacturer. It appears at
>http://pitchfork.com/news/53797-watch-bob-dylan-stars-in-chryslers-super-bowl-commercial/.
>Here's one media account:
>> 
>> 
>> BOB DYLAN'S SUPER BOWL: Legendary musician Bob Dylan appeared in a
>Chrysler ad that had been kept tightly under wraps. Dylan walked
>through the streets of Detroit explaining that the city made cars and
>that "cars made America." In case you didn't get the point, he goes on
>to explain in his familiar raspy voice: "Let Germany brew your beer,
>let Switzerland make your watch, let Asia assemble your phone. We will
>build your car." It was the second appearance of the night for Dylan,
>if you count his popular 1960s tune of "I Want You" that played in the
>Chobani ad.
>> 
>> Just to be clear: I don't begrudge musicians' efforts to make a
>living. I've read some musicians' autobiographies, and unless you're an
>established star or have written something that brings in royalties
>over time, life is a constant struggle. One of the greatest saxophone
>players of his generation, Maceo Parker, took a two-year hiatus and
>worked as a garbage collector to earn enough to support his family
>(James Brown, his original employer, was notoriously tight-fisted and
>cold-hearted with his band members). So, when musicians "sell out,"
>often they're just trying to earn a steady living.
>> 
>> Dylan's a little different, given his songwriting royalties, record
>sales, and concert revenues. Once a social critic of the first order,
>he went as patriotic mainstream as possible in last night's ad. Compare
>to Pete Seeger, who quit the Weavers because he felt they were too
>oriented to producing a hit.
>> 
>> I must say, this one puzzled me.
>> 
>> 
>> 

-- 
Sent from Kaiten Mail. Please excuse my brevity.