I think I saw the Tambourine Man on Highway 61

I think I saw the Tambourine Man on Highway 61  

Dylan flicked his strings

holding the ashes of song

tightly within his heart

he became the soul of a nation

of nicotine protest

as we all wore out his vinyl welcome

but kept asking him back for tea

temperate Subterranean Homesick Blues

he sat in our parlors grooving on the couch

a Rolling Stone we tried to catch

in our minds

even as we sang along

Hoping he would bring Joan B.

along next time.

and we really did think

we had "God on our side"---

didn't we?

and I'll empty the ashtrays....

the butt of our generation

will be slapped

as the door closes 

on you, 

Yes, "it's all over now

Baby Blue." 

erin-cilberto

1/1/2021

Reviews

[Relic]

When I was young, I could never understand why anyone would like him with that style of singing. Of course as I got older and started listening to the lyrics I started to understand his place in music. Tangled up in blue was always my favorite.

I wish I had been around during the folk era. The poets who sang - Dylan, Peter Paul and Mary, Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Simon and Garfunkle - had something to say. They saw injustice or social upheaval and sang about it.

The hippie era - which I remember well - is gone. But Dylan still lives, and always has something to say. Even "Murder most Foul," which is a history lesson in itself.

The beat poets, jazz, it must have been a great time.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, "Murder most foul" is a lesson...
It was a great time, Relic...
it was..I was Lucky enough to see Dylan twice, S&G in November of 1969 at SIU...4 songs from our concert are on their Simon And Garfunkel live in '69 album---My dad saw Peter, Paul and Mary in concert and he loved them.
They all mattered...
and Tangled up in Blue is my Second favorite Dylan song...Positively Fourth St. is my favorite...but they are close.
You would have fit right in then.
j.

[Delmar Cooper]

Missed seeing Dylan by a whisker and a broken axle. Saw Pete Seeger "Little Boxes" and "Hard Time in the Mill" come to mind. Took my first date to a Peter Paul and Mary concert she wasn't impressed and I was out twenty bucks, still it was a good show. Thanks for writing this poem.

[Fran Marie]

love Dylan,S&G. et al
those were the days
s o many fond memories
come to mind every time
I listen to those artists of
by gone years..especially
Dylan there will never be
another quite like him
he's unique to the fullest
extent of being
one of a kind

nice write

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, he was....got to see him twice and S&G in Nov. of '69...I was so lucky...
He and Paul Simon, such unbelievable poets.
thank you, Fran for relating and your kind words.
j.

[Patricia]

You know he is a bit before my time but of course I have listened to his music. What I found appealing about him was that he didn’t have any idea how good he was. Eccentric yes, but he changed music and peoples minds during a time of madness. You have to wonder in his quiet moments without adoring fans what he really understood about his role in history. He is one of those people I would love to travel back in time and ask him a million questions but something tells me he wouldn’t answer them. I love the poem j. You chose an amazing muse

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I really do think he is pretty humble...and shy about that attention of how important he was and is to rock history and just history in general.
He is about the art....and I love him with the Traveling Wilburys...because in that group with Jeff Lynne, Tom Petty, George Harrison, Roy Orbison...he took a back seat on most of the songs...didn't need to be the star.
You would have been a perfect sixties person, I am sure.
j.

[Patricia]

I was born in 1962shhhh don’t tell anyone and I came upon his music through poetry classes and yes he was great in traveling wilbury’s as were the rest who are more of who i listened to, Elo are you kidding me, brilliant wore out that album three times and Tom petty I cried when he died I loved his music and still listen to it near daily. Mom loved Roy, and I love the beatles own all the albums except the white album. Man those are some great artist, I am actually sad now😞

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Sorry to get you sad...I still mourn the loss of George and Roy especially...and Tom, although the others were more from my time...
and ELO such a great group....
"Hold on tight to your dreams"

[Roland Petrov]

He hasn't died, has he? Last I heard, "It's not dark yet, but it's getting there." When you win the Nobel Prize in Literature with your lyrics, you probably won't be remembered for how well (or not) you actually sang.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Nope he is still around...and yes, his lyrics gave our generation its voice.
I think he and Paul Simon more than anyone else.
j.

[Roland Petrov]

What about Leonard Cohen?

[jacob erin-cilberto]

yes, true, sorry, forgot about Leonard...

[rew]

Yes, I like this poem - memories abound
Joan Baez saying '' this is me imitating Bobby imitating, me ''
or words to that effect, at the ''Newport. Folk Festival'' '63-'65.
''With God on our side''
The duet of the two them - Baez carrying both of them along - beautiful voice - a great matchup with Dylan's whining growl - he was young then!

You've very cleverly matched your lyrics to his song titles and words
and it has hit the spot.
One could see in Seeger's face that his musical generation was just about over.
Dylan couldn't ever be
'' Only a pawn in their game ''

regards from rew.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you for your kind review, rew,
j.

[Ted Kniffen]

It is so sad that "folk" music is not being played for the youth of today. I mean there was Pete Seeger ... Malvina Reynolds ... the Weavers ... the Brothers Four feeding the minds of the colleges around the nation.
My love of music was shaped by the end of the Big Band era ... moving into Country music with Hank Williams ... which progressed to rockbilly and Jerry Lee ... into gospel and well into the folkie era.
That music was our voice ... for what it's worth ...

Even the protests were different in a way. There were riots and destruction, but it seemed to have a bigger purpose ... not that it succeeded completely but it did form a generation that stood for more than burning and looting using any excuse to do so.

There were amazing poets coming out of that age ... Dylan ... Baez... S&G ... Cohen ... Lightfoot ...
we could go on.

Your writing classes must be something else if you're introducing your students to these poets. It would be good to sit in one day.

Happy New Year my friend ... here's to better days.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, a much bigger purpose...not just riots and destruction for the sake of them...
I would be glad to have you sit in on class one day...
thank you and Happy New Years, Ted.
j.

[barleygirl]

Being breast-fed on Joan Baez when I took guitar lessons (age 11) from an adorable hippie chick who taught 3rd & 4th grade (all together, same room, about 8 kids) at the 4-room schoolhouse I attended prior to high school, I was amazed a classy bohemian woman like Joan could go for the likes of Dylan. I mostly listen to other people sing Dylan songs -- he's quite the lyricist. Your poem refers to many great details with affection, it kinda warped my synapses into remembering it like I dug the cat! *wink! wink!* Fondly, Margie

[jacob erin-cilberto]

"Lord my body has been a good friend, but I won't need it, when I reach the end, Miles from Nowhere, gonna take my time, oh yea, to reach there"---
There are some songs of Dylan's that I can't stand hearing him sing...but others it has to be him...like Tangled up in Blue, Positively 4th Street and It's all over now, Baby Blue----
but yes, the Byrds, the Turtles, and several others wailed on his songs..fed on them so we could.
I love Joan....and her live version of With God on our Side which I play for my classes when I do an hour of our old protest songs...others I play for them include Monster by Steppenwolf, Eve of Destruction by Barry Macquire, Donovan's Universal Soldier, and Buff. Springfield's For what it's worth.
thank you for sharing your story...I wish I could have heard you play that guitar.
j.

[barleygirl]

I remember having an English teacher at Monterey Peninsula College who taught those same kinds of old tunes as poetry! I never understood the song "Suzanne takes you down to her place by the river" until I took that class. I am deeply irretrievably impressed by your syllabus! This is a memorable share, for sure! Thanks for brightening a still-dark overcast morn (((HUGS))) Fondly, Margie

[light and ashes]

This is quite nice..... great work.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you, Light.
j.

[light and ashes]

You're welcome.

[Lorry]

WARNING... RANT AHEAD.

They don't make em like they used to Jacob, and that isn't necessarily an exclusive on music. I missed out on the 60's, being born in 68 I didn't have the experience or capacity to appreciate what they were saying... Just like the noise that passes for music today, blah! Where's my gun? 😊
Music that became a movement calling for change and actually changing people's thinking and preaching love not hate... The most they could hope for today from a protest is a lot of empty "likes" to make them feel all warm and fuzzy inside for three minutes.
Blah! Bring back national service!
... Rant ends. 😉

[jacob erin-cilberto]

I agree with your rant....and I lived it...there are parts I would not want to relive...but a big part of me would rather go back there then be here.
The music meant something...had meaning...
we did have a cause, but unfortunately it died out...and I often ask myself if we let it...
or it just did.
My ideals are still back there, not with , as you put it, the "likes" of things now.
Those only make me feel warm and fuzzy for 2 seconds.
thank you for your "rant"=
it means a lot to me that you relate, even if you did come a little late to that era.
j.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

You were born the same year that Dennis Franz graduated from SIU...and a few months later I became a Freshman there...endings and beginnings.

[Betty Hermelee]

Ah yes, I remember well that sort of "hippie" age, when we all gathered and swayed to their songs, especially, Dylan, but Baez too. It's really not over if you still croon along with them now, which I do.I guess we're of the same decade Jacob and frankly, there will never be another one quite like this...."The butt of a generation".... Happy New Year!
Best Always, B

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Yes, we might be...I am 70....was in college late 60's----
that decade is my music...
"far out man"!!!!!!!!!!
thanks for remembering with me, Betty.
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

Same decade, but a bit older!!!

[Betty Hermelee]

Still remember Woodstock!

[jacob erin-cilberto]

Were you at Woodstock?
I was living in Illinois by then...was 19 when that happened....It would have been great to be there...my second ex worked in a diner a mile away from Yasgur's farm...but she wasn't inclined to go...mmmm to that.
thank you, Betty.
j.

[Betty Hermelee]

I didn’t go to Woodstock but I knew the Mayor, who was the daughter of friends of my parents...pretty cool

[Ralph Proenza (Docralph..]

Love your words, J, especially the first stanza where you set the stage. Yes, I remember Joan Baez, too.
Thank you for your gift to us! --Ralph P.

[jacob erin-cilberto]

thank you so much for your words, Ralph...
what a voice Joan had, eh?
Happy New Year, my friend.