Dylan speaks about “wussies and pussies” who criticise his ‘quotation’, and the “evil motherfuckers” who called him Judas.
Bob Dylan
Bob just released his 35th album Tempest and during the requisite Rolling Stone interview he sneers at critics who take him to task about ‘quoting’ other writers.
Interviewer Mikal Gilmore asked Dylan about his appropriation of phrases from Japanese author Junichi Saga and Civil War poet Henry Timrod. Dylan responded sarcastically that “in folk and jazz, quotation is a rich and enriching tradition. That certainly is true. It’s true for everybody, but me. There are different rules for me.”
He asserts that he’s given Timrod’s legacy a boost, and dismisses critics by saying, “Wussies and pussies complain about that stuff. It’s an old thing – it’s part of the tradition. It goes way back.”
He connects it to those who decried him going electric in 1965: “These are the same people that tried to pin the name Judas on me. Judas, the most hated name in human history! If you think you’ve been called a bad name, try to work your way out from under that. Yeah, and for what? For playing an electric guitar? As if that is in some kind of way equitable to betraying our Lord and delivering him up to be crucified. All those evil motherfuckers can rot in hell.”
Gilmore responds with “Seriously?” and Dylan continues, “I’m working within my art form. It’s that simple. I work within the rules and limitations of it. There are authoritarian figures that can explain that kind of art form better to you than I can. It’s called songwriting. It has to do with melody and rhythm, and then after that, anything goes. You make everything yours. We all do it.”
The whole interview appears in the latest issue of Rolling Stone.
