DYLAN 1975 : SIMPLE TWIST OF FATE / LOVE MINUS ZERO

Simple Twist of Fate (Live at Harvard Square Theatre, Cambridge, MA - November 1975)

They sat together in the park
As the evening sky grew dark
She looked at him and he felt a spark
Tingle to his bones
'Twas then he felt alone
And wished that he'd gone straight
And watched out for a simple twist of fate

They walked along by the old canal
A little confused, I remember well
And stopped into a strange hotel
With a neon burnin' bright
He felt the heat of the night
Hit him like a freight train
Moving with a simple twist of fate

A saxophone someplace far-off played
As she was walkin' on by the arcade
As the light bust through a beat-up shade
Where he was waking up
She dropped a coin into the cup
Of a blind man at the gate
And forgot about a simple twist of fate

He woke up, the room was bare
He didn't see her anywhere
He told himself he didn't care
Pushed the window open wide
Felt an emptiness inside
To which he just could not relate
Brought on by a simple twist of fate

He hears the ticking of the clocks
And walks along with a parrot that talks
Hunts her down by the waterfront docks
Where the sailors all come in
Maybe she'll pick him out again
How long must he wait?
One more time, for a simple twist of fate

People tell me it's a sin
To know and feel too much within
I still believe she was my twin
But I lost the ring
She was born in spring
But I was born too late
Blame it on a simple twist of fate

Songwriters: Bob Dylan

Simple Twist of Fate lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Audiam, Inc

Love Minus Zero / No Limit (Live at Montreal Forum, Montreal, Quebec - December 1975)

My love, she speaks like silence
Without ideals or violence
She doesn't have to say she's faithful
Yet she's true like ice, like fire
People carry roses
And make promises by the hour
My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can't buy her

In the dime stores and bus stations
People talk of situations
Read books, repeat quotations
Draw conclusions on the wall
Some speak of the future
My love, she speaks softly
She knows there's no success like failure
And that failure's no success at all

The cloak and dagger dangles
Madams light the candles
In ceremonies of the horsemen
Even the pawn must hold a grudge
Statues made of matchsticks
Crumble into one another
My love winks she does not bother
She knows too much to argue or to judge

The bridge at midnight trembles
The country doctor rambles
Bankers' nieces seek perfection
Expecting all the gifts that wise men bring
The wind howls like a hammer
The night wind blows cold n' rainy
My love, she's like some raven
At my window with a broken wing

Songwriters: Bob Dylan

Love Minus Zero/No Limit lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Audiam, Inc

As duas canções aqui registadas são, talvez, das melhores que Bob Dylan jamais compôs. 

As letras fazem parte do desiderato ideológico-emotivo dos anos sessenta... mas são imediatamente inteligíveis pelas gerações posteriores! 

VENDO CORRER O RIO... (WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW, BOB DYLAN)

Tal como acontece com muitas obras geniais, esta também foi escrita muito depressa e depois da música ter sido composta. Leiam aqui o relato de como este monumento da música pop foi dado à luz.

                                         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhgZibLRQ0E

Tem sido para mim um dos temas que mais gosto de visitar em Bob Dylan, pela especial adequação entre as complexidades escondidas da letra e a natureza pouco sofisticada da melodia e dos arranjos, embora estejam em perfeita sintonia com o espírito geral da canção. Vejam a letra da canção e a minha tradução...

                                 

       

WATCHING THE RIVER FLOW

What's the matter with me

I don't have much to say

Daylight sneakin' through the window

And I'm still in this all-night cafe

Walkin' to and fro beneath the moon

Out to where the trucks are rollin' slow

To sit down on this bank of sand

And watch the river flow

Wish I was back in the city

Instead of this old bank of sand

With the sun beating down over the chimney tops

And the one I love so close at hand

If I had wings and I could fly

I know where I would go

But right now I'll just sit here so contentedly

And watch the river flow

People disagreeing on all just about everything, yeah

Makes you stop and all wonder why

Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street

Who just couldn't help but cry

Oh, this ol' river keeps on rollin', though

No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow

And as long as it does I'll just sit here

And watch the river flow

People disagreeing everywhere you look

Makes you want to stop and read a book

Why only yesterday I saw somebody on the street

That was really shook

But this ol' river keeps on rollin', though

No matter what gets in the way and which way the wind does blow

And as long as it does I'll just sit here

And watch the river flow

Watch the river flow

Watchin' the river flow

Watchin' the river flow

But I'll sit down on this bank of sand

And watch the river flow

Songwriters: Bob Dylan / Dylan Bob

Watching the River Flow lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

VENDO CORRER O RIO*

Que se passa comigo

Não tenho muito para contar,

Durante o dia, mirando pela janela

E neste café fora de horas

Por aqui e ali, sob a Lua

Até onde os camiões rolam devagar

Para me sentar neste banco de areia

E vendo correr o rio

Se estivesse de novo na cidade

Em vez deste banco de areia

Com o Sol a brilhar por cima das chaminés

E quem eu amo junto de mim

Se tivesse asas e pudesse voar

Eu sei para onde iria

Mas agora, fico sentado e contente,

Vendo correr o rio

As pessoas discutem por tudo e por nada

Faz-nos parar e pensar

Porquê, ontem, alguém na rua

Não se conteve e desatou a chorar

Mas o velho rio continua correndo assim

Sem ligar para onde o vento sopra

E enquanto assim for, eu aqui fico sentado

Vendo correr o rio

Vendo correr o rio

Vendo correr o rio

E eu aqui fico sentado

Vendo correr o rio

 [*Tradução de Manuel Banet]

MÚSICA DOS ANOS SESSENTA

Esta música é mesmo para todos os tempos... mas especialmente agora sabe bem, pois estamos num período de transição, creio que até mais importante que a transição dos anos 60!

DYLAN NOSTALGIA - OU TALVEZ NÃO?

Este - o dos anos 60-  é o Bob Dylan que eu prefiro. Rebelde, mas com uma causa: A liberdade de se exprimir, de denunciar as injustiças e de apontar quem são os irmãos e irmãs e denunciando os opressores. 

 Porém, não era um canto diretamente incitando a uma qualquer ação política ou a uma determinada mobilização cívica. Apesar de preservar as suas letras do imediatismo, Bob Dylan esteve engajado na luta pelos direitos cívicos, nos anos 60.

Nunca tive dúvida, quando ouvia uma canção de Bob Dylan, de que estava escutando um grande poeta, uma pessoa de corpo inteiro, com a sua própria posição que não impunha mas que não escondia. 

Quanto a mim, isso é o mais subversivo que se possa imaginar: não se impõe um padrão de comportamento ou de opinião, deixa-se os outros se posicionarem, mas não se abdica de dizer o que nos vai na alma!

 Seja como for, parabéns Bob! os teus inúmeros auditores e leitores, não precisam de qualquer validação «nobélica» para apreciar a tua arte forte e verdadeira. Mas sabe bem termos «o nosso» Nobel...