Growing waters

Given the hellscape of the past few years that’s currently manifesting itself in a war of aggression in Ukraine; third cycle of a global pandemic; the ongoing destruction of our planet at the hands of human depredation; worldwide inflation driven in no small part by corporate greed capitalizing (ha!) on supply-chain issues; and our own homegrown horrors of Republican assaults on reproductive and gender rights, voter rights, civil rights and the rights of people to go about their daily lives without having to worry about being ripped apart by some maladjusted White male with shitload of grievances and an AR-15—given all that and an ongoing coup attempt, I’m thinking today’s earworm needs to be something from Bob Dylan.

I’m talking about early, angry young man, burn it down, call it like it is Bob Dylan.

Because lately I’ve been finding myself singing “The Times They Are a-Changin’” with some frequency. Sometimes in rage; sometimes in hope. It’s that kind of song.

There are a lot of versions of this American anthem—including one by The Boss at the 1997 Kennedy Center Honors, Richie Havens back in the 70s and Keb’ Mo’. But I keep coming back to Tracy Chapman’s performance at Dylan’s 50^th Anniversary Concert as having the right balance of rage and hope for these times.

And let me just say that this aging Boomer hopes with all her heart that Millennials and Gen-Zers take up the banner and the battle cry and do whatever it takes on the streets, in the schools and at the voting booth to change all of this. As disgusted as I am at everything I see around me, the wheel is definitely still in spin.