Strange world of Folk

Anyone that has hung out with me recently has been beaten over the head with my new obsession...folk music. I feel old even saying that. I decided to purchase a Bob Dylan greatest hits album about a month ago and completely fell in love with it. I never really heard much of Dylan growing up but I had definitly heard of him. Every once in a while I would tell someone I really liked and song and they would inform me that it was a cover of Dylans. Take 'All Along the Watchtower' for instance. I loved that song when Dave Matthews Band played it. Every time I went to a show of thiers I would always hope they played it. I knew Hendrix did it before but it wasn't until my musical historian friend Jimmy P let me in on the fact that Dylan actually wrote it. I still never decided to buy any Dylan though. It wasn't until I started finding out that a lot of my favorite artists were heavily influenced by Bob Dylan. I can't wait to get some more of his music it feels like a whole new world has been opened to me (must be read dramaticly).

Let me give you a few reasons why I think I have fallen in love with this type of music:

1. Story telling. I am a sucker for songs using story. They seem to connect with listeners much better.
2. It forces the listener to participate in the song. Normally when I listen to pop stuff I just need to sit back, relax and enjoy. Which is nice to do sometimes, but folk music brings me into something like a movie where I become part of the song and the song is no longer defined by the artist but the listener. The song's meaning is where ever it takes you. It's amazing.
3. Imagery. I feel like imagery is kind of lost in songwriting lately. We use abstract concepts in song (esp Christian) that dont take us anywhere in our imagination. I feel like we are missing out by not doing this, the imagination is the place things like music are supposed to stir up. Most music today just tries to stir up emotion, which isn't bad, but it can get monotonous and lose its effect.
4. Mystery. Folk music tends to see the world differently the most people. It usually puts a strange twist on the normal. "The answer my friend is blowin' in the wind" is a lyric by Bob Dylan, you're not quite sure what it means but something deep down understands it. Folk music is very based on reality but still holds onto the mysteries of life with questions peppered in the lyrics about the world we live in.

Don't take this too seriously, I am on a folk kick right now and I dont even have much content to listen to. Just some observations on why I am down with folk.

Langoliers

Time is something that blows my mind on a consistent basis. I have never been a "watch person", I don't even remember the last time I owned a watch. I am always late to everything I attend and I don't really care. Most of my friends just figure on me being 15-20 minutes late to everything at this point. I struggle estimating time. How long will it take to eat lunch and then go to someone's house...I always seem to under estimate, even when I think I am over estimating because I know I under estimate. Not to get too spacey but what is time?

One of the moments when the concept of time really smacked me in groin was on a trip I took to Colorado. As we crossed 2 or 3 time zones (I can't remember) the whole foundation of time which I thought was so sturdy suddenly began shaking. I never really thought of time as relative but it really is. (I realize this might sound simple and obvious to some and I apologize, you can stop reading if you'd like) Now when I watch TV I wonder, is this show on at the same time in California? I think...maybe because it is 7pm here and it will be 7pm there when it is on but is it really 7pm there or is it actually 11pm like it is here? Conversations go on in my head like this for many minutes until I forget where I initially started.

Another time revelation for me was where does time go when it is over? I try to think back to a few minutes ago and it is suddenly shrunk to a moment. Even years become shrunk into a moment. How? Why? What can I do to stop this from happening? Did Jesus die and rise again only a moment ago? Or is there some place that the 2000 years of history actually exist? Is all history and time merely wrapped up in a moment? If you have ever seen The Langoliers ( I think a Michael Crichton book originally) you know what im talking about. The movie portrays people that got caught behind time, where it stopped moving and the Langoliers were behind time eating it all up. They had to figure out how to get back to the world where time is moving before the Langolier would eat them. It was a pretty bad movie but it did have a cool concept.

Anways, there are my thoughts on time for now. I hope to read a book by Brian Greene on space and time which may help me a little bit. But if anyone has answers to these questions please feel free to respond.

I thought I would add a short chorus I wrote about this topic a while ago...

"Time, time, time
where have you gone
You're always sneakin' up on me

Time, time, time
Where are you now
You're always stealin' memories"

Thought Provoker

I don't have much time to write. These first two weeks of August have been pretty crazy for me, not to mention a week without the internet (stupid Comcast). I just wanted to post a thought to see if people would respond to it. We talked about this is our book club for a little bit (man, that makes me sound like a geek).

Is being "nice" always a part of love?

Now, I realize nice and love both need to be defined, but you can do that in your response.