Staying Authentic
Nothing is more important than keeping your own voice
Bob Dylan is, and probably will forever be, my favorite musician of all time. I’ve listened to his expansive forty+ album discography practically on an endless loop ever since I was a young teenager. I even went out of my way to learn how to play the guitar and harmonica (simultaneously with the neckstrap and everything) out of admiration for the guy. My favorite track of all time “Like a Rolling Stone”, like many of his other classics, lives rent-free in my brain (welcomely I might add) to this day.
Beyond the music itself, what I love most about Dylan is that he's always kept authentically changing. He went from civil rights icon… to rock n’ roll rebel… to country romantic… to Christian fanatic… to gravely-voiced Grammy winner… and now at 85 years old, he’s actually not even finished with his career yet (and yes, I left out how, in his eighties, he actually made three separate full-length albums of Sinatra covers for some apparent reason).
Every step of the way, some agenda or other has attempted to label Dylan, hungry to claim him as their personal spokesman. But infamously, Bob has never gone along with any of them. Miraculously, he's shapeshifted his way through six decades (and counting) of authentic music-making without succumbing to corporate sellout.
He never lost what it meant to have a voice.
And in a world in which we are increasingly barraged by nonstop dopamine-inducing content, complete with algorithms hell-bent on relevancy and appeal, it’s more difficult than ever to tease out what is truly our own voice. And at the risk of sounding pessimistic, I'd venture to guess that we are growing comfortably numb with having no voice at all.
Take a quick second to reflect on what it means to have your own authentic voice. No wrong answer here… Do you think about your marriage? Speaking your mind to your boss? Something you never got to stay to your parents? Did you hold back that angry prayer to God you always wish you said out loud?
If Bob Dylan’s still pursuing his own version of authenticity at the age of 85, perhaps we can likewise prioritize being real. Even if it means asking ourselves the hard questions.