He terminado hoy una labor de dos años: actualizar mi status en Facebook, día tras día (la mayoría, al menos) con una canción diaria de Bob Dylan, y parte de su letra, hasta agotarlas todas.
(Otros lo han hecho antes, de forma aún más obsesiva que yo).
Y ahora no puedo evitar sentirme algo triste. Se acabó el buscar cada mañana la canción correspondiente, leer su letra, asombrarse (cada día) por la inmensidad de su obra, que lo convierte en uno los grandes de la música, y, más aún, de la poesía del siglo XX. De intentar colarte entre sus escritos, intentando comprender a qué se refería con esos
They shaved her head.
She was torn between Jupiter and Apollo.
A messenger arrived with a black nightingale.
I seen her on the stairs and I couldn’t help but follow,
Follow her down past the fountain where they lifted her veil.
de encontrate reflejado, en tus días de gloria, o en los de miseria, de encontrarte descrito (como has sido, como intentas dejar de ser) con una frase (Now, little boy lost, he takes himself so seriously).
Ahora, supongo, brindaré por el señor Dylan (drinkin’ from my broken cup/And ask me to/Open up the gate for you), y seguiré con él. Los grandes poetas nunca te dejan, ni tú puedes dejarlos a ellos, aunque lo pretendieras.
Uno de los momentos más bellos y en que se han dicho más verdades de la historia del cine, y de toda la historia del siglo XX
I’m sorry, but I don’t want to be an Emperor – that’s not my business. I don’t want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone, if possible — Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another; human beings are like that. We want to live by each other’s happiness, not by each other’s misery. We don’t want to hate and despise one another. In this world there’s room for everyone and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone.
The way of life can be free and beautiful.
But we have lost the way.
Greed has poisoned men’s souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.
The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.
To those who can hear me I say, “Do not despair.” The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass and dictators die; and the power they took from the people will return to the people and so long as men die, liberty will never perish.
Soldiers: Don’t give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you, who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel; who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don’t give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines! You are not cattle! You are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don’t hate; only the unloved hate, the unloved and the unnatural.
Soldiers: Don’t fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written, “the kingdom of God is within man” — not one man, nor a group of men, but in all men, in you, you the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure.
Then, in the name of democracy, let us use that power! Let us all unite!! Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie! They do not fulfill their promise; they never will. Dictators free themselves, but they enslave the people!! Now, let us fight to fulfill that promise!! Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, to do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men’s happiness.
Soldiers: In the name of democracy, let us all unite!!!
Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up, Hannah. The clouds are lifting. The sun is breaking through. We are coming out of the darkness into the light. We are coming into a new world, a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed and brutality.
Look up, Hannah. The soul of man has been given wings, and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow — into the light of hope, into the future, the glorious future that belongs to you, to me, and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up.
La meditación no es lo que piensas. Te sientas en absoluto silencio y tu mente empieza a repasar todas tus películas. Durante ese proceso, te vuelves tan familiar con los guiones que mantienes en tu vida que acabas hartándote de ellos. Entonces comprendes que la persona que crees que eres no es más que un complicado guión en el que gastas la mayor parte de tu energía. Tras un examen más minucioso, descubres que tu personalidad te asquea. Y eso es porque en realidad no eres tú. Si te sientes lo suficientemente aterrado por esa personalidad, espontáneamente permites que se desvanezca. Y entonces, si tienes suerte, puedes experimentarte a ti mismo sin la distorsión de esa personalidad.
El pasado sábado, Cohen me conmovió hasta la médula con su humildad, su inmensa profesionalidad, su entrega, su sorprendente (para mí) cercanía con el público. No sabemos si volveremos, dijo, así que os daremos todo lo que tenemos. Así querría vivir yo.
Y desde hace días se ha pegado a mí una de sus canciones, “Famous Blue Raincoat”. Sucede a veces, que encuentras una canción que sientes que te representa, a ti, o a tu visión del mundo. A veces es la letra, la melodía, el haberla escuchado en el lugar adecuado en el momento adecuado.
En este caso, creo que es simplemente porque también yo tengo un famous blue raincoat, que me acompaña desde hace ya cinco inviernos. Todos los años deseo que llegue el frío para sacarlo de su percha para poder volver a ponérmelo. Cuando pienso en mí, cuando me represento mentalmente, siempre es caminando en el frío, con mi viejo abrigo azul.
