Dylan's Newest Album Love And Theft example essay topic

The remnants of plastic lay scrappily on the floor. The windows are drawn, and I lay on my bed. Bob Dylan's newest album (his 43rd, ) Love and Theft, had done what no person, place or thing (the entire day) had been able to do. It has comforted my troubled mind as well as let me reflect on the matters at hand.

From the moment I woke up before school, the day was different. I had been waiting several months for this date, because Dylan's new album was to be released. However, it was not easy, as I had a hard time sitting through my classes (more than usual, ) and I longed for the day to be over. Although school seemed like an eternity, dismissal finally came and I left the school.

As I walked down Broad Street, in Red Bank, towards Jack's Music Shoppe, several things struck me. Although it was a beautiful summer day, there was a hint of melancholy in every face that I passed. Some stores were closed, and those that were open seemed vacant. As I was stopped at a street corner, waiting for an opening in the flow of traffic so that I could cross, a woman standing next to me broke into tears. A man standing next to the lady hugged her, and he too began to sob. I enter the store, and am now totally debating within myself as to whether or not it is a good time to purchase the album.

The fact that I have already made the trip to the shop leaves me with the impression that I might as well just pick it up while I'm there (a far cry from the person who had been waiting months for it to come out.) I walk over to the Love and Theft stand, and I grab a copy, which is one of about five left in the store. I pay, and I am on my way. I get home, and play the album. In 1997, Time Out of Mind put Dylan back onto the Rock and Roll map when it won a Grammy for its head-on deep and soulful reflection on slowing down in old age, as well as death.

Four years later, Dylan is not as direct but hits the same points as he veers through songs of jazz, ragtime, country, rockabilly, minstrel, cocktail lounge, as well as deep blues that allow him to not only to laugh and reflect on his life, but to show that he's thought way too deeply of the past to be either frightened or overwhelmed by anybody's future, especially his own. You cannot have power over everything in the future, although we sometimes think that we must. Sometimes, we fear the future. This is only a result of the fact that it is natural for us to be scared of what we don't know, and seeing as how no one truly knows the future, some things are bound to frighten us. When things happen beyond our control, especially tragedies, they remind us that we, as humans, are only mortal. However, Dylan does not dictate others thoughts in this album, but rather, allows one to come to each one on his or her own terms.

This is why Love and Theft is so crucial, especially on a day like this. I close my eyes, pray for those who have been devastated, and realize that though tremendously difficult, life will soon go on (just as it always does.) I also pray that soon this day of infamy, when looked back upon, will allow me to face the future with steadfastness and resiliency. Until then, however, all I can do is turn the TV news off, and play the album once again, as this is where I will get all the guidance I need. The day, is the 11th of September, Two-Thousand and One..