Hi everyone.  Hope you are all well and continue to stay that way during this global health crisis we are facing.  But in addition to protecting your physical wellness, what are you doing to stay mentally healthy today?

(Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

I know we are still facing a serious situation but a new year gives us hope for the new days, seasons, opportunities & moments ahead. Still, music is something that will never change for me. It is my refuge, the most comforting part of my life & the one thing I consistently count on. So until a more normal semblance of life returns, I am going to share a song I listen to that helps me escape the current state of things, if only for a few minutes each day. And if this helps anyone else, even better.

Today we celebrate another milestone birthday. This one belongs to the man with the voice that defined the 1960’s. Bob Dylan celebrates his 80th birthday today and if there was one musician who defined the decade of change, it was him. Born May 24, 1941 in Minnesota, he was only 21 years old when he released his debut album nearly six decades ago in 1962. His folk songs became anthems for a generation.

But just when people saw him as the Woody Guthrie of his generation, Dylan went electric with his music and gave us even more to think about. Along the way he influenced The Beatles especially his future Traveling Wilburys’ bandmate George Harrison, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Neil Young, Pete Townsend, all five members of his back-up group, The Band, and so many others.

Dylan’s accolades range from nearly every music award to every songwriter’s award to his Nobel Prize in Literature. With anthems like “Blowin’ In The Wind”, “Like A Rolling Stone” and today’s song, to his well known recordings including “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall”, “Positively 4th Street”, “I Shall Be Released”, “Mr. Tambourine Man”, “My Back Pages” and countless others, Bob Dylan is without a doubt one of the most important voices in cultural & musical history. Happy birthday to The Master Poet. Here’s to 100 more.

“As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin’
And the first one now
Will later be last“.

Bob Dylan circa 1964. (Image found online.  Original source unknown.)

Bob Dylan: “The Times They Are A-Changin’” (1964, written by Bob Dylan).

I do not own the rights to anything.  I am just sharing what I love and how I am coping with you.

Stay well.