Poetry Friday is at Jama Rattigan’s Alphabet Soup today. I knew it was a “special edition” in honor of Bob Dylan because Jama gave the heads up last week, along with a website that provides the lyrics to his many songs. I’m completely ignorant of Bob Dylan, except for the experience of my seventh grade Sunday school class, where one eighth grade boy had discovered Bob Dylan and talked about him all the time. He did growly, theatrical imitations. He got ribbed about it. But we all knew it made him cool to know about Bob Dylan, and to talk about him in Sunday school.
Mainly out of respect for Jama, but also carrying this enduring thread of curiosity, I went to the website and looked around a bit. There I discovered “The Ugliest Girl in the World.” Who can’t love a love song that extols the ugliness of the singer’s beloved? It worked for Shakespeare, whose mistress’s eyes were nothing like the sun. It works for me, who recently searched for some “Beauty and the Beast” tales in which a male character was required to fall in love with an ugly “Beauty.” And it works for Bob Dylan, who celebrates his abject helplessness at the hands of:
The woman that I love she got a hook in her nose
her eyebrows meet, she wears second hand clothes
She speaks with a stutter and she walks with a hop
I don’t know why I love her but I just can’t stopYou know I love her
Yeah I love her
I’m in love with the Ugliest Girl in the World…
The rest of this song is here. It’ll bring a smile to the ugliest face, making it… hmm, could the word be… beautiful?
I love this post so much! It’s a great selection, because most people don’t realize Dylan’s humor and playfulness — they think he’s always complaining . . .
But ironically, like that boy at Sunday School, and Dylan himself, who’s been ribbed by the public for being “different” or ugly — they make for a beautiful world.
I hope you keep learning more about Dylan’s genius, and I appreciate your taking the time to post about him!
Okay. I’m liking Dylan a little bit more. I know nothing about him, but I keep running across funny lyrics. *AND* I had that sonnet read at my wedding… so, gotta love this one.
Your post reminded me of one of my most favorite children’s books - My Mother is the Most Beautiful Woman in the World. See: http://www.amazon.com/Mother-Most-Beautiful-Woman-World/dp/0688512518/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205507135&sr=8-2
My other favorite is - It Could Always be Worse. But that is another story! :-) (HA! I’m feeling punny.)
JW, that looks like a story similar to one we have called ‘Have You Seen My Mother?’ Great story, great idea.
I love your story about the ways *cool* get defined when we’re young! (Maybe not just when we’re young, come to think of it!)
True, true… Some things you never outgrow! :-)