Bob Dylan On Fathers
by Jeffrey Rubin, PhD
Welcome to From Insults to Respect.
We’re now into that early summery month of June. I think I’ll glance over here at my calendar.
Hmmm, Father’s Day–June 18th–is rapidly approaching. For Mother’s Day, I utilized aspects of Bob Dylan’s entertaining Theme Time Radio Hour episode on mothers to have some fun commemorating it. I think I’ll do likewise for Bob’s Father’s Day episode. Let’s go see if we can find some precious jewels there.
Bob’s Show On The Theme Of Fathers
Bob begins by telling us, “We’re here today to celebrate fathers.
“We’re going to start things off with the singing brakeman, the yodeling cowboy, the father of country music–Jimmie Rodgers.”
Bob then plays us Jimmie’s “Daddy’s Home.” Here’s a few of its lyrics:
I am dreaming, tonight, of an old southern townAnd the best friend that I ever had For I’ve grown so weary of roaming around And I’m going home to my dadYour hair has turned to silver and I know you’re failing tooDaddy, dear, oh, Daddy, I’m coming back to you You made my childhood happy but still I longed to roam I’ve had my way, but now I’ll say, I long for you and for homeDear daddy, you shared all my sorrows and joysYou tried hard to bring me up right I know you’ll still be one of the boys I’m starting back home tonight
As Bob’s show continues, he introduces a humorous song called “Daddy” by the smokey and sultry Julie London that is filled with revelations and bits of stimulation. Let’s check out some of the lyrics:
Ooh Daddy, I want a diamond ring and bracelets, everything
Daddy, you oughta gather this for meOoh, Daddy gee, won’t I look swell in sables? Clothes with Paris labels? Daddy, you oughta gather this for me.Here’s amazing revelation with a bit of stimulation
I’d be a great sensation, I’d be your inspiration
Daddy, I want a brand new car and champagne, caviar
Daddy, you oughta gather this for meDress me up in silks and satins
Put good booze in my Manhattans
Tap me with expensive presents
Feed me oysters and broiled pheasants
In the middle of the show, Bob tells us:
“Ran into Charlie Sheen again…. I asked him about his dad, Marty Sheen, a free radical, an atomic molecule of an actor. He loves his father, and he had this to say about him.”
At this point we hear Charlie saying:
“I think it was when I was in elementary school. I had a real hard time with separation anxiety. My dad, for a while would have to stay in the class with me and I started to see the reaction to him by the staff, by the teachers. I started to get the sense that what he did was a lot different from what the other dads were doing.
“The most important lessons he taught me involves the truth and honesty, not just in my work, but as the person and the value and the importance of the truth because he told me early on that the truth doesn’t change.
Happy Father’s Day, I love you and thanks for being my dad and being one of the best guys a son can hope to know.”
“Gonna color him father, color him love, this is a big top ten hit about a father tired and beat, sitting at the table to eat, never a frown, always a smile–‘Color Him Father,’ The Winstons.”
There’s a man at my house, he’s so big and strong He goes to work each day, and he stays all day longHe comes home each night looking tired and beatHe sits down at the dinner table and has a bite to eatNever a frown always a smileWhen he says to me how’s my child I said that I’ve been studying hard all day in school Tryin’ very hard to understand the golden ruleI think I’ll color this man fatherI think I’ll color him loveSaid I’m gonna color him fatherI think I’ll color the man love, yes I willHe says education is the thing if you want to competeBecause without it son, life ain’t very sweet I love this man and I don’t know why Except I’ll need his strength until the day that I dieMy mother loves him and I can tellBy the way she looks at him when he holds my little sister Nell I heard her say just the other day That if it hadn’t of been for him she couldn’t have found her wayI think I’ll color him fatherI’m gonna color him love I’ve got to color him father I think I’ll color this man loveOur real old man he got killed in the warAnd she knows she and seven kids couldn’t of gotten very far She said she thought that she could never love again And then there he stood with that big wide grin He married my mother and he took us in And now we belong to the man with that big wide grinI’ve got to color this man fatherI’m gonna color him love I’ve got to color him father I believe I’ll color this man loveHe’s just been so good to meI know I’ve got to color him love
The most interesting character I have ever known is my father, Mr. Ward Cleaver. He does not have an interesting job. He just works hard and takes care of all of us. He never shot things in Africa or not saved anybody that was drowning. He might not be interesting to you, or someone else because he’s not your father, just mine.
Jeff
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Some people will enjoy reading this blog by beginning with the first post and then moving forward to the next more recent one; then to the next one; and so on. This permits readers to catch up on some ideas that were presented earlier and to move through all of the ideas in a systematic fashion to develop their emotional intelligence. To begin at the very first post you can click HERE.
I’m sorry you didn’t get to have your dad in your life for very long Dr. Rubin. I get the sense that you’re a pretty awesome dad yourself.
Hi JSR,
Only my sons know for sure, but I sure tried to be. I know they know I love them big time.
Jeff
This is a heart-warming and much appreciated post. For the short period of my life during which my biological father lived with me and my family, I adored him. After my parents’ separation, which was psychologically traumatizing, I continued to ask for him and seek to continue our communication. This resulted in better learning to read and write (both in English, my second acquired language, as well as in Spanish). Also, my father must have enjoyed this means of communicating as he sent me a tape recorder and tapes of personal messages about his new life as well as responses to my questions about our lives together. My mother, burdened with the need to raise her five children alone, sent for her mother and did her best to support and raise our brood as well as her aging mother, who was in fact my surrogate mother. As a result of these circumstances, my loving mother fell in love with another man who never replaced my biological father in my mind but served as a decent model for me of manhood. In all things, this unofficial (i.e., extra-legal) “stepfather” cared for my mother and helped me develop into the person that I became, a law-abiding and I believe, responsible citizen who is caring about the welfare of less fortunate persons.
Hi Bill J. Adams,
It’s uplifting to hear how things worked out even after such trying earlier times,
Jeff