Mother of Muses

Did "Visions of Johanna" already exist?

“The last thing I do before I sit down to work is say my prayer to the Muse.”

Steven Pressfield in “The War of Art”

In his great book „The War of Art“ Steven Pressfield writes about the Muses a lot. That they are from a higher sphere, whispering the secrets into the artists ear, if you will. I like his interpretation of that there always existed a fifth symphony, it just needed someone like Beethoven to listen closely, pick it like an apple from a tree and give it its material form, bring it to live.

That’s exactly how I envision it with songs like “Visions of Johanna”, “Blowin’ in The Wind” and “Mr. Tambourine Man”. They always existed somewhere in the higher sphere, until somebody listened closely enough to the Muse(s).

Dylan sings of Calliope. Who is Calliope? Hesiod and Ovid called her the "Chief of all Muses". She’s one of the 9 daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne and the oldest of the classical Muses. She is the Muse of epic poetry. How fitting.

Mother of Muses unleash your wrath
Things I can’t see they’re blocking my path

Here Dylan is undoubtedly (undoubtedly in my interpretation at least) asking the Muse to unleash her wraths to help him fight resistance, or some urge to procrastinate. To help him, whisper to him, sing to him. Also something Steven Pressfield writes about in “The War of Art”. Resistance is a big topic in his book and most likely every writer can relate.

The Italian poet Dante Alighieri, in his Divine Comedy, refers to Calliope, too. The Muses are around forever and forever will be. In Dylan’s Nobel speech of 2016 Bob used a quote from Homer who wrote:

“Sing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story.” Through me.

No doubt that Dylan rests assured that this song is a great piece of art. A great poem, a great song even. He played it at every concert on the Rough and Rowdy Ways World Wide Tour. He definitely sings his heart out on this one. But is it ultimately his work alone?

Steven Pressfield points out how no artist is creating the whole piece of art just like that. They (the artists) are only the vehicle that produces it in the end, and great artists know that. I’m sure, Bob knows. God knows, for sure.

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There’s so much more to say about this song. I’d love to hear your opinion on this article and what you think about “Mother of Muses”.

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