"Absolutely': The Mystic from Minnesota & Thank Goodness for That

From Newsweek: In an exclusive excerpt from a recent interview, Bob Dylan talks with author Bill Flanagan about Barack Obama, the ghosts of the Civil War and presidential autobiographies.

Bill Flanagan: You liked Barack Obama early on. Why was that?
Bob Dylan: I'd read his book and it intrigued me.

"Audacity of Hope"?No, it was called "Dreams [From] My Father."

What struck you about him?Well, a number of things. He's got an interesting background. He's like a fictional character, but he's real. First off, his mother was a Kansas girl. Never lived in Kansas, though, but with deep roots. You know, like Kansas bloody Kansas. John Brown the insurrectionist. Jesse James and Quantrill. Bushwhackers, guerillas. Wizard of Oz Kansas. I think Barack has Jefferson Davis back there in his ancestry someplace. And then his father. An African intellectual. Bantu, Masai, Griot-type heritage--cattle raiders, lion killers. I mean, it's just so incongruous that these two people would meet and fall in love. You kind of get past that, though. And then you're into his story. Like an odyssey, except in reverse....

There is a certain sensibility, but I'm not sure how that connects.It must be the Southern air. It's filled with rambling ghosts and disturbed spirits. They're all screaming and forlorning. It's like they are caught in some weird web--some purgatory between heaven and hell and they can't rest. They can't live, and they can't die. It's like they were cut off in their prime, wanting to tell somebody something. It's all over the place. There are war fields everywhere … a lot of times even in people's backyards.

Did you feel all the music Elvis must have heard?No, but I'll tell you what I did feel. I felt the ghosts from the bloody battle that Sherman fought against Forrest and drove him out. There's an eeriness to the town. A sadness that lingers. Elvis must have felt it too.

Are you a mystical person?Absolutely.

More here:

Dylan on Mysticism, Obama and the American South:
http://blog.newsweek.com/blogs/popvox/archive/2009/04/06/exclusive-excerpt-dylan-on-mysticism-obama-the-south.aspx

Dylan's new single (and another great tune, following last week's release of "Beyondf here lies nothin'": "Feel a Change Comin' on" from the New album "Together Through Life":

http://video.newsweek.com/#?t=18540585001&l=25152707

Beyond here lies nothin interactive lyrical portrait gallery:

http://www.beyondhereliesnothin.com/?utm_medium=columbia-email&utm_source=bobdylancom&utm_campaign=columbia-email|bobdylancom|20090406