My friend and New Leaf Journal colleague, Victor V. Gurbo, is a self-described “neurotic Bob Dylan devotee.” He recently posted a detailed list of what he views as the most significant Bob Dylan songs since 1960, including songs from what are considered to be Mr. Dylan’s lean years. I dare say that thanks to Victor, I know more about Mr. Dylan than your average person on the street. I also know absolutely nothing about music. But that aside, I am not writing here to contribute to the corpus of works about Mr. Bob Dylan. Instead, I will write a bit on the subject of Blob Dylan.
(This is part of my series of articles on BLOB DYLAN.)
Blob Dylan?
I was walking through Bushwick, Brooklyn, on January 26, 2021. While walking, I noticed writing in red on an exhaust vent from a building, just about at street-level. It said, in red ink, “BLOB DYLAN.” See for yourself below.
In the wider shot, you can see that someone wrote something on the adjacent vent with a green marker.
I cannot read the second vent. That message is unclear. The “BLOB DYLAN” message is clear insofar as its legible. It is less than clear in other ways. What is “Blob” Dylan? Is that a person? Is there someone in Bushwick who goes by Blob Dylan? Is this a Dylan fan trying to send a message to other Dylan fans? Is this someone who hates Mr. Dylan and his fans? What is he trying to tell people in Bushwick?
Asking these questions gave me an idea. Victor has often complained to me that certain fans of Mr. Dylan have an unfortunate tendency to read what they want Mr. Dylan to be saying into what Mr. Dylan says, regardless of what he actually said. Victor himself thinks about Mr. Dylan’s music often. He means it when he says that someone is over-thinking Mr. Dylan. Perhaps the “BLOB DYLAN” person just wants people to read too much into “BLOB DYLAN.” By thinking about the meaning of it, you play right into his or her hands. In that sense, it could be a profound commentary on the great “blob” of fans of Mr. Dylan. Devious.
Of course, that interpretation could be an over-interpretation in and of itself.
Final Blob Thoughts
When I saw “Blob Dylan,” I knew that I had to capture it for The New Leaf Journal. I was lucky to capture the shot – my BlackBerry Classic battery fell victim to the cold within a minute or two after I took the second picture.
We may never solve the mystery of “BLOB DYLAN” in an entirely satisfactory way, but the event did inspire a character in my latest Justin and Justina dialogue covering GameStop and Robin Hood in an unusual way. Even if the creator of Mr. Blob did not intend it to have any meaning, I immortalized Blob as a character here at The New Leaf Journal.
Update (April 12, 2021)
I wrote a follow-up post with more information about the meaning of Blob Dylan.