Blood In My Eyes

I love this song. It is a recent work by Bob Dylan, off the album Modern Times. I have to say, while I don't usually care about videos, this one has a transcendant quality. It consists primarily of Dylan walking down the street and signing autographs for people, and greeting and talking to fans and passersby.

Watch it, I think you will see what I mean. Observe the look on Dylan's face when he sings the words, "I've got blood in my eyes for you."

Now, here's the thing, I think the subject of the video is what it is to be broken of affectation. Dylan seems to me a man who has had every illusion about himself, and about life, shattered, obliterated. Some people never really get to that point in their life, but some do.

Our affectations spring from our vanity, our illusions about ourselves, and about life. To live without illusions is painful and sad, but of course, it is freeing in some ways.

Many words have been written by theologians, religious thinkers, and mystics on the subject of getting past illusions, but I don't think many of those words have been very realistic. I think the person who gets past his or her illusions usually gets there through great pain, not through deep meditation. Of course, the pain can cause one to meditate, but it is usually not the act of the human that brings a person to such a place, instead it is the action of God and Life working on the human.

God Bless Bob Dylan.