Bono on Dylan

I can't remember a time when Bob
Dylan's voice wasn't in my head, but I
first met him when U2 were recording
The Unforgettable Fire at Slane Castle
in Ireland, and he played there. His family
was around, and I remember being
struck then - as I'm continually struck -
by how he seems to have a certain
old-fashioned attitude toward his family.
For example, he asked me if I'd take a
photograph with him, and I was just
about to fall backward, when I realized it
was so his kids could be in it.

Then one time I interviewed him and Van
Morrison for the [Irish magazine] Hot
Press, and in the interview I told him,
"U2 have no roots." He just said, "Well,
you've got to look back, that's the riches
in Ireland." He's like this ancient voice
that tells you that you need to know
where you come from. There was a
moment in the Sixties when he came off
all mod, but he's been combating the
filthy modern tide, as Yeats called it, for
a long time.

His words have always had an almost
Biblical uprightness. No matter where
you are in your life, there's a Dylan
record that helps you map out the locale.
When you're filled with teenage idealism.
When you're falling in love. When you've
just been divorced. When your kids are
growing up. Even when you're facing the
shock of illness or a brush with mortality.
Bob is like religion: He'll get you one way
or the other!

I'm sure he has his demons - the records
pay tribute to that. But he's still alive and
doing his best work. He started out as
sort of a Rimbaud figure, but he just
refused to die stupid. There's a lot of
mystery about him, but he doesn't turn
mystery into melodrama. He's dealt with
celebrity with a smirk and a mask of
indifference. The same stare he gives the
outside world, he gives himself.

When Dylan played Dublin recently, he
walked to the gig! He had his hood up,
and he just walked past the punters on
the way to see him. I think that's how he
wants it. He's lost interest in playing the
game, and he's just gotten on with his life
as a writer and performer. He's more of
the Middle Ages than the New
Millennium, the troubadour who will play
wherever there's a meal on the table -
whether it's Las Vegas or in front of the
pope. God bless him.