Crossroads
The power of telling our stories for future generations to read and absorb is undeniable. Each of us has at least one story to leave behind. I can think of many, and I have started writing them for publication with the Our Legacy series, a platform dedicated to preserving personal narratives and legacies.
Sometimes, it takes a significant, well-known, powerful legacy, like the recent movie about Bob Dylan, A Complete Unknown, which reached millions of people, to drive home the importance of our personal stories and the value of leaving them for future generations. Timothy Chalemet brilliantly portrays Bob Dylan's early struggles on his way to becoming a cultural icon.
The movie allows a whole new generation to watch his story unfold. We learn that he switched gears from acoustic to electric guitar, from folk music to rock. The movie clearly shows his genius in writing songs that resonated for decades, regardless of the genre. They can also learn about folk music and its history from Peter Seeger, Joan Baez, and Woodie Guthrie, who are lovingly represented in the movie. They can appreciate a genre that defined a seminal era in our history, the 1960s.
Music has always been a part of my life, weaving through generations. I have followed Bob Dylan. Each new LP was an event, and I bought them all. I saw him in concert twice. I followed his backup band, The Band, as their popularity skyrocketed.
My journey with music began with folk. My mother's albums of Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie, along with Doc Watson, Odetta, Tommy Makem, the Clancy Brothers, and the Kingston Trio, formed the soundtrack of my childhood.
Joan Baez was my idol. In high school, I played guitar for a folk group, where four friends harmonized and brought our performances to life. We played at the Great Lakes Naval Air Station for Vietnam veterans, believing in the power of music to heal and unite. I found solace in the folk music scene.
If I had to choose between attending Woodstock and one of the early Newport Folk Festivals, I would always select Newport—folk music instilled peace, hope, and community. I saw Pete Seeger and Arlo Guthrie in concert many times at Ravinia, drawn to the communal spirit they fostered.
There is a critical moment in A Complete Unknown—one well-known in music history—when Pete Seeger speaks about the legacy of folk music. His vision was to increase its visibility and popularity until it became a strong movement for fundamental social change. He knew Bob Dylan could be the standard bearer to make his vision a reality.
At that moment, Dylan had another vision. Seeger, ever the idealist, saw the potential of folk music to bring people together for justice and unity. Dylan saw the frontier and was destined to help shape it. This moment, captured in the film as the central story, shows us the divergent yet equally influential paths of Seeger and Dylan at that time.
We are fortunate that both journeys present a brighter, more creative future. I love the crossroads of it all—two nostalgic yet visionary directions, each essential and enduring.
Although well known, this moment has introduced Dylan and Seeger to a new generation. Through their music, we can explore the history, conflict, brilliance, and evolution. They can feel the excitement and let it inform our music choices. The story was told and brought to life, perhaps impacting the enduring legacy Bob Dylan and of folk music, which is quintessential legacy storytelling.