Bob Dylan in China

Guess I'm disappointed with Bob Dylan for recently playing shows in China. Been kidding myself these last few days that by opening those shows with Gonna Change My Way of Thinking he was sending out a deliberate subtle message to the authorities over there that he was on the side of what is right all along. But really the truth of the matter is that that is not the case. He just does not care anymore, has not cared for a long time in fact. The Chinese scrutinised all the possible songs he might have played and told him that it would not be be possible to perform some of them. In other words he let himself be censored. He let the Chinese poke their noses into his business and for the time he was with them to dictate to him what was what. This is one of the most repressive regimes in the world in case we have forgotten. All this at a time when political oppression and human rights abuses by the Chinese are worse than ever. The most obvious example is of course the recent case of the artist Ai Weiwei suddenly disappearing off the face of the earth, but there are countless others as well.

As usual in the middle of this storm and comment Bob Dylan is totally and completely silent about what his thinking and his motives might be by playing these shows. Sometimes silence just is not good enough, it can only get you so far, and this is one of those occasions. For someone who is so closely associated in the minds of so many people with songs of freedom and the upholding of the dignity of human beings it is now extremely sad to see him kow-towing to the Chinese in this way. It can have no other effect than endorse China and its regime of oppression which shows no sign of slowing down, in fact it is getting stronger and stronger.

In real terms he has made no effort whatsoever to be controversial in these shows, he just went out on stage and played a selection of his songs that could in no way be interpreted as challenging anything or anyone. All the time wearing his big hat and saying nothing apart from introducing the band. The only conclusion that I can draw from it all is that for Bob the whole point of going to play in China was simply because it was another place on his list to visit and then to notch down that he had played in. I think it has been a big mistake and he has opened himself up for criticism and ridicule again, maybe like he has done before but somehow different to before because it really is so hard to forgive what he has done this time. China is really not the place to be if you want to go against the authorities and what they say you can and cannot do.

No doubt his reaction to all this if he even bothers to pay attention to it will be to shrug his shoulders and move on to the next place on the road. Fully enclosed in his own world in which he is very much the imperial emperor, and wondering just what all the fuss is about. Well the fuss is about drawing a line in the sand for once and just saying no, I am not going to cross that line. Clearly for Bob the line is not there. What a shame.