There are moments in every life where we have to risk losing it all in order to follow the divine spark of truth within us.
In 1965, Bob Dylan had become one of the biggest and most influential musicians in the world.
His career skyrocketed to fame and wealth as a folk singer with multiple top 20 hits. Just him, his acoustic guitar, and a harmonica.
His growing fan base was very passionate and devoted to him as a folk artist.
And yet, in 1965, Bob Dylan’s heart was calling him to something different that was about to shock the music world and infuriate his fanbase.
On July 25, 1965, Bob Dylan stepped onto the stage at the Newport Folk Festival to perform for the very first time a brand new song he had just written.
The song was called “Like a Rolling Stone.”
Defying the conventions of the folk genre, he played for the very first time with an electric guitar and a fully electric band.
He was booed off the stage and accosted with insults by the infuriated crowd.
You can hear it in the YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/MtHwRcn8J2c
The outrage and resentment from fans about this artistic shift from acoustic folk to rock continued.
In 1966, Bob Dylan was playing a show in Manchester, England.
As he comes onto the stage with his now fully electric band to perform “Like a Rolling Stone,” someone in the audience shouts out, “Judas!” indicating he has betrayed his own fan base. The crowd laughs with approval.
Bob then turns to his band, and you can hear him shout to them, “Play it fucking loud!”
What happens next becomes one of the most iconic and unusual musical performances in rock history.
A defiant Dylan seems to go almost into a trance-like state. He looks almost possessed.
He’s not singing the lyrics; he’s almost shouting them with an otherworldly intensity.
The band behind him is overpowering. They sound loud, raw and angry.
It’s almost like a punk-rock rendition of the song as he stands in confrontation with his own fans.
I’m mesmerized every time I watch it.
Check it out here: https://youtu.be/oXUTsWy4XSo
And yet the question remains:
Why didn’t Dylan just give in and give his fans what they wanted to hear?
He seemed to know something.
He had a deep artistic vision and had the courage to follow it, facing the real risk of losing his fan base, his fame, his wealth, and adoration in the process.
In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine, whose very name was inspired in part by the power of the song itself, named “Like a Rolling Stone” the greatest rock song of all time.
What happens to you when the deepest truth within you calls you in a direction that you know will face resistance and threaten the identity, success, approval, and security you’ve already built?
It’s a difficult moment.
Do you have the courage to say yes, or do you cower away in fear and continue living a life that’s inauthentic?
Maybe it means leaving a long-term relationship, a secure, well-paying job, a hometown.
There are always people who will want you to be who you were in the past. And yet you must become who your soul is calling you to be in the future.
Yet, to live a truly great life, we must get quiet, listen to who we’re called to become, and have the courage to follow that truth wherever it leads us.
In Dylan’s case, it meant recording what many now consider the greatest rock song of all time.
What does it mean in your life?
— Brian Piergrossi