Bob Dylan’s Evil Eye

July 14, 2010

The All Seeing Eye

posted Sep 18 2008 by sadi_ranson_polizzotti

Someone asked if I knew the significance of Dylan’s eye logo/banner that drops down in concert and has for sometime now and that is likewise widely branded on a lot of Dylan merchandise at shows and the like.

Like most things Dylan, I’ll leave it to Dylan to address that one in a more direct way. I can only think it over (or over-think) it over, but then, it seems that eyes have been on Dylan’s mind for a good part, if not most, of his career. The word eye or eyes feature in approximately 124 songs, give or take a couple. There are “steel eyes” and twinkling eyes and men with their eyes tied shut and icy wind’s howling in eyes and eyes that are on fire. There are eyes glazed, eyes wiped, heat rising in eyes, watery eyes, eyes that feel that they’re falling off a face, eyes with a long night’s journey. There are the “cold eyes of Judas”, there is the self in the other’s eyes, assassin’s eyes, wide eyes, neon-lit eyes, smoked eye-lids, rolling eyes, teasing eyes, sad-eyed prophets, ware-house eyes, sad-eyes (amen), big bright eyes, serpent’s obsidian eyes, jewel eyes, serpents eyes. There are somebody’s eyes and somebody’s unknowin’ eyes.

And that’s just the shortlist. So the eye features repeatedly as the central image and the vehicle through which lovers, friends, enemies, all communicate in his music. Eyes dream, they shoot looks both loving and glaring. They are cold, they are warm. They weep, they are glazed and glued. They fall. They are like smoke and prayers like rhymes (“Sad Eyed Lady Of The Lowlands”).

Depending on the culture and history of specific nation, the eye has come to symbolize many different aspects of the self and the. In many cultures, of course, the biggest and now almost clichéd is the notion of the eyes as the “window to the soul”, which would be really a bad line in a bar if it didn’t ring so damn true and we had not all experienced a “moment” with That One and just knew because it was in his or her eyes. This happens. It happens in Dylan’s songs and it happens in our lives, and then we play Dylan’s songs and relive those moments.

As a friend said to me, and I agree, we live with Dylan and he with us and he takes on our culture, then Dylan becomes part of the culture. It’s a loop that keeps repeating (more on this in my forthcoming interview with Phil Gounis). Hence, Dylan as cultural icon, right? Interesting that our icon has perhaps “incidentally” selected the eye icon to make his own stamp. Anyone who’s seen Dylan knows the moment when the banner unfurls and the voice-over begins (this after the introductory incense) that The Man himself is about to make an entrance.

It’s at that point that everybody stands up. We look up only to meet a giant eyeball giving us a look back. So just in case you thought of the Evil Eye and were thinking for one moment of sending it BD’s way, hey baby, forget it – Our man has the ultimate evil eye charm to ward off the hex. Not bad thinking to travel with a giant unfurling eye to ward off evil. Some talisman of sorts. The whole introduction is highly ritualized and within ritual, therein lays some echo of religion or of faith. Ritual is almost a religion unto itself because it is such a great part of so many faiths. It is the ritual that keeps us grounded, that we use as our staff (if we turn to religion, that is). It is the What We Can Count On. It is the Expected. In a world of unpredictability, ritual can be a very soothing and good thing for many.

Hieronymus Bosch’s painting the “Seven Deadly Sins” features an eye and a rectangle in which all of the sins are housed separately in seven mansions, representing the all seeing eye of God. It is God’s eye telling us that no sin goes unnoticed, unseen. In other areas of the painting are the Deathbed, the Last Judgment followed by Heaven, and finally Hell. Stand back from the Bosch painting and you see a giant eye and pupil against a thick, black background. Like Dylan’s stylized eye, Bosch’s painting looks back at us, taking everything in as if to say to us, You will be judged. Certainly that’s what Bosch had in mind when he painted his “Seven Deadly Sins”. Dylan may not have had that in mind – I can’t say. I do know however that “I Gotta Serve Somebody” and Dylan knew, or knows, it too.

And again, I do know that eyes, the eyes of a poet, and I write this as a poet myself, see things in different ways. The refrain, “the poet’s eye” or the “photographer’s eye”. It’s all the same in the end, the “artist’s eye”. In the final account, I think it’s just a fact of life that we all see the world in vastly different ways and I mean that quite literally. What I see, you do not see and likewise. You see something else. We can be looking at the same street scene and I’ll remember the oxford shoes on the Chaplinesque-man and you’ll remember the woman in the pink blouse or the way the sky looked at that moment or the sound of a car horn, etc. It’s all subjective perception and we perceive through our senses, but a lot of the brain is stimulated by our visual intake. So what hits my neurons, doesn’t quite register with yours or in the very same way. It’s all quite literally different strokes, different folks. Blink, and you just might miss.

In “No Direction Home” Dylan mentions that he noted the look in people’s eyes back when he was still unheard of and had just arrived on the scene in Greenwich Village, New York. He knew what and who he wanted to be and who was the real deal by the look in their eye (see article on this for reference), so even in those early days, the eye was important. The eyes “had it” so to speak. (If you don’t remember this quote, revisit “No Direction Home” for original source quote).

So for all of the songs that reference eyes in some serious way, for Dylan’s own words in the relatively recent “No Direction Home” about how he sought out a certain look in the eyes of those he believed to be the real deal, sure, the eye logo could still be incidental and happenstance, but wow! What a coincidence I will say though that if Dylan is like the rest of us, we often do things or are drawn to certain imagery that repeats in our work without really knowing why it resonates with us.

I know I have certain words, situations, etc. that recur frequently (too much) in my poetry. I don’t even know why. It’s strange to read other people’s theories or interpretations of one’s work and their thoughts when you were not even perhaps aware that you were doing this. Some of the ideas may be total claptrap and all can only be speculation (because until I myself have that Eureka moment, what someone else says is pure analysis and again, only speculation unless I confirm it). Same is true for Dylan and his symbolism and this whole issue of the eye. So, in the final account, we can talk about it and note how frequently it recurs and that Dylan himself noted the importance of the eyes, but unless or until he gives us his own thought, who can say with any absolute certainty.

That said, incidental though it may be, we remain no more than older children still playing the staring game and caught on the hooks of each others eyes. This happens.

Thanks for listening,

s.r.p.

Goofy’s Illuminati Skateboard

July 1, 2010

Goofy holds a skateboard with a crowned all seeing eye. The eye represents the masonic Christ or Lucifer, Satan, God and ruler of this world. The Roman god, Lucifer, was the bearer of light, the spirit of the air, the personification of enlightenment. The third “eye,” or the Ajna chakra, is felt to be the point of contact between humans and Lucifer.

Dreams are manifested in the unconscious mind by the third eye or pineal gland. The Third Eye secretes dimetyhltryptamine, and its close cousin DMT, in minute quantities during heavy rapid eye movement sleep, thus the dream, unconscious hallucination. Awaken the third eye, and see, and become enlightened.

King Jeremy (Inspired from Pearl Jam)

June 18, 2010

“Jeremy” The teacher called. It was his turn to speak. I have to say, I will never forget that day.

The poor kid.

They never told us why he did it, but I think I can figure out what had gone so wrong.

His problems started at home I think, just weeks before. His father must have lost his job or something, because he became abusive to Jeremy. In those weeks, months too maybe, he came into school having to hold himself together. His eye was almost always blackened, and his lip a bit swollen.What made matters worse was the fact that he didn’t have any friends to talk to about it, and the teachers never did anything for him.

After that first time it happened, the incident repeated. Every few days he would come into school with cuts and bruises, and the bullies tortured him because of it. Just taunting and teasing him, striving to add as much of their own brand of pain as possible.When they tried to hurt him they must have reminded him of his father, because the second they laid a hand on him, he lashed out. He beat one or two of them to tears before the teacher came to stop the fight. She didn’t phase him in the least, and he just attacked them too. Bit her I think. What ever he did, it was enough to have his period of suspension extended past the other boys. He was gone for two weeks, and now as I think about it, his father must have put him to about an inch of his life, because when he came back he was more than limping. He couldn’t possibly have been the same boy who had left. Before his suspension, there was a sadness, something telling that he still felt, but now…

Now he was scary…

Now you could feel his eyes on you. As though his furious gaze could pierce your body. There was this resentment towards everyone and everything. When he sat alone at lunch, he glared at all others. The bullies would pass him, and after that fight, they didn’t mess with him again. Either from fear he would attack back, or that look of hate he gave to them and everyone else. No one messed with him.

It went on for a while like this, the rage behind his eyes focusing in on the people around him. He didn’t speak to anyone, did his school work, and wasn’t called upon during the day to answer questions.

That is, until we were assigned a project.

I think it was something about family, which probably stung him harder than anything else, and you had to ask your parents questions. Presentation day came, and I distinctly remember him not having a project with him to enter the class. Thought it was strange, but assumed he was just being the regular old Jeremy. The bell rang, we all sat down, and we each presented our projects.

“Jeremy” the teacher called, it was his turn to speak. He stood from his desk, hand to his pocket, and walked up to the front of the room. Something changed in his eyes, he went from fury to a bitter sadness. I will never forget it for as long as I live. I was sitting in the front row, his face aimed towards the floor, and out from his pocket he pulled a gun. The teacher flew back in her chair, “Oh shit”. How professional really… He didn’t wait at all, not a second, but moved the gun to his chin, and looked straight to the sky. A tear rolled down his face as he put both hands on the trigger. The next few seconds felt like hours, not a person could move until he pulled that trigger. It hurt. He blinked and squinted his eyes and it finally released. His brains flew and hit the chalk board, his knees buckled beneath him, and he fell to the floor. Not a person in the room moved, we were all shocked by the scene before us. Jeremy had shot himself.

I guess they could hear the gunshot down the hall because the principal burst into the room, ready to try and protect the students. When he saw Jeremy his knees buckled too, though I’m sure there wasn’t a pistol involved.

My shirt was wet, and I knew that I had gotten blood on me, but I couldn’t turn away. I really didn’t turn to look away until the paramedics came to move him. They worked so fast, like its normal. Following the paramedics were the police, and following them the news reporters. The Officers took us to separate places, giving us things like soda and candy to calm us down, and asked questions about what had happened. They scribbled down notes about what we were saying, occasionally offering to stop if we needed a moment to breath. One or two of the girls in the class actually started screaming, and a boy crawled into a ball crying. Everyone reacted in their own time, but I guess it just came to the fact I was the closest person to Jeremy when it happened. Perhaps I was under the largest amount of shock out of anyone. We were dismissed from school early, and I went home to tell my parents what happened. They erupted in fear and tears asking if I was alright. I told them I was, and it wasn’t a lie.

It wasn’t until later that night that what had happened truly hit me. My mother came into the room, hushing me to sleep as I sobbed into her arms. I couldn’t sleep at all that night. I was having nightmares.

There is nothing in this world like seeing someone die.

That next day, over the announcements, the principal told the school a very very toned down version of what had actually happened. Told us that a boy named Jeremy had been shot the previous day, and that there was a funeral to be held tomorrow.

I went to that funeral. I don’t know why I did it, and my parents objected to it at first, but I just thought that someone should go to see him. When we pulled up to the funeral home, there was not a person in there. We talked to the attending door man to make sure we were on the right date, and he assured us we were. Jeremy’s parents came, as did three of his other relatives. Not a single person out side of his family came to visit him that entire day. They were short handed, so my father offered to be a pallbearer for him, and we led off to the cemetery.

His parents didn’t cry. His father looked at his coffin with more disappointment than anything and his mother devoured the sympathy from the three others.

After a short sermon over the coffin, rushed by Jeremy’s father, they buried the poor boy once and for all. My parents wanted to leave, but I didn’t let them go. I told them that I had to stay. Jeremy’s family all left, and I felt it was safe to talk.

“Jeremy. I’m sorry. I should have stepped out, I should have said something. We all should have. Its all our fault. Now that you are rid of your parents, and the cruel cruel world you were born into, I hope you can rest easy. I hope to god that he understands what you went through and lets you go to heaven. I am just so sorry, but I fear it is to late. Jeremy, I will not forget you or what you went through. Jeremy, I hope the best for you. Good bye.”

The evil eye is watching in the background, and, if you watch carefully, there are alot of subliminals like the class giving a fascist salute. I remember this video was made after Bush the father’s war in Iraq

Chris Martin’s Illuminati Guitar

May 27, 2010

Chris Martin’s guitar is inscribed with “No Me Llore” (or “don’t cry for me,” if you will). The tears make the rays of a masonic all seeing eye. His wife is into Kabbalah which is big on the evil eye. Is Chris Martin a closet conspiracy theorist?

Eminem – Mosh 2004

May 18, 2010

From Liberty Think….

Eminem has released a new video of the cut “Mosh,” from his upcoming album Encore. The largely animated video , produced in association with Guerilla News Network, opens with Eminem reading to schoolchildren in the shadow of the World Trade Center on 9/11, not unlike Bush did in Florida.

It then cuts to Eminem standing before a wall collaged with newspaper clippings and photos featuring headlines about Bush’s foreknowledge of 9/11 (including the famous BUSH KNEW New York Post headline); the civil rights abuses of the PATRIOT Act; maltreatment of soldiers; war profiteering and even the Illuminati’s all-seeing eye.

Eminem then rallies a crowd of youngsters to action, crying “F*** Bush!” as black helicopters buzz over. This is intercut with a scene of a soldier coming home only to immediately receive an order sending him back to Iraq. As Eminem calls Bush “this monster, this coward we empowered,” one of the infamous “bin Laden videos” plays on a television set — only to have OBL’s backdrop collapse to reveal a giggling Dick Cheney and Don Rumsfeld on a Hollywood set.

The lyrics slam the government’s “psychological warfare” as the animated Eminem leads a crowd of youth to a voting booth. But perhaps Eminem isn’t cyncial enough here, as a word about the electronic voting scam machines would be worthwhile as well. At least Eminem hasn’t fallen into the trap of endorsing Bush’s sworn Bones blood brother Kerry, though he came a little too close for this writer’s tastes in his new Rolling Stone interview.

The last video Eminem produced in association with GNN, “White America,” was banned from MTV Networks.

Girlicious – Maniac

May 10, 2010

On the wall it is written: The End is Near. There is also a fetus and an all seeing eye. It also says: Revenge? Revelation? All I can see is REVE.

You can watch the video yourself here.

Lady Gaga Illuminati Puppet?

May 7, 2010

I was reading this article from Vigilant Citizen about Lady Gaga being an Illuminati puppet. In my opinion, when celebrities flash the all seeing eye it’s usually a form of rebellion. Nobody likes the old order and the Illuminati banking families, especially now, with all the bank bailouts and bankruptcies. I think sometimes people, including me, read too much into music videos looking for occult symbols and conspiracies. Sometimes a video is just a video. If Lady Gaga uses occult symbols it doesn’t automatically mean she’s a mind controlled sex slave.

Pearl Jam: No Code

April 20, 2010

When you unfold the Pearl Jam No Code album you get an all seeing eye.

Lindsay Lohan: Rumors

April 4, 2010

Lindsay Lohan makes the all seeing eye in her Rumors music video.

If you slow it down frame by frame you can see this:

I think this video was made when Lindsay Lohan was interested in Kabbalah. She must of been reading about the evil eye.

Beyonce Illuminated?

February 9, 2010

Beyonce makes Lucifer’s all seeing eye with her hands. Do you think Jay Z tells her Prince Hall’s deep, dark secrets when he’s talking in his sleep?

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