On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 2:24:08 PM UTC-5, President_dudley wrote:
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E

Good selection, Dudley.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E

On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E

thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly...) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....

On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:02:15 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E
>
> thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly...) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....
hello, Rachel

good to hear from you

On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 5:01:52 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:02:15 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E
> >
> > thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly...) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....
> hello, Rachel
>
> good to hear from you

thanks doodles! i always like you. :-)

how are the grandkids and the beers? :-)

On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 9:00:53 AM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 5:01:52 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:02:15 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E
> > >
> > > thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly....) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....
> > hello, Rachel
> >
> > good to hear from you
> thanks doodles! i always like you. :-)
>
> how are the grandkids and the beers? :-)

great, and thanks for asking

funny you should mention, this recent christmas we the all of us got together kids and kids of kids

usually in recent past my offspring have given me beer as christmas gift. because they love me and want me to be happy

this year my youngest handed me my gift and as i was unwrapping it i figured it to be a book and then i thought "the philosophy of modern song" bob's most recent printed word endeavour

nice book by look and feel

it's a series of "essays" with accompanying photographs. i turned randomly to page 97 and this is what it said

}
ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
{

be well,
rdd

On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 12:19:14 PM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 9:00:53 AM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 5:01:52 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:02:15 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E
> > > >
> > > > thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly...) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....
> > > hello, Rachel
> > >
> > > good to hear from you
> > thanks doodles! i always like you. :-)
> >
> > how are the grandkids and the beers? :-)
> great, and thanks for asking
>
> funny you should mention, this recent christmas we the all of us got together kids and kids of kids
>
> usually in recent past my offspring have given me beer as christmas gift. because they love me and want me to be happy
>
> this year my youngest handed me my gift and as i was unwrapping it i figured it to be a book and then i thought "the philosophy of modern song" bob's most recent printed word endeavour
>
> nice book by look and feel
>
> it's a series of "essays" with accompanying photographs. i turned randomly to page 97 and this is what it said
>
> }
> ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> {
>
> be well,
> rdd

i don't even know what he's talking about

is he christian again

is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago

is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what

On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 2:19:14 PM UTC-6, President_dudley wrote:
> On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 9:00:53 AM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Friday, February 3, 2023 at 5:01:52 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 3:02:15 PM UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Thursday, February 2, 2023 at 11:24:08 AM UTC-8, President_dudley wrote:
> > > > > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_akrUZsP48E
> > > >
> > > > thanks doodles!! this is actually good to my ears now (meaning since my older kinda burned-out state, too...i left music a long time ago, mostly...) makes me want to get it....hmm....we'll see....
> > > hello, Rachel
> > >
> > > good to hear from you
> > thanks doodles! i always like you. :-)
> >
> > how are the grandkids and the beers? :-)
> great, and thanks for asking
>
> funny you should mention, this recent christmas we the all of us got together kids and kids of kids
>
> usually in recent past my offspring have given me beer as christmas gift. because they love me and want me to be happy
>
> this year my youngest handed me my gift and as i was unwrapping it i figured it to be a book and then i thought "the philosophy of modern song" bob's most recent printed word endeavour
>
> nice book by look and feel
>
> it's a series of "essays" with accompanying photographs. i turned randomly to page 97 and this is what it said
>
> }
> ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> {
>
> be well,
> rdd
It must have been a real gift because I remember you commenting months ago that it wasn't a book you'd be purchasing. Such a joy that must have been! Thanks for the post!

On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:

> > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > {
> >
> > be well,
> > rdd
> i don't even know what he's talking about
>
> is he christian again
>
> is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
>
> is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what

Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?

On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
>
> > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > {
> > >
> > > be well,
> > > rdd
> > i don't even know what he's talking about
> >
> > is he christian again
> >
> > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> >
> > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?

Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.

On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> >
> > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed.. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > > {
> > > >
> > > > be well,
> > > > rdd
> > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > >
> > > is he christian again
> > >
> > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > >
> > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.

I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.

https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues

"Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.

On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> > >
> > > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle..
> > > > > {
> > > > >
> > > > > be well,
> > > > > rdd
> > > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > > >
> > > > is he christian again
> > > >
> > > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > > >
> > > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> > Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.
> I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.
>
> https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues
>
> "Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.

In what sense was "religion" in the water? And then how does it follow that it was in the air?

What miracles and what behaviors?

On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 20:27:09 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > > > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > > > > {
> > > > > >
> > > > > > be well,
> > > > > > rdd
> > > > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > > > >
> > > > > is he christian again
> > > > >
> > > > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > > > >
> > > > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > > > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> > > Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.
> > I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.
> >
> > https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues
> >
> > "Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.
> In what sense was "religion" in the water? And then how does it follow that it was in the air?
>
> What miracles and what behaviors?

That religion was once upon a time in the water that Americans drank and in the air that they breathed is just a metaphor for Dylan's point that religious feeling used to be pervasive in American life--and now it isn't. I wouldn't take Dylan's language too literally. A few years ago, an Israeli foreign minister repeated the old adage that the Poles imbibed antisemitism with their mother's milk. No one ran out to do a chemical analysis of the milk produced by nursing Polish mothers.

As for miracles illuminating behavior, I'm afraid that's above my pay grade.. I assume Dylan had something in mind with that, but I have no idea what. In fact, I'm still working on trying to understand his discourse on "transfiguration" in Mikal Gilmore's 2012 Rolling Stone interview.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-unleashed-189723/

On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 7:00:52 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 20:27:09 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > > > > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > > > > > {
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > be well,
> > > > > > > rdd
> > > > > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > > > > >
> > > > > > is he christian again
> > > > > >
> > > > > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > > > > >
> > > > > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > > > > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> > > > Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.
> > > I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.
> > >
> > > https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues
> > >
> > > "Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.
> > In what sense was "religion" in the water? And then how does it follow that it was in the air?
> >
> > What miracles and what behaviors?
> That religion was once upon a time in the water that Americans drank and in the air that they breathed is just a metaphor for Dylan's point that religious feeling used to be pervasive in American life--and now it isn't. I wouldn't take Dylan's language too literally. A few years ago, an Israeli foreign minister repeated the old adage that the Poles imbibed antisemitism with their mother's milk. No one ran out to do a chemical analysis of the milk produced by nursing Polish mothers.

I said the last three sentences made no sense to me. You responded that Dylan was referring to black American music. I managed to make sense of that as applying to the second sentence only. As to your explanation of how the first sentence ties in:

Once upon a time when? Where? For whom? Was this "religious feeling" initially pervasive in the enslaved African experience leading up to the next sentence, referring to the evolution of gospel and blues?

Thanks!

>
> As for miracles illuminating behavior, I'm afraid that's above my pay grade. I assume Dylan had something in mind with that, but I have no idea what.. In fact, I'm still working on trying to understand his discourse on "transfiguration" in Mikal Gilmore's 2012 Rolling Stone interview.
>
> https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/bob-dylan-unleashed-189723/

On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 22:30:38 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 7:00:52 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 20:27:09 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > > > > > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > >
> > > > > > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > > > > > > {
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > be well,
> > > > > > > > rdd
> > > > > > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > is he christian again
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > > > > > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> > > > > Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.
> > > > I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.
> > > >
> > > > https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues
> > > >
> > > > "Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.
> > > In what sense was "religion" in the water? And then how does it follow that it was in the air?
> > >
> > > What miracles and what behaviors?
> > That religion was once upon a time in the water that Americans drank and in the air that they breathed is just a metaphor for Dylan's point that religious feeling used to be pervasive in American life--and now it isn't. I wouldn't take Dylan's language too literally. A few years ago, an Israeli foreign minister repeated the old adage that the Poles imbibed antisemitism with their mother's milk. No one ran out to do a chemical analysis of the milk produced by nursing Polish mothers.
> I said the last three sentences made no sense to me. You responded that Dylan was referring to black American music. I managed to make sense of that as applying to the second sentence only. As to your explanation of how the first sentence ties in:
>
> Once upon a time when? Where? For whom? Was this "religious feeling" initially pervasive in the enslaved African experience leading up to the next sentence, referring to the evolution of gospel and blues?

When? From the founding of the American colonies in the 17th century, up to the present day, though weakening over the past half-century or so. Check out the Puritans and the Pilgrims, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards and "the Great Awakening," the Northwest Ordinance's setting aside "ministerial lands" for the advancement of religion, the second Great Awakening, the Social Gospel movement, the Evangelical movement, Jimmy Carter lusting in his heart, etc., etc.

Where? Throughout the US, within the initially dominant white Anglo-Saxon culture, but also within many of America's sub-cultures.
..
For whom? Native Americans; White Anglo-Saxon Protestants; African Americans; 19th century Irish, Italian and Slavic Catholics and Jews; Latin American, Asian, and African immigrants since the 1965 reform of US immigration policy. Belief in God among Americans is now at the lowest point ever recorded and is nonetheless at 81%. Churchgoing has also declined during the past fifty years or so, falling below 50% for the first time in 2020 (though this may be, at least in part, the result of the covid pandemic). These numbers, while declining, are still considerably higher than what is currently being seen in Western Europe. So, Dylan's claim that religion was once a key element of American life, but less so today, is generally borne out by these statistics.

https://news.gallup.com/poll/393737/belief-god-dips-new-low.aspx

In the enslaved African experience? Yes, as attested by remaining traces of African religions in Black cuture and by the development of "Negro spirituals," many of them rooted in Biblical stories and themes. Gospel music, strongly influenced by those spirituals, was always an important element in Black culture, as attested to, from the earliest days of the recording industry, by numerous recordings of Black gospel music and even of Black preachers' sermons. Black churches and ministers were central to the Civil Rights movement, embodying the spirit of the anthemic gospel song "We Shall Overcome."

But don't take my word for it. Check out Butler, Wacker & Balmer's "Religion in American Life: A Short History" and Tony Heilbut's "The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMI63Pr7x4

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 9:32:19 AM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 22:30:38 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 7:00:52 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > On Monday, 6 February 2023 at 20:27:09 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Monday, February 6, 2023 at 2:32:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > > On Sunday, 5 February 2023 at 14:18:39 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > On Sunday, February 5, 2023 at 9:43:12 AM UTC-8, Just Walkin' wrote:
> > > > > > > On Saturday, February 4, 2023 at 4:04:55 PM UTC-6, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > ONE OF THE REASONS PEOPLE TURN away from God is because religion is no longer in fabric of their lives. It is presented as a thing that must be journeyed to as a chore -- it's Sunday, we have to go to church.. Or, it is used as a weapon of threat by political nutjobs on either side of every argument. But religion used to be in the water we drank, the air we breathed. Songs of praise were as spine-tingling as, and in truth the basis of, songs of carnality. Miracles illuminated behavior and weren't just spectacle.
> > > > > > > > > {
> > > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > > be well,
> > > > > > > > > rdd
> > > > > > > > i don't even know what he's talking about
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > is he christian again
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > is he talking about behavior-altering drugs people ingested thousands of years ago
> > > > > > > >
> > > > > > > > is he going back to the grasslands and the jungles of africa and talking about tribal rituals or what
> > > > > > > Hi Rachel. He's quoting from the book, isn't he?
> > > > > > Yes, I don't get what Bob is talking about, specifically, the last three lines.
> > > > > I think Dylan is referring to the suggestion that the blues and gospel are "two sides of the same coin" and therefore are historically very much interwoven.
> > > > >
> > > > > https://msbluestrail.org/blues-trail-markers/gospel-and-the-blues
> > > > >
> > > > > "Gospel music and the blues share a unique relationship, reflecting “two sides of the same coin,” some have said. African American theologian James Cone has written, “ . . . the blues and the spirituals flow from the same bedrock of experience, and neither is an adequate interpretation of black life without the other.” Spirituals and hymns preceded gospel, a genre that evolved through the work of Thomas A.. Dorsey, a former blues singer and composer often called the “father of gospel music,” and others. The influence between religious music and blues has long been mutual. While both genres have their own distinct characteristics, many gospel songs have been transformed into blues or soul songs, and vice versa, by simply changing a few words in the lyrics.
> > > > In what sense was "religion" in the water? And then how does it follow that it was in the air?
> > > >
> > > > What miracles and what behaviors?
> > > That religion was once upon a time in the water that Americans drank and in the air that they breathed is just a metaphor for Dylan's point that religious feeling used to be pervasive in American life--and now it isn't. I wouldn't take Dylan's language too literally. A few years ago, an Israeli foreign minister repeated the old adage that the Poles imbibed antisemitism with their mother's milk. No one ran out to do a chemical analysis of the milk produced by nursing Polish mothers.
> > I said the last three sentences made no sense to me. You responded that Dylan was referring to black American music. I managed to make sense of that as applying to the second sentence only. As to your explanation of how the first sentence ties in:
> >
> > Once upon a time when? Where? For whom? Was this "religious feeling" initially pervasive in the enslaved African experience leading up to the next sentence, referring to the evolution of gospel and blues?
> When? From the founding of the American colonies in the 17th century, up to the present day, though weakening over the past half-century or so. Check out the Puritans and the Pilgrims, Cotton Mather, Jonathan Edwards and "the Great Awakening," the Northwest Ordinance's setting aside "ministerial lands" for the advancement of religion, the second Great Awakening, the Social Gospel movement, the Evangelical movement, Jimmy Carter lusting in his heart, etc., etc.
>
> Where? Throughout the US, within the initially dominant white Anglo-Saxon culture, but also within many of America's sub-cultures.
> .
> For whom? Native Americans; White Anglo-Saxon Protestants; African Americans; 19th century Irish, Italian and Slavic Catholics and Jews; Latin American, Asian, and African immigrants since the 1965 reform of US immigration policy. Belief in God among Americans is now at the lowest point ever recorded and is nonetheless at 81%. Churchgoing has also declined during the past fifty years or so, falling below 50% for the first time in 2020 (though this may be, at least in part, the result of the covid pandemic). These numbers, while declining, are still considerably higher than what is currently being seen in Western Europe. So, Dylan's claim that religion was once a key element of American life, but less so today, is generally borne out by these statistics.
>
> https://news.gallup.com/poll/393737/belief-god-dips-new-low.aspx
>
> In the enslaved African experience? Yes, as attested by remaining traces of African religions in Black cuture and by the development of "Negro spirituals," many of them rooted in Biblical stories and themes. Gospel music, strongly influenced by those spirituals, was always an important element in Black culture, as attested to, from the earliest days of the recording industry, by numerous recordings of Black gospel music and even of Black preachers' sermons. Black churches and ministers were central to the Civil Rights movement, embodying the spirit of the anthemic gospel song "We Shall Overcome."
>
> But don't take my word for it. Check out Butler, Wacker & Balmer's "Religion in American Life: A Short History" and Tony Heilbut's "The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times."
>
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrMI63Pr7x4

Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)

Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"

On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
>
> Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"

https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> >
> > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
>
> https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.

Nice chatting with you.

Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > >
> > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> >
> > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> Nice chatting with you.
>
> Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.

(from as good as it gets)

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > >
> > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > >
> > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > Nice chatting with you.
> >
> > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.
> (from as good as it gets)

I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.

(imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > > >
> > > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > > >
> > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > > Nice chatting with you.
> > >
> > > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.
> > (from as good as it gets)
> I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.
>
> (imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)

Dylan IS talking about the evolution of Black American music, apparently, you say, hence I narrowed it down to the Black American experience and its people, in the beginning, as you say, "once upon a time," and allowed for a hundred years of its evolution, which has been clearly, if not rather a bit too succinctly, addressed in the first link you provided. (I don't have a NYT account, so I was unable to access the second link.)

Thank you.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:31:25 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > > > Nice chatting with you.
> > > >
> > > > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.
> > > (from as good as it gets)
> > I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.
> >
> > (imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)
> Dylan IS talking about the evolution of Black American music, apparently, you say, hence I narrowed it down to the Black American experience and its people, in the beginning, as you say, "once upon a time," and allowed for a hundred years of its evolution, which has been clearly, if not rather a bit too succinctly, addressed in the first link you provided. (I don't have a NYT account, so I was unable to access the second link.)
>
> Thank you.

The NYT's link opened momentarily, and I saw the highlighted paragraph, but wasn't able to read it.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:33:51 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:31:25 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > > > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > > > > >
> > > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > > > > Nice chatting with you.
> > > > >
> > > > > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much..
> > > > (from as good as it gets)
> > > I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.
> > >
> > > (imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)
> > Dylan IS talking about the evolution of Black American music, apparently, you say, hence I narrowed it down to the Black American experience and its people, in the beginning, as you say, "once upon a time," and allowed for a hundred years of its evolution, which has been clearly, if not rather a bit too succinctly, addressed in the first link you provided. (I don't have a NYT account, so I was unable to access the second link.)
> >
> > Thank you.
> The NYT's link opened momentarily, and I saw the highlighted paragraph, but wasn't able to read it.

I don't read Hymie periodicals anyway. Fucking greedy Zionist bastards.

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:31:25 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > > > >
> > > > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > > > >
> > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > > > Nice chatting with you.
> > > >
> > > > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much.
> > > (from as good as it gets)
> > I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.
> >
> > (imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)
> Dylan IS talking about the evolution of Black American music, apparently, you say, hence I narrowed it down to the Black American experience and its people, in the beginning, as you say, "once upon a time," and allowed for a hundred years of its evolution, which has been clearly, if not rather a bit too succinctly, addressed in the first link you provided. (I don't have a NYT account, so I was unable to access the second link.)
>
> Thank you.

I would also edit this for the second "you say" or in fact, "as you say," to quite simply an "or," k? :-)

On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:57:39 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:31:25 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 3:24:52 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 1:20:47 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:53:13 PM UTC-8, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > On Tuesday, February 7, 2023 at 12:23:46 PM UTC-8, K. Hematite wrote:
> > > > > > On Tuesday, 7 February 2023 at 14:43:36 UTC-5, Rachel wrote:
> > > > > > > Back in very the beginning, as you say Dylan is referring to, so let's narrow this down say, make it easy, the first 17th century for African Americans ONLY, that gives us almost a full hundred years, nearly an entire century we are talking about here, who taught these new arrivals and "immigrants" English and the Bible, and imbued them, these broken cargo ships of black slaves arriving en masse from Africa in the beginning, a long time ago, "once upon a time," with this all-pervasive "religious feeling" you claim Dylan says they had, a core belief in God apparently being the cornerstone for this feeling, and who developed the incipient canon of spirituals? Where did this music come from? (17th century)
> > > > > > >
> > > > > > > Or is Dylan saying once they all arrived here, the metaphor is that this religion feeling was everywhere in America, "in the water and in the air," so to speak, and they all got off the ships, took big deep breaths, fell down and kissed the ground, and said for all intents and purposes, "Hallelujah?"
> > > > > > https://www.loc.gov/item/ihas.200197495/
> > > > > >
> > > > > > https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/05/t-magazine/black-spirituals-poetry-resistance.html#:~:text=The%20spiritual%20is%20a%20combination,which%20led%20to%20hip%2Dhop.
> > > > > Nice chatting with you.
> > > > >
> > > > > Let's not drag this out. We don't want to enjoy another that much..
> > > > (from as good as it gets)
> > > I notice two English errors in my penultimate reply, but en tout c'est inconsequential.
> > >
> > > (imbued the slaves, not the ships, and not religion feeling, religious feeling, typo)
> > Dylan IS talking about the evolution of Black American music, apparently, you say, hence I narrowed it down to the Black American experience and its people, in the beginning, as you say, "once upon a time," and allowed for a hundred years of its evolution, which has been clearly, if not rather a bit too succinctly, addressed in the first link you provided. (I don't have a NYT account, so I was unable to access the second link.)
> >
> > Thank you.
> I would also edit this for the second "you say" or in fact, "as you say," to quite simply an "or," k? :-)

Btw, Dylanstubs has an incredible collection of music in this vein he downloaded off the Internet. He played Geeshie Wiles for me. Freakin' gave me goosebumps. He said "good." (As if I wouldn't know what it was!!! Puh-leez!!!) This puts Dylan to shame, too, btw. Weak, wimpy, skinny white boy.

But he hasn't spoken to me for ages (Dylanstubs). I don't know what's up with that. :-( I miss him.

I'm lonely.

Bob, you still around? Wanna come over n' hang? (n' snuggle n' kiss n' all that? :-) ) Maybe fall in love, just you n' mee?