The social media platform X, previously generally known as Twitter, has had a bumpy 12 months.
And by bumpy, we imply customers have been leaving it in droves over the course of the final month or so, primarily in protest of the proprietor Elon Musk’s misinformation-soaked strategy to working the location throughout an election season rife with hostilities and disagreements over primary information. Lengthy story brief: Twitter is just not what it was once.
It was surprisingly becoming and epical then about this additionally being the second that Bob Dylan, a notoriously cloaked determine, determined to start out posting earnestly on what appeared to be his personal accord, not that of an assistant or social media intern. On the time of this writing in mid-December of 2024, Dylan has tweeted a complete of 11 occasions, an astounding quantity contemplating he is the identical one who nearly by no means offers interviews and says near nothing exterior of lyrics throughout his concert events.
These posts have introduced an incredible quantity of pleasure to Dylan’s fanbase, in addition to the broader musical neighborhood — there’s something comforting about realizing Dylan is just not in contrast to the remainder of us: bored on his telephone. To be clear, we’ve no manner of proving that these posts have been crafted and despatched by Dylan himself, or that the content material in them is true, however neither of these issues are actually our concern right here.
Every of Dylan’s tweets are memorable in their very own manner, however under we have taken it upon ourselves to rank them so as of, nicely, intrigue.
11. Joyful Birthday Paul Butterfield
Fairly actually about 10 minutes after the completion of this text, simply as this author was placing in ending touches, Dylan tweeted for the eleventh time in 2024. This one was a birthday shoutout to his late good friend Paul Butterfield who handed away in 1987 on the age of 44. (Maybe, if UCR is fortunate, Dylan will see this text and tweet about it.)
10. Bob Newhart: Gone
The actor Bob Newhart died on July 18 of this 12 months. Over two months later, Dylan lastly came upon about it and expressed his condolences on-line. (For the file: very jarring to see a publish from Bob Dylan with the phrases “Relaxation in peace Bob.”)
9. Joyful Birthday Mary Jo!
This was Dylan’s first tweet, the one which re-introduced him to the platform and confused nearly everybody. To this present day, nobody is certain who Mary Jo is, or why Dylan would allegedly be seeing her in Frankfort, spelled just like the capital of Kentucky despite the fact that he was scheduled to carry out in Frankfurt, Germany a couple of weeks later.
8. Attempt ‘The Unknown’ With Lon Chaney
Dylan is aware of his motion pictures. He additionally apparently is trying on the replies individuals publish beneath his tweets. On this occasion, he didn’t tag Nick Newman, managing editor of The Movie Stage, a publication that covers all issues cinema, however he acknowledged Newman’s request for film suggestions. To Newman’s profound shock, Dylan publicly advised 1927’s The Unknown starring Lon Chaney. This prompted one other request from Newman: “Does anyone have suggestions for body shops in New York.”
7. Components Unknown With Bob Dylan: New Orleans Version
On the menu at Dooky Chase’s Restaurant in New Orleans are issues like shrimp creole, fried catfish, stewed okra and peach cobbler — southern consolation meals classics. However do not take our phrase for it, take Dylan’s, who even famous the precise cross part of streets the institution is positioned on.
6. The Nice Frankfurt Publishing Conference
This specific publish is humorous when one imagines Dylan, most likely dressed inconspicuously in his traditional dishevelled hoodie, meandering round a e-book publishing conference in Germany (this time spelled appropriately) unnoticed. It is also humorous to suppose that the e-book Dylan is referring to on this publish got here out in 1894, a few years earlier than anybody who works at Crystal Lake Publishing was born. “This has actually been a blessing and A LOT of enjoyable,” the corporate later posted themselves, thrilled over the shoutout Dylan had offered. “I additionally hope this will get extra people selecting up books.”
5. Now It the Time for Pleasure
Now ain’t the time to your tears, now it the time for pleasure. Imagine it or not, Dylan additionally goes to concert events, identical to us common individuals, and earlier this 12 months he evidently went to see Nick Cave carry out in Paris and located it a shifting expertise. Plus, it is comforting to know even a wordsmith like Dylan generally makes typos. Cave’s response: “I hadn’t identified Bob was on the live performance and his tweet was a beautiful pulse of pleasure that penetrated my exhausted, zombied state. … I used to be glad to see Bob on X, simply as many on the Left had carried out a Twitterectomy and headed for Bluesky [another social media platform similar to X]. It felt admirably perverse, in a Bob Dylan form of manner.”
4. Apologies to Vlad
This publish marked the primary time in 2024 that Dylan truly replied to another person’s publish. Whether or not or not this particular person’s actual title is Vlad or not does not actually matter – Dylan addressed him as such anyway and apologized to him for not seeing his Prague restaurant suggestion in time. Vlad is now presumably the one particular person in existence to have been publicly apologized to by Bob Dylan on-line.
3. Bob Dylan Meets a Buffalo Sabre
Full disclosure: this tweet ranks as excessive because it does as a result of this author hails from Buffalo and is a Sabres supporter. So you possibly can think about her enjoyment of seeing that Dylan apparently ran into one of many group members in a European lodge elevator, who invited him to their hockey recreation. Sadly, Dylan had a scheduling battle. (Further research by this author has led her to strongly consider the group member in query was middle and alternate captain Tage Thompson, who dabbles in guitar taking part in.)
2. ‘There is a Film About Me Opening Quickly’
That is presumably the one and solely time Dylan will acknowledge the 2024 biopic about himself, A Full Unknown, starring Timothee Chalamet. Right here, Dylan explains the origins of the movie and praises Chalamet, whose response frankly sums up all of our emotions about Dylan’s Twitter odyssey: “Floored. I’m so grateful. Thanks Bob.”
1. Please, Make Eye Contact With Bob Dylan
Social media has many downsides however one factor it will probably do in the best circumstances is about the file straight. Dylan has by no means been the overly pleasant sort, however he merely couldn’t go yet one more day with followers believing that Rule No. 1 in Dylan World is do not look him within the eyes. “That’s simply ridiculous.” Case closed.
Bob Dylan ‘Bootleg Sequence’ Albums Ranked
His many studio and stay albums inform solely a part of his story.
Gallery Credit score: Michael Gallucci
