Why don’t millennials care about Bob Dylan?

Nothing can describe the darkness behind Bob Dylan. Precarious, thunderous and risky are all good words, but there is also a vulnerability behind his character that many people don’t see today. In fact, have you ever heard of Bob Dylan, UConn students?

Well now is not the time to know his name. That will come when he is dead, which could be relatively soon. In fact, he might go down as the greatest songwriter of all time. Everybody has unknowingly heard his voice, even if they can’t pinpoint his name or face.

The 2009 comic adaptation “Watchmen” came out with a classic Dylan song, “The Times They Are A-Changing,” in their first scene as superheroes rose and fell during the debacle of the changing 1960s. The film “Dazed and Confused,” featuring Matthew McConaughey’s first movie line, “Alright, Alright, Alright,” rose the song “Hurricane” which, though fit the directional scene, was really aimed at Rubin Carter, a Canadian middleweight boxer who was wrongly convicted of murder in the ‘60s.

Some of my personal favorite films to release Dylan songs are “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas,” “Forest Gump,” “Blow,” “The Big Lebowski” and “I’m Not There.”

So, why haven’t people in our generation heard of this guy’s name? In my opinion, it is because he is so dark that people don’t dare to feel the way he comfortably stuns the minds of any listener. He is also quiet. He doesn’t figure to do any of the social media routes, so people don’t really know about him. But, anyone can pinpoint the face of Frank Sinatra or Elvis Presley. Sinatra had the hat, Presley had the moves, and Dylan had the hair. So, why can people see the others’ character, but not Dylan’s?

One reason, again, is because Sinatra and Presley are dead. Once Dylan passes, I think UConn students will then buy posters and hang his face up in their dorms above their couches.

Another reason people can’t see Dylan is because he hasn’t been so keen on his self-image now or in the past. If anyone watches YouTube interviews of Dylan, he is always nonchalantly smoking a cigarette and prevalently asking the interviewers questions about random things. So, those might be reasons people don’t know Dylan.

If he does die soon, here are some things people should know about his character. One, is that he teleports you to a time you didn’t know was possible. I went to see Dylan a few months ago with my mother and, I’ll tell you, the darkness and maze-ridden routes involved in getting to the concert was a good precursor to the show. If people don’t know, getting to some of the casinos in Connecticut is oddly enough, very difficult.

My mom and I relied on the red taillights of other cars to find our way. Once we got there, though, the teleportation continued. My mom was craving a cigarette and the casino felt very dated – I felt like we were transported into the 1960s.

That is what Dylan perfectly does. He teleports you to a time that is so scary you can’t even breathe. But, once you start going down that road, you really can’t undo it or backtrack. All you can really do is go down that rabbit’s hole until you find what you are trying to discover. I won’t say what I was trying to find because no image of mine should replace the image or feeling you get when listening to this great man.

So, listen to him. Search him. Know his beautiful and enduring character. If you can, go see him. Feel the darkness and memorization behind his carefully and impeccably sought words. I know I do.

Miller Schweizer is a campus correspondent for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at miller.schweizer@uconn.edu.