L’I Ching e… Bob Dylan

D: Ha qualcosa da dire sulla religione o sulla filosofia?

R: Non ho una religione né una filosofia, per cui non posso dire molto al riguardo. Molti ce l’hanno, ed è buono se realmente seguono un certo canone; non voglio andar in giro a cambiare le cose.
Non mi piace che qualcuno mi dica che cosa devo fare, in che cosa devo credere, o come devo vivere; sapete, non mi interessa.
La filosofia non può darmi nulla che io non abbia già. La cosa più grande di tutte, che comprende in sé tutto, in questo Paese viene allontanata. È un’antica filosofia e religione cinese, lo era davvero…
C’è un libro chiamato “I-Ching”, non voglio fargli pubblicità, non ne voglio nemmeno parlare, ma è l’unica cosa che è incredibilmente vera, punto; e non solo per me. Chiunque se ne accorgerebbe. Basta essere vivi per accorgersene, è un sistema completo per scoprire la realtà, basato su cose di ogni sorta. Non c’è bisogno di credere in qualcosa per leggerlo, perché oltre ad essere un grande libro in cui credere è anche poesia della più meravigliosa.

(Bob Dylan, su Chicago Daily News, 1965. Intervista ripresa dal sito www.biroco.com. Traduzione di Tiziano Mattei.)

NOTA
Segnalo un episodio curioso: l’I Ching è citato nella versione originale del brano “Idiot Wind” di Bob Dylan, ma non in quella definitiva:

Idiot Wind (New York Sessions, 1974)

Someone’s got it in for me, they’re planting stories in the press.
Whoever it is, I wish they’d cut it out, but when they will I can only guess.
They say I shot a man named Gray, and took his wife to Italy.
She inherited a million bucks, and when she died it came to me.
I can’t help it if I’m lucky.
People see me all the time, and they just can’t remember how to act.
Their minds are filled with big ideas, images, and distorted facts.
And even you, yesterday, you had to ask me where it was at.
I can’t believe after all these years that you didn’t know me any better than that, sweet lady.

Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your mouth
Blowing down the back roads heading south.
Idiot wind, blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot, babe, it’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe!

I threw the I Ching yesterday; it said there might be some thunder at the well.
Peace and Quiet’s been avoiding me for so long it feels like living hell.
There’s a lone soldier on the hill, watching falling raindrops pour.
You’d never know it to look at him, but in the final shot he won the war,
After losing every battle.
I woke up on the roadside, daydreaming about the way things sometimes are.
Hoof beats pounding in my head, at break-neck speeds and making me see stars!
You hurt the ones that I love best, and covered up the truth with lies.
One day you’ll be in the ditch, flies buzzing around your eyes; blood on your saddle.

Idiot wind; blowing through the flowers on your tomb.
Blowing through the curtains in your room.
Idiot wind; blowing every time you move your teeth.
You’re an idiot babe, it’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe

It was gravity which pulled us in, and destiny which broke us apart.
You tamed the lion in my cage, but it just wasn’t enough to change my heart.
Now everything’s a little upside-down. As a matter of fact the wheels have stopped.
What’s good is bad, what’s bad is good. You’ll find out when you reach the top;
You’re on the bottom.
I noticed at the ceremony that you left all your bags behind.
The driver came in after you left; he gave them all to me, and then he resigned.
The priest wore black on the seventh day, and watzed around while the building burned.
You didn’t trust me for a minute, babe. I’ve never known the spring to turn so quickly into autumn.

Idiot wind; blowing every time you move your jaw
From the Grand Cooley Dam to the Mardi Gras
Idiot wind; blowing every time you move your teeth
You’re an idiot babe. It’s a wonder that you still know how to breathe.

We pushed each other a little too far, and one day it just jumped into a raging storm
The hound dog bayed behind your trees, while I was packing up my uniform.
I figured I’d lost you anyway; why go on? What’s the use?
In order to get in a word with you I’d have had to come up with some kind of excuse.
And it just struck me kind of funny.
I’ve been double-crossed too much. At times I think I’ve lost my mind.
Lady killers load dice on me behind my back while imitators steal me blind
You close your eyes and pout your lips and slip your fingers from your glove.
You can have the best there is, but it’s gonna cost you all your love.
You won’t get it from money.

Idiot wind; blowing through the buttons of our coats.
Blowing through the letters that we wrote.
Idiot wind; Blowing through the dust up on our shelves.
We’re idiots, babe. It’s a wonder we can even feed ourselves. 

Nella versione definitiva (Minnesota sessions) il testo è stato rimaneggiato sotituendo la frase in grassetto con:

I ran into the fortune-teller, who said beware of lightning that might strike.
I haven’t known peace and quiet for so long I can’t remember what it’s like.