Something Happened

Bob Dylan's appearance in a 2-minute advertisement promoting Chrysler cars, Detroit, and American pride aired during the SuperBowl on February 2, 2014.

HERE WE HAVE the principle of commodity fetishism, the domination of society by things whose qualities are "at the same time perceptible and imperceptible by the senses." This principle is absolutely fulfilled in the spectacle, where the perceptible world is replaced by a set of images that are superior to that world yet at the same time impose themselves as eminently perceptible.

           -Guy Debord, Thesis 36, The Society of the Spectacle                                                         translation by Donald Nicholson-Smith

Something is Happening...

Bob Dylan performing Ballad of a Thin Man, referenced on page 104-106 of Marshall McLuhan's The Medium is the Massage, in another YouTube clip of unknown origin. There is a definite visual similarity to D.A. Pennebaker's Don't Look Back. A truly amazing, spirited performance. McLuhan must have been impressed with the song as well, dedicating three pages of the book to Dylan's likeness and the words:

"Because something is happening

 But you don't know what it is

 Do you, Mister Jones?"

Although many have tried to link the lyrics to specific people and events, the song can be interpreted as a universal critique of people unaware of the world around them. It was one of a very few songs Dylan kept performing over the years, typically introducing it with the reflection that "there are still a lot of Joneses out there."