My friend introduced me to John Trudell’s music years ago. He met him on a reservation & liked to share his stories when Bob Dylan popped into our conversations— was listening to his music last night— on a whim.

“In one of the book’s more eloquent and emotional pieces, on John Trudell’s “Doesn’t Hurt Anymore”—Trudell’s pregnant wife, three children, and mother-in-law were killed in a suspicious house fire in 1979, on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation, in Montana—he writes that what ultimately unites people “is suffering and suffering only.” Dylan understands that the most important thing about a song—maybe the most important thing about living—is how it makes you feel. Sometimes putting that feeling down on paper is impossible to do without getting a little weird.”

A Response to Bob Dylan’s “Philosophy of Modern Song” https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/a-response-to-bob-dylans-philosophy-of-modern-song