The world is starting to catch up. USA Today spoke to director Todd Haynes about the “I’m Not There” soundtrack which we’ve been, ummm…, following rather closely. The article talks about the 2-disc details and tracklist we already reported, but there are some interesting quotes.
They also re-confirmed the identities of the Million Dollar Bashers, a group we revealed, this past Saturday.
Haynes said of the highly-sought, “I’m Not There” Dylan original bootleg track: “He has one imperfect recording of it, and it feels raw, but it’s just gorgeous. It’s a fragile, enigmatic song, and he clearly is filling in the cadences of the lyrics as he’s performing. He’s not even saying coherent words in some of the lyrics, which adds tragic mystery to the whole piece.”
Music supervisor Randall Poster (“Velvet Goldmine,” Wes Anderson films) spent two years compiling the collection of songs and said, “We went with a lot of outsiders and outlaws. That’s the connection they share with Dylan. We needed a certain caliber of artist to record the songs and lend their own style rather than just do imitations. But they are certainly flirting with Dylan.”
Marcus Carl Franklin, the young black actor who plays Dylan as a boy, sings 1963’s “When the Ship Comes In,” and his version is the only actor’s version included on the soundtrack.
X’s John Doe who covers two songs in the film, and one that is sung by evangelical-era Dylan played by Christian Bale said it was easy to destroy a Bob Dylan song if you weren’t careful. “At that point in his life, he is an evangelist. He is having a kind of catharsis. For me, Bob Dylan kind of set people free. You’re allowed to do anything you want. The only thing about Bob Dylan is you’ve got to be careful because it’s really easy to try to be him. He’s so inspiring, you can find yourself doing ‘Bob Dylan lite,’ and it’s terrible.”
The filmmakers note that Dylan himself is uncomfortable with reflecting back on his life, after all that’s there job. Frames’ singer Glenn Hansard who covers the Basement Tapes’ “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” for the soundtrack and is about to tour with the legend in Australia said, “Anyone who’s ever been around him will tell you, if you know Bob, you don’t talk about Bob.”