Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Dylan as Medical Humanist

From Bob Dylan's "Open the Door, Homer"

"Take care of all your memories,"
Said my friend Mick
"For you cannot relive them
And remember when you're out there
Tryin' to heal the sick
That you must always
First forgive them."

The sick are sure to have committed at least one of two sins: either reminding us, the well (for now), of our own vulnerability or mortality; or having brought on or exacerbated their illness through their own action or inaction. This is true of mental illness above all, giving rise to the stigma we all know so well.

When Dylan finally gets his Nobel it will be for lyrics like this.

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