Gates of bleating flashing … wonder if Dylan still likes to be in Mozambique?
Should Bob have donated a 68,000 pound set of wrought iron gates to Mozambique – the place he definitely used to love?
The US State Department approved the four-feet high iron artwork gift to the ailing African country some time ago and paid $84,375 for them.
The sculpture was paid for with federal funding and has raised questions about how the State Department spends its money.
Dylan’s ironwork was bought under the Art in Embassies programme, which places American art in US diplomatic outposts across the world.
But, it comes as the Trump administration is said to be trying to slash funds for American diplomacy.
And because Bob has made himself a few, well, bob, over the last half a century and more, critics are saying that he should have given the gates to the embassy himself. After all in 1975 he wrote what was almost a travelogue about Mozambique’s ‘magic in a magical land…’
And because he must have made a few Mozambique meticals out of that too, it appears to be another good reason for him to give his gates away.
Cameron Hume, a former diplomat and ambassador to Algeria and South Africa, says he was shocked at how much they cost.
He said that he supports the Art in Embassies programme, but he thinks the money could be better spent on development or aid in Mozambique, which has some of the worst health of any country in Africa.
Hume and another US official also questioned why Dylan, with a reported net worth of some $300 million, couldn’t donate the piece instead of having taxpayers foot the bill.
Representatives of Dylan treated the question with the contempt it deserves and ignored it.
A spokesman for the embassy art work programme was reported as saying Dylan’s ironwork“relates to themes of art made in Mozambique”.
Mozambique is in the south-eastern part of Africa. It won independence from Portugal on June 25, 1975. Desire was released in January 1976.
However, the victorious People’s Republic of Mozambique were communists.
And the song was dubbed as a public statement about the state of the country’s politics because it says “people living free”.
But everything else about the song has no relevance to that idea .. “couples dancing cheek to cheek” and “magic in a magic land” and ”There’s lots of pretty girls in Mozambique – And plenty time for good romance…”
Lyrics
I like to spend some time in Mozambique
The sunny sky is aqua blue
And all the couples dancing cheek to cheek
It’s very nice to stay a week or two
And maybe fall in love just me and you
There’s lots of pretty girls in Mozambique
And plenty time for good romance
And everybody likes to stop and speak
To give the special one you seek a chance
Or maybe say hello with just a glance
Lying next to her by the ocean
Reaching out and touching her hand
Whispering your secret emotion
Magic in a magical land
And when it’s time for leaving Mozambique
To say goodbye to sand and sea
You turn around to take a final peek
And you see why it’s so unique to be
Among the lovely people living free
Upon the beach of sunny Mozambique