Bob Dylan has gone from Tangled Up In Blue to tangled up in women’s lingerie. As part of a move to bring Dylan’s music to new audiences, the enigmatic singer-songwriter, one of the last cultural figures from the 1960s to continue to live outside the boundaries of mainstream pop culture, has made his first appearance as a celebrity pitchman — for Victoria’s Secret (Bobby, say it ain’t so). And, yes, the world is in a state of collapse.
In a Wall Street Journal story, writer Brian Steinberg details how the mustachioed, 62-year-old Dylan filmed a TV ad for the lingerie chain’s “Angels” line, while models cavort to a remixed version of his 1997 song Love Sick (and, really, don’t we all feel a little bit sick about this?).
Fans are, as you might well imagine, heartsick at the latest developments in Dylan’s career, expressing everything from dismay to incredulity, to outright and near apoplectic anger.
Update: Well, at least Dylan is consistent. VanRamblings offers this video in support of its contention that Dylan has sold out. The first part of the video is from a December 5, 1965 interview session with reporters, and the second portion of the video offers a clip from the Victoria’s Secret ad.
Meanwhile, The Los Angeles Times begins a weekly series of articles about songwriters. This week they profile Mr. Sell-Out, er, I mean, Mr. Dylan.