Still the Voice of a Generation, Bob Dylan Reflects on Octogenarianism in New York Timesâ Back Pages
- âYou see life repeating itself everywhereâ
How does it feel to be in the ninth decade of life?
âYouâre haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would,â Bob Dylan says.
The 85-year-old bard is writing in the June 14 edition of The New York Times on the occasion of the 80th birthday of some asshole whose name rhymes with Fondled Dump.
Octogenarianism leaves people living like âold king(s) from some vanished country,â Dylan says. And this, in Dylanâs time out of mind, is the âbest thing about being 80.â
So whatâs the worst?
âThe worst thing about being 80 is that you still want to say âYesâ to everything, but the world moves without asking,â Dylan, still the voice of a generation, writes. âThe old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says, âWe already did it.â Also, nothing surprises you. ⌠You see life repeating itself everywhere.â
Dylan, sunshiny fellow that he is, also goes on to dissect the âreally worst part about being 80.
âYou find, at last, youâve got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered,â he writes. âWhen youâre young, you think that time moves forward. At 80, you know that it doesnât, it stands still. Weâre the ones that move.â
Written like a true rolling stone.
6/14/26
