The New Fade 3

When I conjured the New Fade
it felt like Dylan plugging in at Newport
but today it's more like Dylan's voice today
and how it's become the butt of jokes,
getting in the way of people taking him seriously

I mean, Bob Dylan?
Didn't he get his stamp of immortality?

Someone came up with
the Advanced Genius Theory,
where if a genius is discovered
it actually becomes harder
to appreciate their further genius
and maybe that's the New Fade

The modern era, which is to say the New Fade,
has become a cesspool of privilege,
taking all things for granted,
celebrating arbitrary achievements,
imaginary things,
because it's far harder to acknowledge
that Dylan is still Dylan,
that his voice is a choice,
and that it's not really about Quality at all
but Value

We're too focused
on our slings and arrows,
shooting the ladder
out from under us,
clinging to the precipice of history,
convinced of mediocre opinions,
anyone with two fists,
to let good things speak for themselves

We're in the protection business,
shielding inferior things
from the barbs they deserve
and muting praise
for all things that do

And that's a dangerous Fade,
and it endangers the future, too,
lowering expectations so completely
we'll be a bunch of idiots
before long

I mean, yeah, the Red Sox made that look good,
but if you face the truth you'll know
that you'll never be as good
as that miracle 2004 season

Which, more to the point,
is what's really wrong with the New Fade,
because we've destroyed the concept
of miracles

We buy them too cheaply