Dylan's Inspiration

I've wondered in the past just how someone like Bob Dylan, who's been world-famous since he was 20, is able to write the kinds of songs that Dylan writes. Obviously, he writes some abstract songs, or songs that are based on his personal experiences as a world-famous rock star, but he also writes (and has always written) songs that seem to be grounded in experiences that he hasn't had in almost 50 years - the experiences of an anonymous wanderer.

Turns out he sometimes is an anonymous wanderer. I think that we probably underestimate how easy it can be to become anonymous, especially if you run counter to expectation - who would think that scruffy-looking white guy is a rock star? He probably couldn't go unrecognized in (supposedly anonymous and aloof) Manhattan, but he sure can on the backstreets of Long Branch, NJ.