New Zealand Listener

Round and round

A decade ago in a rare interview, Joni Mitchell railed against Bob Dylan, saying he was inauthentic, a plagiarist and “his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.”

Three years later, when accusing the interviewer of misconstruing her words – they seemed pretty clear – she admitted liking some of Dylan’s songs, but “musically he’s not very gied. He’s borrowed his voice from old hillbillies … He’s invented a character to deliver his songs.

Sometimes I wish that I could have that character

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from New Zealand Listener

New Zealand Listener3 min readCrime & Violence
Branching Out
Alexander Hamilton described the courts as the least dangerous branch of government. They had neither soldiers nor money to enforce their decrees. Like all public institutions, the courts rely for their continued acceptance and legitimacy on the trus
New Zealand Listener2 min read
Putting It Out There
If you go online, you can find a 15-minute documentary series called Artists Prepare. The six episodes explore the creative process of New Zealand art practitioners, and it features dancers, singer-songwriters, poets and even mime artists. There’s a
New Zealand Listener3 min read
Uncovering Our Past
There’s a Māori whakataukī (proverb) that says, “Kia whakatōmuri te haere whakamua. / I walk backwards into the future with my eyes fixed on the past.” The loop of past, present and future speaks to New Zealand Wars: Stories of Tauranga Moana, the la

Related Books & Audiobooks