Bob Dylan has released his first original album in eight years.
Entitled Rough and Rowdy Ways, the album swings between bluesy, overdriven head-boppers to introspective ballads that dive into war's horrors, existential whirlwinds and gritty confrontations with death.
This is all done with the buoyant wordplay that we expect from the 79-year-old folk legend.
However, Dylan's lyrics in the new album also have a myriad of literary references, from allusions of Greek mythology and Shakespeare to mentions of Edgar Allan Poe and William Blake.
'I Contain Multitudes'
The first song of the album, I Contain Multitudes, takes its title from a line in Walt Whitman's Song of Myself. The crystal-clear guitar chords are a mere backdrop, acting as a shimmering banister that guides listeners along Dylan's musings.
There are minimal changes to the music throughout the four-minute tune. If this tune sets the tone for the album, it's clear Dylan wants audiences to focus on his words rather than be carried away by musical arrangements.
Because he’s got quite a bit to say.
The first line of the second verse begins with the phrase "Got a tell-tale heart like Mr Poe", a nod to the macabre writer's short story The Tell-Tale Heart, which tells of a guilt-ridden narrator who confesses to murder after he hears his victim's heart beating from his resting place beneath the floorboards.
The following line, "Got skeletons of the walls of people you know", continues the reference and perhaps even alludes to two more of Poe's stories: The Cask of Amontillado and The Black Cat.
The song is replete with other literary references. The line "Half my soul, baby, belongs to you" appears in the story The Angel of Forgetfulness by Howard Schwarz. In the tale, it goes: "For in this generation, half of my soul belongs to you and the other half to another, whom you must seek out."
In the fourth verse, Dylan pays homage to Anne Frank, Indiana Jones and the Rolling Stones. He also references Blake, singing: "I sing the songs of experience like William Blake", referencing the English poet's 1794 illustrated poetry collection Songs of Innocence and of Experience; Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul.
'My Own Version of You'
The third song of the album, My Own Version of You, has Dylan riffing on Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, as he takes on the role of Victor Frankenstein.
“All through the summers, into January / I've been visiting morgues and monasteries / Looking for the necessary body parts / Limbs and livers and brains and hearts / I'll bring someone to life, is what I wanna do / I wanna create my own version of you.”
The second verse opens with the line: “It must be the winter of my discontent”, which is a nod to Shakespeare and John Steinbeck.
Sheakespeare's Richard III begins with the line, "Now is the winter of our discontent". Winter of Our Discontent was also the title of Steinbeck's last novel, published in 1961.
The song goes on to mention Scarface, Marlon Brando's Godfather, as well as Julius Caesar.
'Mother of Muses'
The track Mother of Muses could be referring to the Greek goddess of memory, Mnemosyne, who is also the mother of the nine muses.
The opening line, "Mother of Muses sing for me", could be a reference to the first lines of Homer's Odyssey, where the poet beckons the muse to sing to him of Odysseus's adventures: "Sing for me, O muse, of that ingenious hero who travelled far and wide after he had sacked the famous town of Troy."
In the fourth verse, Dylan references one of the muses, singing: “I’m falling in love with Calliope / She don’t belong to anyone, why not give her to me? She’s speaking to me, speaking with her eyes.”
Calliope, in Greek mythology, was the muse of epic poetry and of eloquence.
'Black Rider'
Fans are divided here. Some believe the titular character in the song Black Rider is a reference to Death, who is often depicted on horseback wearing a long-black coat. Others think the song is about modern-day America and is referencing Donald Trump. Dylan's lyrics here are vague enough, leaving it up to interpretation.
"Black rider, black rider, you've been living too hard / Been up all night, have to stay on your guard / The path that you're walking, too narrow to walk / Every step of the way, another stumbling block"
The song's title is a direct nod to The Black Rider: The Casting of the Magic Bullets musical written by William Burroughs in collaboration with musician Tom Waits and theatre director Robert Wilson. The musical was based on a German folktale, Freischutz, which tells of a marksman who goes into an ill-fated contract with the devil to obtain a certain number of magical bullets that will hit their target without fail.
'Murder Most Foul'
The title of the closing track of the album comes from Shakespeare's Hamlet, where old Hamlet's ghost tells his son of his death by saying: "Murder most foul, as in the best it is. But this most foul, strange and unnatural." This basically means that, while murder is always horrible, this one was particularly horrific and unnatural.
The song unpacks John F Kennedy’s assassination, putting it in the context of greater US political and cultural history and delving into the evolution of 1960s counterculture. This is backed by delicate piano, strings and muted drums.
"The day they blew out the brains of the king / Thousands were watching, no one saw a thing."
The ballad also makes reference to Robert Johnson, The Beatles, Charlie Parker, the Eagles, Stevie Nicks and the Woodstock festival.
Red flags
- Promises of high, fixed or 'guaranteed' returns.
- Unregulated structured products or complex investments often used to bypass traditional safeguards.
- Lack of clear information, vague language, no access to audited financials.
- Overseas companies targeting investors in other jurisdictions - this can make legal recovery difficult.
- Hard-selling tactics - creating urgency, offering 'exclusive' deals.
Courtesy: Carol Glynn, founder of Conscious Finance Coaching
A Long Way Home by Peter Carey
Faber & Faber
ZIMBABWE V UAE, ODI SERIES
All matches at the Harare Sports Club:
1st ODI, Wednesday - Zimbabwe won by 7 wickets
2nd ODI, Friday, April 12
3rd ODI, Sunday, April 14
4th ODI, Tuesday, April 16
UAE squad: Mohammed Naveed (captain), Rohan Mustafa, Ashfaq Ahmed, Shaiman Anwar, Mohammed Usman, CP Rizwan, Chirag Suri, Mohammed Boota, Ghulam Shabber, Sultan Ahmed, Imran Haider, Amir Hayat, Zahoor Khan, Qadeer Ahmed
Company Fact Box
Company name/date started: Abwaab Technologies / September 2019
Founders: Hamdi Tabbaa, co-founder and CEO. Hussein Alsarabi, co-founder and CTO
Based: Amman, Jordan
Sector: Education Technology
Size (employees/revenue): Total team size: 65. Full-time employees: 25. Revenue undisclosed
Stage: early-stage startup
Investors: Adam Tech Ventures, Endure Capital, Equitrust, the World Bank-backed Innovative Startups SMEs Fund, a London investment fund, a number of former and current executives from Uber and Netflix, among others.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
The Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index
Mazen Abukhater, principal and actuary at global consultancy Mercer, Middle East, says the company’s Melbourne Mercer Global Pension Index - which benchmarks 34 pension schemes across the globe to assess their adequacy, sustainability and integrity - included Saudi Arabia for the first time this year to offer a glimpse into the region.
The index highlighted fundamental issues for all 34 countries, such as a rapid ageing population and a low growth / low interest environment putting pressure on expected returns. It also highlighted the increasing popularity around the world of defined contribution schemes.
“Average life expectancy has been increasing by about three years every 10 years. Someone born in 1947 is expected to live until 85 whereas someone born in 2007 is expected to live to 103,” Mr Abukhater told the Mena Pensions Conference.
“Are our systems equipped to handle these kind of life expectancies in the future? If so many people retire at 60, they are going to be in retirement for 43 years – so we need to adapt our retirement age to our changing life expectancy.”
Saudi Arabia came in the middle of Mercer’s ranking with a score of 58.9. The report said the country's index could be raised by improving the minimum level of support for the poorest aged individuals and increasing the labour force participation rate at older ages as life expectancies rise.
Mr Abukhater said the challenges of an ageing population, increased life expectancy and some individuals relying solely on their government for financial support in their retirement years will put the system under strain.
“To relieve that pressure, governments need to consider whether it is time to switch to a defined contribution scheme so that individuals can supplement their own future with the help of government support,” he said.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
Race card
5pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (Turf) 1,600m
5.30pm: Handicap (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,600m
6pm: Arabian Triple Crown Round-1 Listed (PA) Dh230,000 (T) 1,600m
6.30pm: Wathba Stallions Cup Handicap (PA) Dh70,000 (T) 1,400m
7pm: Maiden (PA) Dh80,000 (T) 1,200m
7.30pm: Handicap (TB) Dh100,000 (T) 2,400m
The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl, 48V hybrid
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 325bhp
Torque: 450Nm
Price: Dh289,000
So what is Spicy Chickenjoy?
Just as McDonald’s has the Big Mac, Jollibee has Spicy Chickenjoy – a piece of fried chicken that’s crispy and spicy on the outside and comes with a side of spaghetti, all covered in tomato sauce and topped with sausage slices and ground beef. It sounds like a recipe that a child would come up with, but perhaps that’s the point – a flavourbomb combination of cheap comfort foods. Chickenjoy is Jollibee’s best-selling product in every country in which it has a presence.
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
Infiniti QX80 specs
Engine: twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6
Power: 450hp
Torque: 700Nm
Price: From Dh450,000, Autograph model from Dh510,000
Available: Now
Specs
Engine: 51.5kW electric motor
Range: 400km
Power: 134bhp
Torque: 175Nm
Price: From Dh98,800
Available: Now
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What sanctions would be reimposed?
Under ‘snapback’, measures imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council in six resolutions would be restored, including:
- An arms embargo
- A ban on uranium enrichment and reprocessing
- A ban on launches and other activities with ballistic missiles capable of delivering nuclear weapons, as well as ballistic missile technology transfer and technical assistance
- A targeted global asset freeze and travel ban on Iranian individuals and entities
- Authorisation for countries to inspect Iran Air Cargo and Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines cargoes for banned goods
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The more serious side of specialty coffee
While the taste of beans and freshness of roast is paramount to the specialty coffee scene, so is sustainability and workers’ rights.
The bulk of genuine specialty coffee companies aim to improve on these elements in every stage of production via direct relationships with farmers. For instance, Mokha 1450 on Al Wasl Road strives to work predominantly with women-owned and -operated coffee organisations, including female farmers in the Sabree mountains of Yemen.
Because, as the boutique’s owner, Garfield Kerr, points out: “women represent over 90 per cent of the coffee value chain, but are woefully underrepresented in less than 10 per cent of ownership and management throughout the global coffee industry.”
One of the UAE’s largest suppliers of green (meaning not-yet-roasted) beans, Raw Coffee, is a founding member of the Partnership of Gender Equity, which aims to empower female coffee farmers and harvesters.
Also, globally, many companies have found the perfect way to recycle old coffee grounds: they create the perfect fertile soil in which to grow mushrooms.
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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