Walz’s Favorite Dylan Song Is Forever Young. Figures

May you have a strong foundation when the wind of changes shift(from Forever Young)

Minnesota Governor Tim Walz has seen a lot of change these past couple of weeks. While he’s had the wind at his back for the most part as you know Republicans are doing their damndest (I mean that in the most pejorative sense) to manufacture tornados and direct them at Waltz.  He’s got one hell of a strong foundation however and can weather the storms ok.  Learning what I did earlier and am now writing about makes me all the more sure of that because a favorite song of his illustrates the kind of person he is.

I tried (and failed) earlier to today to write about the GOP’s attempts to smear Democratic VP nominee Tim Walz. In particular, the attempts to “Swift Boat” him fill me with such rage my thoughts become too incoherent to create an article, much less a readable one. I needed a good dose of something positive. Something uplifting and inspiring. You know what? Sometimes when we most need it we get a good dose of those things. And right now a reminder that Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz truly is the dad and coach any of us would love to have or have had. I’d have never pegged him as a Bob Dylan fan but it turns out I was wrong. And Walz’s favorite Dylan song, among the so many epic songs Dylan has created is one Dylan wrote for his own son. Forever Young.

In this short article from The Independent we see the kind of person Tim Walz truly is. I’m not a “childless cat lady” but up until my last spaniel crossed the Rainbow Bridge back in 2005 I was a “childless doggie dad” but no one who knew me prior to the rise of Trump in electoral politics would say I never cared about or had any interest in young people. Of wanting, and sometimes helping them learn and grow into adults with a solid foundation. People with a moral compass that looked to make the lives of their families, friends and communities better places. People who did their best to help out others when and however they could. People who, as Ted Kennedy said while eulogizing his slain brother Bobby saw wrong and tried to right it, saw suffering and tried to heal it.

It just seemed natural to me as I grew from teenager into adulthood that whether I became a dad someday or not I should help guide others. Friends and co-workers of mine had children and they looked up to me. I tried to set a good example and guide them towards being the kind of people their parents were raising them to be. The kind of people I described above. To work hard. Be kind and fair to others regardless of their skin color, heritage or religion.  Neighborhoods, workplaces and communities filled with such people can in turn make areas, states and even a country someplace special. Someplace great, even when flaws still exist.  It also takes leaders, people who in ways small and sometimes large inspiring others to make that the reality we live in.

Tim Walz is that kind of person.  As a husband and father, a neighbor, a teacher and a coach. I’d also say I’m quite certain as a solider and all his time as an NCO that led to the upper enlisted ranks he embodied a leadership trait they drilled into us in the Marines – take care of your people.  At his core however he’s a husband and father and having children was no natural thing for he and his wife. He’s talked about their own dealings with IVF and anyone who’s been through that or knows someone who has knows what couples go through. Or couples who suffer miscarriages before finally seeing a child born. The mix of heartbreak that sometimes ends in joy something that I’ve seen and can’t put into words. I’m quite sure that’s even more true for those who try so hard to have children and endure heartbreak but finally experience the joy of holding their newborn child.

My parents died when I was a young man.  I was 18 when mom died and 23 when dad died. But I knew in my heart the hopes they had for me.  Every bit as much as the Walz’s who named their first child, a girl Hope. Even a dumbass MAGA doesn’t have to have that explained to them. They might complain about it making Walz harder to attack but for most, even if it’s a tiny part of them they say ‘Damn. Those Walz’s are something.’ It makes sense that because he’s a Dylan fan Forever Young would be his favorite Dylan tune. His adopted state has produced some memorable musicians but not many people know Bob Dylan was born and raised in Minnesota. In the linked article it describes how back in 2021 Walz gave an interview as part of a leading newspaper’s feature marking Dylan’s 80th birthday. Naturally Walz was asked what was his favorite Dylan song:

“As a dad, ‘Forever Young’ has always been my favorite Dylan song,” he wrote. “A timeless message from a dad to his son.”

The song, from Dylan’s 1974 album Planet Waves, describes a father’s hopes for his child’s future and was written as a lullaby for his son, Jesse.

I liked the song when it came out but didn’t truly appreciate it. Hell, I was still in high school. It was when Howard Cosell (a sportscaster I never cared much for but he did know boxing) who called the fight where Muhammed Ali won the heavyweight title for the THIRD time against a far younger opponent and quoted the last verse the song it resonated. It made me think of my own parents, the parents of my friends and frankly all parents. It also made me, a childless doggy dude realize that whether I had kids or not, and even if I never did all of us should take to heart what that song says. It represents what any even halfway caring and decent parent wants for their child. It represents what any of us should want for ALL children.

It represents the kind of father Tim Walz is. And wants for everyone. Going back to Ted Kennedy’s eulogy of Bobby, ‘What he wished for others will someday come to pass for all the world.’ That’s Tim Walz. He’s lived a life of service, doing more than the average person to try and help ensure every child grows up with a roof over their head and decent food in their stomach. That they have a good education even if their parents can’t afford private schools. That the schools are safe. He wants them to, if they work for it have genuine opportunity to make their way in the world and earn at least a decent living. One that will allow them to provide the same for any of their own children. He wants people to reach adulthood to have and keep a genuine opportunity to have a good job and safe working conditions. He wants people to have the freedom to make their own decisions about family planning – and be able to tell the govt. or others who want to meddle with such personal decisions in blunt, midwestern language I remember so well “Mind your own damn business.”

But it matters a great deal what kind of start we get in life. Too many children face challenges and obstacles they shouldn’t have to face. Not in a country as wealthy as this one. They deserve to have basic needs met, and for parents and other adults to have the energy after work to provide them support and LOVE.  They deserve safe schools and communities. Like Walz who’s seven years younger than me I grew up in the midwest doing “disaster (tornado) drills.” Now an entire generation has grown up practicing Active Shooter drills!  I will never understand why so many don’t get how wrong that is.

The point though is that parents want the things for their children I described above. And more. So do the vast majority of those of us “childless” folks.  There are hopes and dreams worth having. Parents have them almost instinctively and those of us who aren’t parents learn to feel the same way about other’s kids. That’s why in the title I said Forever Young being Walz’s favorite Dylan song “figures.”  You’d be hard pressed to find anyone out there would wouldn’t look at his life and who he is and say they’d be glad to have had him as a partner in life, a neighbor, a teacher, coach or father. Listen to Bob Dylan since this wonderful tune he wrote for his own son and tell me you disagree:

Here are the lyrics if you’d like to print them out and put them on the wall above your computer:

“Forever Young”
May God bless and keep you always
May your wishes all come true
May you always do for others
And let others do for you
May you build a ladder to the stars
And climb on every rung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May you grow up to be righteous
May you grow up to be true
May you always know the truth
And see the light surrounding you
May you always be courageous
Stand upright and be strong
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.

May your hands always be busy
May your feet always be swift
May you have a strong foundation
When the winds of changes shift
May your heart always be joyful
And may your song always be sung
May you stay forever young
Forever young, forever young
May you stay forever young.