Bob Dylan's 'hypocritical' China concert

Bob Dylan was the voice of protest in the '60s, but now he's facing harsh criticism from human rights activists for failing to speak up for freedom during a performance in China. Dylan went ahead with the Beijing leg of his Far Eastern tour, even though Chinese authorities told him he couldn't sing his civil rights-era anthems "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times, They Are a-Changin'." Dylan also failed to say anything about the arrest of a dissident artist — Ai Weiwei. Was it Dylan's duty to make a stand?

Dylan's silence was a hypocritical disgrace: "Times are indeed a-changing," says Azar Nafisi in The New Republic. Dylan "became an American icon by 'speaking truth to power,'" and in Beijing he had a golden opportunity to make his life's work really count, by calling out "one of the most repressive countries in the world." Instead he seemed perfectly happy "morphing into Barry Manilow in Beijing," sparing Chinese authorities his words of protest, and singing love songs instead. What "a disappointing and hypocritical show."

"Bob Dylan in China"

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

He never claimed to be a populist hero: Dylan is no "charlatan," says William Langley in The Telegraph. He always said he was just "a song and dance man," which is why he has always been baffled about how his songs became "the anthem of pacifist ideology." So don't blame Dylan if he's not the hero people thought he was. "It was his followers who made him a saint."

"Let Dylan walk down the road of his choosing"

His performance was understandable, but sad: "Perhaps this switch is inevitable," says the Financial Times in an editorial. After all, Bob Dylan, now approaching 70, certainly isn't the only baby boomer to have moved on from "flower power" to a post-Woodstock life of wealth and comfort. Maybe it's unreasonable to expect him to show up in Beijing and demand change. "But there is still something forlorn in watching the grandfather of protest songs blowin' with the wind."

"Dylan to China"