DIEU A NOS COTES

(1/2 hour "contour" drawing, 6:00 to 6:30 a.m., from "paused" images from the DVD, "No Direction Home" -- 6B pencil on heavy weight, medium tooth surface, 9 x 12 Canson drawing pad, while listening to "Chants of India," by Ravi Shankar and George Harrison)

(Blog post written while listening to "Dieu A Nos Cotes (With God On Our Side), sung by Hart-Rouge, a Quebec ensemble who appeared on "A Nod to Bob." Listen to a clip here.

"Let's face it. America's a big country. And if you're French-Canadian, it's easy to see it as a big brewing pot melting minorities like butter. Dylan is one of those songwriters who has forced us to look again, to dig a little deeper and see a side of the States that challenges all the cultural and political bullying. Although 'God On Our Side' comes out of a specific time and place, it dares the listener to take the second look and view the world in a different way. We suspect that Hugues Aufray, who had a hit with the French version of this song (he actually recorded a dozen Dylan translations), probably chose it for the same reason."

-- Hart-Rouge

Oh my name it is nothin'
My age it means less
The country I come from
Is called the Midwest
I's taught and brought up there
The laws to abide
And that land that I live in
Has God on its side.

(from "With God On Our Side," Bob Dylan, 1963)