Interview date: 25 May 1989

The following interview, published this month in the Rolling Thunder Supplement, really sounds so little like Dylan. Heylin says that it was published in a Spanish paper on June 18, 1989. Inaki Aguirrezabal translated it, and comments that "It is a really strange interview judging by both the questions and the answers ... (though the translation) is absolutely faithful to the original contents." Dylan supposedly gave this interview in LA before he left for the European tour this year (around the 25th of May, perhaps). He was "inbetween 'a recording session' ... and 'getting his next film ready.'" The interview was syndicated through an agency called LID, but this is the only use we know of. Here it is: "IF I KEEP GOING FOR SO MANY YEARS, THERE MUST BE A REASON FOR IT" Bob Dylan finished last night in San Sebastian his brief tour in Spain. He did not agree to be interviewed neither in Madrid nor in Barcelona. He does not trust photographers either. This Europeean tour which will finish on 26th in Greece, is not characterized by his devotion to the public. he does not only avoid the Press, but also his performances are limited to just the signed contract, without a single encore for his wholehearted and nostalgic followers. The following interview was recorded in Los Angeles, some hours before he caught the plane that would take him to Europe. BD: I used to admire Woody Guthrie and Robert Johnson (the blues singers). It is impossible not to admire some people, it's something that illuminates you and makes you feel small. Q: What is your next film about? BD: It is the most exciting project I ever been at. The story is much more than a film in which Bob Dylan takes part. If you want to be sincere just with yourself, you'll go wrong. If you aren't sincere with your heart, you'll fail. But I can't tell you what it is about until we start filming. The film is going to be significant. If I could tell you what it is about I would, but I can't - the same as I can't explain my songs either. It is a feeling of reality that I assume and most people who listen to me will understand. The level of reality in which we find ourselves, me and my work - these are things that can't be explained. Q: Bob Dylan is known for having a soft spot for women. Why? BD: I think that most women are beautiful. Many of them seem to have been taken off a picture. They are vulnerable and also strong. Q: Goddesses are not real. That is what you said in an interview some years ago. BD: A beautiful woman is like a goddess. She is on a pedestal. Q: During the filming of Renaldo and Clara you improvised a lot with your character and Joan Baez participated in the bedroom scenes. BD: Joan knew me very well in and outside the bed, that's why we could make some scenes really interesting for the public. Q: Do you think you are the number one? BD: How many years have I kept going? A lot. There must be a reason for it. Q: Elvis Presley? BD: A relic of the past. Q: Frank Sinatra? BD: He is on the way to becoming a relic. If I was him I would be retired by now.