r/videos • u/mrgeekguy • 20h ago
The Nerd Reich- Jesse Welles
https://youtu.be/Lwz1XwHwWhY?si=-SrgA5kcAdmC4wLP29
u/subtxtcan 20h ago
This is the second song of his that's randomly come up for me and I really dig this guy. Gonna go listen to some more
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u/EXPLODEDman 20h ago edited 17h ago
Love this guy. Lyrics never feel cheap or phoned in; channels Bob Dylan in a big way.
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u/SomethingAboutUsers 18h ago
dialed in
I think you might mean phoned in. Dialed in generally means that there very tight, accurate, and well-tuned.
"Phoning it in" comes from the idea of not being very present or of delivering a substandard performance.
"Dialed in" comes from (I think) dialing in artillery.
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u/Noregard86 16h ago
I woulda thought it came from dialing in a radio but artillery seems likely as well
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u/FrogsOnALog 19h ago
He’s very catchy but when he was pressed over the election he didn’t want to get into it lol…
> IN CONVERSATION, WELLES ISN’T QUITE THE FIREBRAND HEARD in his songs. Pausing before responding to questions, he sometimes cocks his head and glances to the side, pondering the appropriate response. But one question — about whether he voted in the last presidential election — doesn’t elicit an answer at all. Staring at his Zoom camera, Welles scratches his head and remains silent for 20 seconds. Finally, he says, “I just … I didn’t know I’d be talking about that kind of thing,” and declines to respond.
https://currincy.substack.com/p/i-protest-his-protest-song-or-why (from the Rolling Stones link, they also talk about his comparison to Dylan)
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u/FrighteningJibber 19h ago
Oh he saw “Rich man in Richmond” and said oh I can do that and just keep my mouth shut. Makes business sense.
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u/Redeem123 19h ago
That’s the most insufferable attempt at a teardown of an artist I’ve ever read. The dude clearly spends far too much time thinking about Welles and gets off on hating him for some reason.
I don’t disagree that calling him the next Dylan is hyperbolic, but jesus christ. Being dumb and not saying who he voted for doesn’t change the fact that he’s at least trying to say something with his music.
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u/FrogsOnALog 19h ago
Thanks for checking out the link and I agree but the answer should have been pretty easy and Jesse struggled with it…
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u/Redeem123 18h ago
Way to completely ignore the comment you responded to. Pretty ironic because you got mad at someone else for not reading a 5,000 word essay you linked, but you can’t be bothered to understand a short Reddit comment.
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u/EXPLODEDman 19h ago
Well I guess I'll just have to rely on the content of his art, then.
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u/o_o_o_f 18h ago
I don’t think the above poster’s argument is enough to warrant like, writing Welle’s off or anything, but an artist’s actions and words outside of the media they release are worth consideration, too. Solely choosing to engage with the art he releases is to buy into only the story he’s telling about himself. That’s not critical thinking, either.
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u/FrogsOnALog 19h ago
It’s almost like you didn’t even attempt to read any of the link lol but I’ll quote one of the bits that talks about what made Dylan Dylan (and which Welles seems to lack) for you:
> A decade ago, in an interview that was at least partially about Cat Power, Greil Marcus rightly said, “I really think that the engine, the motor, of Dylan’s best work is empathy.” Empathy, at least as I experience it, is also an act of imagination—the ability not only to put yourself in someone’s actual position but also to consider another and potentially better position for everyone, to mentally render a future that does not yet exist. Empathy and imagination are a caduceus, bound around the bar of experience. “I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours” was, at 22, Dylan’s consummate invitation to share a more magnanimous future with someone, anyone, everyone. The truly masterful work of his so-called topical era achieves this: his songs put him in a position of less power and then force him to imagine his way—our way—toward something else.
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u/EXPLODEDman 19h ago
I don't care to read your link or engage with you.
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u/FrogsOnALog 19h ago
You have literally been engaging with me to make your comments…
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u/theFinestCheeses 19h ago
Who did Dylan vote for in 2024?
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u/Love-Future-3000 17h ago
He has been staunchly a-political for decades. There's no record of his voter registration. He also wouldn't have answered the question. And he also would never make a song that is just a run on essay about palantir and jd vance. Not to judge but the songs are extremely literal and direct.
Even hurricane by Bob Dylan, which was an extremely direct story, just flowed and made you feel for this guy he was singing about. It was a personal story that painted a picture of injustice against black people, which directly tied in systemic racism. But it was humanized.
Another lyric from Dylan, "he started dealing with slaves and something inside of him died." suggests he's likely not supportive of people who traffic people.
But at the end of the day it seems he only cares about his own image and influence in the world. He puts out his message and doesn't direct other people through endorsements.
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u/ruby651 13h ago
“Neighborhood Bully” is all about how poor lil’ ol’ Israel is always getting picked on. Probably should have kept his apolitical hole shut on that subject.
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u/FrogsOnALog 19h ago
Idk, was Dylan in a Rolling Stones band interview where he choked on his answer?
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u/GnomeNot 19h ago
Funny you say that. Saw a thread a little bit ago, someone was asking about an artist similar to a modern day Dylan. Almost every comment was something about Jesse Welles.
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u/Guinefort1 19h ago
I'm enjoying what Jesse is doing. He's cribbing from Dylan a lot, but if you're gonna copy someone, Dylan's an excellent choice.
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u/TitularClergy 18h ago
I like Welles, but they are not in the same league.
Welles (on Trump, after unsuccessful potshot): "Let the man grab his shoes."
Welles (on Kirk, after successful potshot): "no one should be killed, no blood should be spilled, Charlie shouldn't have died"
Dylan: "I hope that you die and your death will come soon"
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u/exhentai_user 15h ago
The first verse of the song Charlie is "You can't hate the gun / and love the gun that shot your rival / you can't be kind / and wish hate upon a child." Which to me reads very much as "Charlie was a dickhead, and hateful, but I would be a hypocrite to be happy he was shot when I am against gun violence" which is I think a reasonably nuanced take. It isn't the black and white of some protest songs, but is what we need more black and white division, or more nuance to not distract us from our own stances in an effort to make hypocrites of all of us in the name of our "side"?
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u/Stormshow 18m ago
Compared to the kind of shit coming out in the 60s this guy is like a baby elephant fondling the bones of his ancestors. Saying you "ain't no pinko commie rat" is weak shit in the big '26. Neither is criticizing oligarchy and then going on Rogan. It strikes me as inauthentic at best.
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u/Urist_Macnme 12h ago edited 12h ago
The thing about Bob Dylan’s songs, is they’re timeless.
Even stuff about what was topical in his day, like “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” or “Only a pawn in their game”; have a lasting quality to their lyrics.
Jesse’s songs are way too topical to have any staying power. In a year or two, everything he’s referencing will be old news.
I guess that probably speaks more about the fast turn over of 24hr news.
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u/Sloth_Attorney 11h ago
Its almost like hes not worried about being timeless and he would like to comment on things happening right now or something. Wouldnt that be weird?
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u/Urist_Macnme 10h ago edited 10h ago
Ok; but the song then ages like milk.
Consume it the week it comes out or it’s meaningless,
I bet he could write a great protest song; but he’s got to make it bigger, relate it universally to the human condition - not just throwing in references to what he saw on Fox that day.
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u/Sloth_Attorney 10h ago
The song is intended to protest the current moment. If that is the intention, they have accomplished what they set out to do. Also, what are you on? Songs like Neil Young's "Ohio" are still relevant protest songs. We are living in the moment. How can we possibly tell the exact cultural half life of a song that dropped this month?
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u/Urist_Macnme 10h ago
All those old protest songs that are still relevant today; were also about topical issues that were happening in the moment. But, the ones that last related those events to universal ideas; like anti-war for example; that remain relevant for as long as there is still war; long after the war they were singing about ended.
I don’t believe these songs will stand the test of time.
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u/Sloth_Attorney 10h ago
Youre really avoiding the idea that it isnt the point of these songs to be generational protest songs. They literally do not have to because it isnt the intention.
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u/Urist_Macnme 10h ago
Then what I said is true, and there’s no point in arguing
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u/Sloth_Attorney 9h ago
The point is this criticism is pointless "back in my day" wank. If we dont know the cultural reach of the song and other deeply pointed protest songs have lasted nearly a century, this critique is pointless
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u/Urist_Macnme 9h ago
“Back in my day wank”;
How old do you think I am?
Bob Dylan was back in my Father’s Day.I know and love these songs precisely because they have longevity.
Jesse’s songs will disappear in the next algorithm cycle.
If that’s his intention. Good luck to him.
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u/Sloth_Attorney 9h ago
In your heart of hearts do you think any protest song in history was written with the intention of becoming popular cross-generationally or to capture the feeling of a moment. Its protest music.
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u/abaum525 9h ago
He’s taking a classic style and adapting it to a modern audience who won’t take the time to sit and digest the song.
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u/CrumpetMuncher 8h ago
It'd be a lot easier to play along with the whole aw shucks country poet in the woods thing if his tickets didn't cost $200.
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u/yovotaxi 2h ago
Nonsense - I went to see him recently and tickets were $40 for a 2 1/2 hour concert (incl a great opening act). Perfectly resonable.
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u/GingaAvenga 7h ago
Yes, we can't respect any of his work because he profits from it. A REAL musician would do this while starving. Jeez, what a silly take
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u/LancelotGetsDaCookie 10h ago
I catch myself humming his tune Dogs DAILY
At this point I'll take a dog,
I'll take a dog and let him lead,
We can vote on the lawn, one nation under dog
and he'll be loyal as he can be :)
Woof Man!
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u/mwoody450 18h ago
He, uh, might want to consider the position of the title with respect to the youtube button on the still frame. I thought this was a VERY different song at first glance.
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u/TBTabby 19h ago
I didn't think people were still making protest songs like this.