Pope Palpatine Reveals Himself to be Even More Unhip Than Previously Thought

[Tuckerfan]

He doesn’t like Bob Dylan.

Pope Benedict was opposed to Bob Dylan appearing at a youth event with the late Pope John Paul in 1997 because he considered the pop star the wrong kind of “prophet,” Benedict writes in a new book issued on Thursday.

Benedict, who was Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger at the time of the concert in Bologna, Italy, makes the disclosure in a new book of memoirs about his predecessor, who died in 2005.

“There was reason to be skeptical, – I was, and in a certain sense I still am, – to doubt if it was really right to let these types of prophets intervene,” Benedict writes, only mentioning Dylan among the stars who appeared.

Jeeze, he’s so unhip it’s a wonder his ass doesn’t fall off. How can you, at the very least, not respect Bob Dylan? The man’s a legend.

[Bobotheoptimist]

@Tuckerfan

How can you, at the very least, not respect Bob Dylan? The man’s a legend.

Maybe, and I’m just throwing this out there, maybe he heard Bob sing?

[Ludovic]

Yeah, one of the few people paid to sing that the average priest could top.

[Tuckerfan]

@Bobotheoptimist

Maybe, and I’m just throwing this out there, maybe he heard Bob sing?

Bob may not have the greatest voice, but it’s what he does with it that makes him great. (That and his lyrics.)

[VinylTurnip]

@Tuckerfan

Bob may not have the greatest voice…

Here’s one worthy of inclusion in the Anthology of Outrageous Understatements (and I’m a Dylan fan).

[BrainGlutton]

What makes the pope think pop musicians are “prophets”? Is this some new development in RCC doctrine?

[Ice_Wolf]

I’m not a Dylan fan, and really can’t stand hearing him sing, but this may be where the “prophet” thing came from:

At the 1997 concert, John Paul referred to what is perhaps Dylan’s most famous song, “Blowing in the Wind,” which became an anthem for young people seeking meaning in life in the 1960s.

John Paul told the crowd of some 300,000 young Italian Catholics that the answer was indeed “in the wind” – but not in the wind that blew things away, rather “in the wind of the spirit” that would lead them to Christ.

After Dylan sang, he took off his beige cowboy hat and went up to a podium to greet John Paul.

Eh, whatever floats the ol’ boat, as they say. What’s cool to one pope ain’t cool to another. shrug

[VinylTurnip]

@BrainGlutton

What makes the pope think pop musicians are “prophets”?

Maybe he’s just confused about what he’s hearing. I’m sure that a homophone of that word is oft-spoken among those in the music industry.

[29car]

I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means. Although, if one were to know about prophets, I’d imagine a pope would.

I can’t make heads or tails of it.

[garygnu]

@29car

I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means…

Inconceivable!

Benedick thinks rock music is the work of the devil, and there’s that “beware false prophets” warning thing. That might have something to do with his terminology.

[thirdname]

Damn the last one was even into break dancing. (youtube link)

[sturmhauke]

I don’t think “pop star” is really the right term to describe Bob Dylan. I mean, I know “pop” is short for “popular”, but it also has a strong connotation of being musically lightweight - Britney Spears and boy bands, for example.

[Larry_Mudd]

You know, it ain’t even safe no more in the palace of the Pope.

[BrainGlutton]

@sturmhauke

I don’t think “pop star” is really the right term to describe Bob Dylan. I mean, I know “pop” is short for “popular”, but it also has a strong connotation of being musically lightweight - Britney Spears and boy bands, for example.

I’ve always considered the term broad enough to encompass everyone from Buddy Holly to the Beatles to the Sex Pistols to MCHammer.

[Autolycus]

I’d pay good money to see the Pope zap somebody with Force Lightning.

[Johnny_L.A]

He’s so unhip that
When you say Dylan, he thinks you’re talkin’ about Dylan Thomas,
Whoever he was.
The man ain’t got no culture,
But its all right, ma,
Everybody must get stoned.

[Swallowed_My_Cellphone]

@BrainGlutton

I’ve always considered the term broad enough to encompass everyone from Buddy Holly to the Beatles to the Sex Pistols to MCHammer.

Yes, and no. It’s more common now use it referring to a genre that is mostly what you would hear on a Top 40 radio station and would include mostly the likes of Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, and Justin Timberlake.

[Boyo_Jim]

Expecting a veteran of the Hitler Youth to be “hip”? In any way, shape or form?

If you accused him of unhipness in person, he would explain that he had hip-replacement surgery some years back.

I imagine hipness on a scale of 0-10 with him at zero. Can one actually have a negative hipness rating?

[Boyo_Jim]

I take that back – the hipness scale does indeed require negative values. So zero is better as a midpoint rather than an endpoint.

What was I thinking? Throughout history, many and various popes have stood squarely in active opposition to all kinds of change. Anti-hip is like an undeclared second job title for the pope.

[Sage_Rat]

@Swallowed My Cellphone

Yes, and no. It’s more common now use it referring to a genre that is mostly what you would hear on a Top 40 radio station and would include mostly the likes of Britney Spears, Nelly Furtado, and Justin Timberlake.

Or perhaps it always meant exactly the same thing, but no one ever wants to believe that the big names of their generation are thought to be so stupid by the previous generations.