Who would've thought Bob Dylan could sell bras?

By Roger Catlin
The Hartford Courant

	AP Bob Dylan once warned in song against "Advertising signs that con you/Into thinking you're the one." Now he and his music are part of a Victoria's Secret ad campaign.
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And on "Saturday Night Live" during the weekend.

Also, on a couple of late-night talk shows.

Unfortunately, it was as part of a commercial for Victoria's Secret.

Dylan's echoey, atmospheric 1997 song "Love Sick" was used in a previous campaign for the lingerie concern, accompanying shots of sultry models in wings and high-priced bras.

But only recently has his weird 62-year-old visage, in spindly mustache and cocked eyebrow, also appeared among the images of angel-clad model Adriana Lima in a new campaign shot in Italy.

Even at a time when pop songs old and new are commonplace in TV commercials, it's jolting for some fans to see the author of "Blowin' in the Wind" and "All Along the Watchtower" hawking bras.

Whaddya think?

The reaction in online forums was swift:

"End times are near," foretold one.

"Sellout," said others.

Still others were drawn to the hypnotic song they otherwise might have never heard.

For a writer whose lyrics have been endlessly analyzed, it appears the song from Dylan's Grammy-winning 1997 album "Time Out of Mind" was chosen for its sound — not its words.

	AP Fashion model Adriana Lima, wearing angel's wings in this Victoria's Secret photo, appears in a television advertising campaign alongside images of Dylan and against a Dylan soundtrack.

"I'm sick of love," he is heard moaning in grizzled resignation, even as Lima's attire suggests an instant antidote.

Dylan has never sung about undergarments, though on "High Water" from his 2001 album "Love and Theft" he suggests, "jump into the wagon, love, throw your panties overboard," and a line from "Subterranean Homesick Blues" begins: "short pants, romance ... "

Dylan let Apple Computers use "Forever Young" in an ad more than a decade ago. He sold "The Times They Are a Changin' " for a Bank of Montreal spot in 1996.

But this is the first appearance in a TV commercial by the man who once sneered in "It's All Right Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)": "Advertising signs that con you/Into thinking you're the one/That can do what's never been done/That can win what's never been won/Meantime life outside goes on/All around you."

On the other hand, in that same song he speaks of the cleansing aspects of a state of undress: "Even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked."

The prurient aspects of the ad might have been explained with the verse from "Tangled Up in Blue," which begins, "She was workin' in a topless place, and I stopped in for a beer."

But the most specific connection to Victoria's Secret may be in his "Like a Rolling Stone": "You're invisible now, you've got no secrets to conceal."

What's Bob get?

The ad is just one part of the commercial tie-in, it turns out.

A remixed, slightly longer version of "Love Sick" is offered on a special nine-track Dylan disc available at Victoria's Secret outlets for $10 with any purchase.

The compilation also features another song about an article of attire — "Boots of Spanish Leather" — and song titles that could be interpreted to calm fans ("Don't Think Twice, It's Alright") or confirm their worst fears ("It's All Over Now, Baby Blue").

The most direct explanation for his move, however, may be in another of the disc's titles: "Things Have Changed."

Copyright © 2004 The Seattle Times Company