The pants they need a-changin'

The Last Straw: Like many of his fans, I'm still struggling to absorb the news that Bob Dylan has endorsed a line of lingerie products. Not merely endorsed it, in fact, but is appearing in the actual commercials, shot in Venice, for the Victoria's Secret 'Angels' collection.

Dylan fans will be relieved to know he's not wearing any of the merchandise himself in the ads. But opinion is sharply divided as to whether this was just a commercial decision, or some kind of artistic statement.

Dylan has frequently shocked his fans by embracing unfashionable causes. His conversions to electric guitars, country and western music, and born-again Christianity, to name just three genres, were all controversial moves in their time. But the news that he has embraced women's underwear - in a manner of speaking - is as shocking as any yet. And it has Dylan-watchers asking the same question they first asked about the drug-inspired 1965 album Highway 61 Revisited: what, if anything, does it mean? To answer this question, I suggest we go back to an even earlier record: The Times They Are a-Changin'. In case you can't remember, the first verse goes like this: "Come gather round people/ Wherever you roam/ And admit that the waters/ Around you have grown/ And accept it that soon/ You'll be drenched to the bone/ If your time to you/ Is worth savin'/ Then you better start swimmin'/ Or you'll sink like a stone/ For the times they are a-changin'."

As usual, Dylan was way ahead of the posse when writing this song, which - it is now obvious - was a prediction of global warming. And the singer's continuing concern about the environment, I believe, could be the key to understanding his lingerie ads. Consider the evidence. The action is set in Venice, where rising water levels have been causing disquiet for many years now. On top of this, the shots of Dylan's face are interwoven with scenes of supermodel Adriana Lima walking across a palazzo in bra and knickers: an outfit which, as well as emphasising her feminine allure, is clearly also well adapted to swimming.

Admittedly, Dylan might have made his point better had he chosen to endorse Speedos instead, and if the ads had used a less voluptuous model, such as Olympic swimmer Ian Thorpe. Also, despite Lima's all-too-obvious buoyancy, the stiletto heels she's wearing would hardly help her swimming stroke. But I think what Dylan may be saying here is that, as the waters rise, we'll all need high heels soon just to keep our ankles dry.

That's my theory about the ads, anyway; you may have a better one. Meanwhile, as Dylan fans wrestle with the meaning of his foray into the commercial world, the commercial world must be puzzled at Victoria's Secret's choice of the grizzled 62-year-old (in rock star years, that's 150), or even of his music, to sell knickers.

While the lyrics of Highway 61 Revisited could be about the importance of having sensible underwear, for all anyone knows, Dylan is not the obvious soundtrack for a lingerie promotion. His best love song, Sad-Eyed Lady of the Lowlands, goes on for 26 minutes, which doesn't quite say "briefs", does it? Just as wisely, the Victoria's Secret ads steered clear of Lay Lady Lay, from his mercifully short Barry White phase. But the soundtrack chosen, the 1997 song Love Sick is still an odd one, even apart from the fact that it features a Dylan voice so gravelly it makes Ronnie Drew sound like Kiri Te Kanawa.

You might just as well ask whether, in using Dylan, the lingerie company was making a commercial decision, or some kind of artistic statement. The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind. But here's a clue: sales in the US have shot up since the ads appeared. So it looks like he's only a pawn in their game. (That's enough punning song titles - Ed.)

Getting back to why Dylan chose to do it, another possible reason is his obsession with mortality. In keeping with the 'Angels' theme, the model is wearing wings as she crosses the palazzo. So in a sense, she could represent the singer's vision of the next world, in which he is presumably still a believer. Lima doesn't look like any of the angels you see pictured in Venice's art galleries. But as a 150-year-old rock star, you have to be optimistic.

And then again, maybe it was a purely practical decision, and Dylan just needed the money. The self-parody might have appealed too. Dylan wouldn't be above sending himself up while collecting a cheque. So perhaps the man whose albums include Empire Burlesque (1985) was pointing out that the emperor has no clothes. Or only very skimpy ones, anyway.