Bob Dylan turned 80 with something to say about it. According to a report by The Wrap, Dylan joined Liza Minnelli, Robert De Niro, Gloria Steinem, Art Garfunkel, and Dionne Warwick in reflecting on the age in a New York Times Opinion feature published Sunday, the same day Donald Trump also turned 80.
Dylan described the best part of reaching the milestone in direct terms.
"The best thing about being 80 is that you outlive the clocks that have been chasing you. It's freedom from that lie that anything was ever under control. You don't chase the parade anymore," Dylan said. "You're an old king from some vanished country. You're harder to program. You're not rushing to become anything and you're not haunted by things that you did. You're haunted by how little of it really mattered in the way you thought it would."
He was equally direct about the worst parts.
"The worst thing about being 80 is that you still want to say yes to everything, but the world moves without asking. The old fire in your heart still tells you to do this and that, but your body says we already did it," Dylan said. "Also, nothing surprises you. It sounds like a luxury but it's not, and also you've run out of illusions. People treat you like either you've solved something or you've lost something, and you haven't. You see life repeating itself everywhere."
Dylan added one more observation about time itself. "The really worst part about being 80 is that you find, at last, you've got an understanding of something that might have altered everything in the past, had it come at a time when something could still be altered. When you're young you think that time moves forward. At 80 you know that it doesn't, it stands still. We're the ones that move."
Gloria Steinem offered a different perspective on what the age brings. On the positive side, she pointed to a return to simpler pleasures. "With the needs of work and family more in the past, it's likely we have some of the immediate pleasures of childhood again, from appreciating pets and nature to seeing family members and friends blossom in unexpected ways. For example, my friend who was a makeup artist has opened a great bookstore," she said.
Asked what she would tell Trump on the occasion of his 80th, Steinem kept her answer to one word: "Resign."
Trump has not publicly acknowledged his birthday. On Sunday he announced an apparent ceasefire with Iran on Truth Social. His birthday also coincided with a UFC match he hosted on the White House South Lawn, tied to the administration's Freedom 250 celebration.
Late night host Jimmy Kimmel marked the occasion with a spoof card. According to Deadline, Kimmel shared a parody of a card Trump allegedly wrote to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003, which surfaced during a House Oversight Committee investigation last year. The original featured a drawing of a naked woman and references to things the two men had "in common." Kimmel's version replaced the drawing with what appeared to be a naked Trump's torso and included a poem. The card read: "Happy 80th Donald! A pal is a wonderful thing. Happy birthday and may every day be another wonderful secret."
Kimmel's post comes as Trump has again publicly called on ABC to fire the late-night host from Jimmy Kimmel Live!
