Bob Dylan - 'Cross The Green Mountain

2003

Bob Dylan - 'Cross The Green Mountain (2003) Director: Tom Krueger Era: Post-9/11 Americana Revival (2003) - Civil War epic film tie-in era; Dylan's late-career meditation on war, mortality, and American identity commissioned for the Gods and Generals soundtrack High curatorial value as a rare instance of a major artist fully inhabiting a historical persona in a music video context, with verifiable location shooting at a historically significant site. The intersection of post-9/11 cultural mood, Civil War historical revisionism, Dylan's literary ambitions, and Krueger's dual DP/director craft make this a rich primary document for scholars of American music, visual culture, and historical memory. The video's deliberate period aesthetic, warm, high-contrast, daguerreotype-influenced, is among the more cinematographically sophisticated examples of its era. Context: Released in December 2003 as a tie-in to the Warner Bros. Civil War epic Gods and Generals, this video emerged in the shadow of the September 11, 2001 attacks, a moment when Dylan's meditation on American war, sacrifice, and mortality carried double resonance. The song draws from Civil War-era poetry, the Bible, and the work of Confederate poet laureate Henry Timrod, placing it within Dylan's decades-long engagement with American folk and historical tradition. The video's Richmond, Virginia graveyard setting, home to Confederate soldiers, anchors the piece in a specific, contested terrain of American memory and grief, while Dylan's theatrical costuming frames him as a timeless observer rather than a period participant. Director notes: Krueger served as both director and cinematographer on this video, confirmed by IMDB. The video was released December 14, 2003 in the United States and produced by Black Label Content. It was filmed on location at Hollywood Cemetery in Richmond, Virginia. The video features Dylan in a theatrical Civil War-era costume, fake beard and wig, placing a photograph at the grave of a Southern officer. The video serves as a promotional companion to the Gods and Generals (2003) film soundtrack. Runtime is approximately 3 minutes, representing an abridged version of the full 8-minute song.