Bob Dylan has a Twitter account with over 422,000 followers, but he doesn’t actually tweet himself. It’s merely a means for his team to promote upcoming releases and tour dates, with occasional statements from Dylan himself when someone like Robbie Robertson dies. Throughout all of 2024, it’s been used a mere two times prior to this week. The first was an announcement of the 1974 live recordings box set, and the second was a re-tweet from the official Beatles account about a digital re-release of the Concert for Bangladesh.
That’s why the tweet sent out by the account Tuesday night at 6:02 p.m. is so baffling. It’s a mere seven words: “Happy Birthday Mary Jo! See you in Frankfort.” There is no other context. His media representative declined to comment, so we’re left with many questions. (This writer refuses to refer to Twitter as X. Sorry, Elon.)
Who is Mary Jo?
There are many famous Mary Jos, including shooting victim Mary Jo Buttafuoco, Canadian actress/chef Mary Jo Eustace, boxer Mary Jo Sanders, actress Mary Jo Deschanel, and romantic fantasy novelist Mary Jo Putney. There are 55 Mary Jos with enough prominence to get their own Wikipedia page. None of them have any known connection to Bob Dylan.
What’s happening in Frankfort?
Dylan kicks off a European tour in early October. It includes three shows at Jahrhunderthalle in Frankfurt, Germany. That gives him plenty of time to meet up with this mysterious Mary Jo figure. But he didn’t write “Frankfurt.” He wrote “Frankfort.” That’s the capital of Kentucky. (There are smaller Frankforts in Alabama, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and many other states.)
Is this related to Dylan’s whiskey?
As a poster on the Expecting Rain forum pointed out, Frankfort, Kentucky, is a very short drive from the Heaven’s Door Distillery in Pleasureville, Kentucky. Is this the start of some weird marketing campaign for Dylan’s whiskey? Are we suckers for falling for it?
Was this even intentional?
There’s no scenario where Dylan runs his own Twitter account. Did a staffer somewhere forget to log off and write this thinking they were on a different account? But that would have been taken down in a couple of minutes. This is still up the following afternoon. That suggests it was intentional.
Is this an easter egg?
If Taylor Swift had tweeted this out, it would likely be a riddle leading up to a big announcement of some sort. Dylan’s never done anything like that. And would he really tease his first proper studio album since 2020’s Rough and Rowdy Ways by tweeting out “Happy Birthday Mary Jo! See you in Frankfort”? That’s just lunacy. But then again, this is the guy who sold a faux-vintage 2012 tour shirt on the road this summer. Anything is possible.
