![]() ![]() ![]() For his part, Dylan subverts the idea of Eden with similar grim imagery, before inserting himself in the final stanza as he waits for a lover. 1, Dylan’s great memoir? That one allowed Dylan to weave transitory moments from his life into flowing, lucid asides that may or may not themselves be an extension of the same liberties with poetic license he practices throughout his career.īlake’s describing heaven in contrarian terms, taking care to emphasize the flaming swords and the sense of eternal absolution involved for everyone inside its gates. And we can read Dylan’s name-dropping of Joyce or Fitzgerald in the lyrics without the help of this Quartz piece, which ignores the simple fact that referencing writers alone does not literature make.Īnd why the fuck doesn’t anyone mention Chronicles Vol. It’s clear that Dylan alluded to Rimbaud and Verlaine, the former a fellow child prodigy who also tapped into the surreal and upended the bourgeois. The glut of these thinkpieces go for the quick nods in Dylan’s lyrics, when literature is evoked but not practiced. ![]() (Save a few moments for my colleague Tim Sommer’s wonderful homage, though, which doesn’t fall into the same traps and remembers to include Dylan’s messy poetry collection, Tarantula.) But it’s been frustrating, too, reading the countless thinkpieces and their attempts to qualify or disqualify Dylan for the honor. Fight the mainstream.On one hand, the Nobel Committee’s decision to award him the Nobel Prize for literature has caused many to revisit his work, beyond “Times They Are a-Changin” and “Blowin’ in the Wind”. You can find kids with four Bob Dylan songs on their iPods, scoffing at their friends who like Blink 182 or Good Charlotte, even though if questioned they wouldn't have a clue about Bob Dylan. Nevermind she can't sing, her lyrics are deliberately obscure and she can't play guitar. because we're politically screwed, and have been for the last 40 years). He is a figurehead for a movement of assertive peace and political awareness, which is why he has found a consistent fan base (i.e. The myth of Bob Dylan has been propogated by ageing hippies who pass on this values system of "sticking it to the man!", and use stuff like "Hurricane" as examples of this. A prodigy at harmonica, but then again, there are homeless men on the street who are pretty damn good at harmonica too, and they don't get celebrated as genius. What the hell? It's just stream-of-consciousness, beat poetry, except without the interest of Ginsberg or Kerouac. 3) Subterranean Homesick Blues could, could have been brilliant, but instead it comes off as self-indulgent. Jingle-jangle morning? It sounds like something written on a bad Hallmark card. What is then, you ask? Well, maybe, hell, "Now I know how Joan of Arc felt, when the flames rose to her Roman Nose and her walkman started to melt". ![]() Tambourine Man? "In the jingle-jangle morning"? This is not the lyrics of a genius. Most of what Dylan wrote was stream of consciousness or old-fashioned storytelling that, if S o C, is just his thoughts, and honestly, who cares? If old-fashioned storytelling, then he's failed because noone has any idea what the hell he's on about. Don't go whinging saying that "it makes sense to the responder, it talks to me, waa waa I was breastfed til I was 17". Tambourine Man" and "Subterranean Homesick Alien" BUT! 1) Repetitive, dull chord progression. But, as examples, they pull up stuff like " Like A Rolling Stone" and "Mr. They say his strength is his songwriting. Awful, awful voice: could be viewed as a soulful voice by his defenders, but even many of his most well-meaning fans will admit that his gravelly, difficult voice isn't his strength. A pioneer of folk rock (in its electric sense), and most importantly that fusion, but who is only considered a pioneer by those who don't particularly want to look at what else was going on in the world of music. ![]()
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