Last week in class we discussed Bob Dylan, who recently won the Nobel Prize in Literature. There have been critics of this nomination, but I think they are unjustified, as Dylan’s songs carry true weight and many of them tell a story. Bob Dylan came up from humble beginnings, having been born in Hibbing, Minnesota. He really isn’t like any other artist out there, as professor Kahan called him “sui generis”. He’s a folk singer, but his music is more upbeat than more traditional folk music. I’m listening to “Like a Rolling Stone” as I write this entry, and I really like that I can just tap my foot along to the beat and his voice definitely has a calming presence. In addition, this song features more instruments than Dylan typically uses, which is just his guitar and harmonica.
Bob Dylan most often sung of social unrest, particularly the Vietnam war. His time of prominence was during this era, the 60s and 70s. The songs “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” are most indicative of this. We listened to the Joan Baez cover in class of the first song, and while it was very long, it conveyed a message of impending possible nuclear fallout. The second song was more about the new generation coming of age and assuming a larger role in the country. The song “Don’t Think Twice It’s alright” has a really sad mood to it, sort of a breakup song. It just has Dylan strumming his strings and blowing into the harmonica, reminiscing on the relationship he had probably just ended.
I was pretty surprised how catchy some of these songs were. So little editing and chopping gives Dylan’s music a really raw sound that makes it that much better. I particularly liked “Like a Rolling Stone” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’”. This really contrasts with today’s popular music, with many people working on a single song and editing and sound effects and on and on.
Listening to this music for the first time has almost been like listening to The Beatles for the first time. My cousin always told me to listen to Bob Dylan, but I always just shrugged it off. I now realize this was pretty foolish of me, as this assignment has really let me appreciate Dylan as an artist. His Nobel in literature is well deserved for his meaningful tunes.