I've never been a Bob Dylan fan or really a folk music fan at all. I've always listened to classical music, a little jazz and lots of stuff from Broadway.
I've always thought that popular music, for at least the last half century, was poetry, not music as I think of it. And some of it is very good poetry and I think a Nobel Prize for it is a pretty nice idea.
I don't think Nobel Prizes are about which is the better writer or poet or anything like that. I think it's about the effect they have on us and our culture and our lives. Even though I'm not even a little bit a fan of Dylan I can't help but be aware of the effect he's had.
Personally I feel really good about this. It was a huge surprise and my first reaction was to laugh. I guess I'm still laughing. It's a good joke and a nice one.
I read about it this morning before I walked over for coffee in the recreation area of our retirement home where I announced to all the other old fogies and fogettes about his winning the prize. That was fun!
The reaction varied from horror to thrills. I think most everyone was happy about it. Our one hyper-judgemental super-Christian (the one who never judges) thought he must have bribed someone. Most of the rest were pleased.
By the way, following a suggestion in an early post in this thread I looked up the Joan Baez cover of Forever Young, a song I've never heard before, as with most of his. I've always liked her and that was fun. Nice song too!
What a world we live in!
Barry