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All the non-scientific Nobels are to a greater or lesser extent political.
The prize for literature is for a body of work and while I think that Dylan has been influential I just don't think his work is Nobel worthy. There are better poets and better song writers. Two that come to mind are Leonard Cohen and Suzanne Vega. Laurie Anderson should probably be included too. And they can sing as well, well maybe not on Cohen's first two albums. Cohen's work also includes two novels and a substantial body of poetry that are not songs.
Much of Dylan's reputation rests on his counter culture reputation from the 60's.
Make no mistake, Dylan was (and maybe still is) a brilliant songwriter but if you want to award a prize for a body of literature there are much better choices. Haruki Murakami, in my never humble opinion, would be a better choice except that the recipient has to be living.
I expect that part of the justification for this award was a desire to be "relevant".
Most songs are poems (doesn't mean that they're good poems). Most poems are not songs (but a few might be made into them).
Yes, this is my inner curmudgeon speaking.
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