Quote:
Originally Posted by doubleshuffle
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Sorry, I do not think song lyrics are literature as such. They may or may not be poetry or "poetic" but I don't know that for sure, not being a fan of or very knowledegable about poetry. But I am very familiar with songs of every genre and song lyrics, from the ones that are nonsense, pap, silly, or banal to the ones that tell a story or express emotions. Some of them capture a sense of a certain place or time. Some are very good, but they are songs, not literature.
If Bob Dylan had published those songs as poetry (assuming he could have found a publisher) I doubt very much if he would have ever had a very big fanbase or following
or ever been considered for a Nobel Prize.
I am very familiar with "folk songs" including the "niche" categories of topical (about a certain event) or protest songs, which are anti-something or other or commentaries on social injustices. When Dylan came along, they said he was carrying on the tradition of Woody Guthrie. I suppose that was true, because Guthrie's songs had a message too, though his lyrics were much more "down to earth" than Dylan's. Also Guthrie never wrote any original melodies, they were all "borrowed" from old folk or cowboy songs or 19th century popular songs.
As we know Dylan abandoned the folk scene and turned to rock music just before the short-lived "folk revival" petered out. I am not familiar with very many of his songs after that time, though I know he has a huge fanbase and a large following, expecially among people who were part of the "counter culture" in the 1960's.
But to me literature is literature - novels or short stories or plays or poetry and songs are songs. If they want to give out a Nobel Prize for songwriting, fine. I also find it interesting that Dylan has not yet called the Nobel Prize Committee to accept his prize and there are rumours that he many not accept it.
