Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize for Literature - Page 6

Fbone · 10-13-2016, 09:43 PM

My favorite Dylan song lyrics:

Quote:

Lay lady lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I'll show them to you and you'll see them shine

Cinisajoy · 10-13-2016, 09:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fbone

My favorite Dylan song lyrics:

I didn't realize that one was his.

barryem · 10-13-2016, 11:11 PM

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

Cinisajoy · 10-13-2016, 11:24 PM

Neil Young has also done Forever Young.
Here is a link to celebrating Bob Dylan.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_...rt_Celebration
Most of that concert was good.
Though you might want to avoid the Tracy Chapman song if you are not fond of Bob Dylan's voice.. She tried to mimic his voice.

grumbles · 10-14-2016, 01:09 AM

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.

rkomar · 10-14-2016, 01:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumbles

Haruki Murakami, in my never humble opinion, would be a better choice except that the recipient has to be living.

Did I miss some recent news? Isn't Murakami still very much alive and writing?

doubleshuffle · 10-14-2016, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phogg

I think my earlier post made it.clear.that I stand with those who like Dylan best when somebody else is singing, but really that's quite common with good writers. Neil Young needs to not sing. And Joni Mitchell now that her voice is gone.

I think one of the better recent renditions of Bob Dylan was Frazey Ford's version of "One More Cup Of Coffee."

Nice. There are many good covers of this song. This is my favourite one:

Graham · 10-14-2016, 05:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cinisajoy

I didn't realize that one was his.

The song I never knew was Dylan's was "If Not For You".

I'd never managed to get past Dylan's voice back then, so spent decades thinking I didn't like him. A few years ago, I decided to go back to square one and get to know the albums in order and had that impression completely turned round.

On the way, I found that "If Not For You", in my head as Olivia Newton-John's version, was his.

Graham

kennyc · 10-14-2016, 06:02 AM

It's all Over Now Baby Blue

tubemonkey · 10-14-2016, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Graham

The song I never knew was Dylan's was "If Not For You".

I'd never managed to get past Dylan's voice back then, so spent decades thinking I didn't like him. A few years ago, I decided to go back to square one and get to know the albums in order and had that impression completely turned round.

On the way, I found that "If Not For You", in my head as Olivia Newton-John's version, was his.

Graham

I prefer Harrison's version:

Graham · 10-14-2016, 07:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I prefer Harrison's version:

See, there's another album that I didn't get to know until recently when it became available for streaming.

Neil Young. Him too. Being able to play back catalogues has made me reassess so much.

On a prog kick now, digging deep through hundreds of albums. Jon Anderson's voice, also high-pitched, put me off in the 70s, but now I've discovered Yes afresh.

Sorry everyone. Thread drift. As you were.

Graham

kennyc · 10-14-2016, 07:23 AM

Yes!

.

Apache · 10-14-2016, 07:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

I prefer Harrison's version:

Mine too.
Apache

Hamlet53 · 10-14-2016, 08:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by grumbles

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.

I agree with just about everything you have said. I would also put forth Patti Smith as another potential musician for the award. Actually her non-musical output exceeds any of the names of musicians you mentioned, including Dylan. Then I still have her recent book M-Train in mind. That really spoke to me.

No blues for Bob today

:

kennyc · 10-14-2016, 08:42 AM

From 2004 NPR interview with Dylan:

http://www.npr.org/2016/10/14/497911...his-generation

Full interview here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=4080202

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10-13-2016, 11:11 PM	#78
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	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

10-13-2016, 11:24 PM	#79
Cinisajoy Just a Yellow Smiley. Posts: 19,161 Karma: 83862859 Join Date: Jul 2015 Location: Texas Device: K4, K5, fire, kobo, galaxy	Neil Young has also done Forever Young. Here is a link to celebrating Bob Dylan. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_...rt_Celebration Most of that concert was good. Though you might want to avoid the Tracy Chapman song if you are not fond of Bob Dylan's voice.. She tried to mimic his voice.

10-14-2016, 01:09 AM	#80
grumbles Addict Posts: 238 Karma: 1500000 Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Toronto Device: Pandigital Novel (Black), T-2 and 3, Nexus 7	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.

10-14-2016, 06:02 AM	#84
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,907 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	It's all Over Now Baby Blue

10-14-2016, 07:23 AM	#87
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,907 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	Yes! .

10-14-2016, 08:42 AM	#90
kennyc The Dank Side of the Moon Posts: 35,907 Karma: 119230421 Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Denver, CO Device: Kindle2; Kindle Fire	From 2004 NPR interview with Dylan: http://www.npr.org/2016/10/14/497911...his-generation Full interview here: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...toryId=4080202