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The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

nobelprize.org

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Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#44

Despite being a massive admirer of Dylan's work, I'm not sure that I'm good with this > for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition There's no doubt he did this, but ... do songs count as literature? I'm not really sure they do, and much as I love the songs, the lyrics by themselves don't have anything like the impact (on me at least) of top-notch poetry

Songs are poetry, poetry is literature.

But then again, remember that Sinatra vs. Bieber meme... http://weknowmemes.com/2012/02/music-what-happened/

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#45

Despite being a massive admirer of Dylan's work, I'm not sure that I'm good with this > for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition There's no doubt he did this, but ... do songs count as literature? I'm not really sure they do, and much as I love the songs, the lyrics by themselves don't have anything like the impact (on me at least) of top-notch poetry

>the lyrics by themselves don't have anything like the impact (on me at least) of top-notch poetry

To you they don't, to me and others they do. To the current Nobel committee they did this year.

At the end, Nobel prizes are highly subjective and people dependent recognitions - so arguments of the form of X deserves and Y does not are not too meaningful.

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#46
post #8

Fantastic! Anyone know if it's the first Literature Nobel given to a pure singer-songwriter? Here are three Dylan songs with big literary value: * "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts": an amazing example of musical story-telling * "The Ballad of a Thin Man": Some of the most post-modern lyrics ever put to music... * "Like a Rolling Stone": One of the most influential songs of all time

I would suggest 'Visions of Johanna'.

At the other end of spectrum is 'Changing of the Guards' in which Bob Dylan seems to be intentionally parodying his own songwriting (still an enjoyable song though).

Re: The Nobel Prize in Literature 2016 awarded to Bob Dylan

#47
post #43

Bob Dylan was never a rebel. He was a generic pop singer loved by basics for generations.

Not a rebel, maybe. Generic, anything but. He left a mark on music, and to call his fans "basics" is an insult to him, his fandom, and his legacy.
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