Bob Dylan

[Trilliam]

Okay, Bob Dylan needs no introduction, probably the most critically acclaimed artist of all time, guy has masterpieces under his belt yadda yadda yadda.The reason I made this thread is because I've found myself trying to dig Dylan if you know what I mean. I've got Blone on Blonde, Highway 61 Revisted and a greatest hits so I reckon I have a pretty good body of work to make this statement on; personally I dunno whether it's a before my time thing or maybe I'm not literate, but I really don't understand the hype around Dylan. Specifically his lyrics. I mean I dunno wtf he is talking about in Visions of Johanna and yeah there are some very well worded and poetic lines but I mean the whole thing is nonsensical.Any Dylan fans out there who can add their two cents.

[Uncle Man]

no,he rly is sh*t

[Trilliam]

no,he rly is sh*t

simply won't believe it

[Uncle Man]

no,he rly is sh*t

simply won't believe it

i guess if u dont rate nonsensical bohemian word association highly then u will struggletry something like the hurricane,that is more normalguy is very overated,i suppose he captured the sentiments of a rebellious generation with tracks such as blowing in the wind,its probly a case of not being there at the time

[kahuna]

no,he rly is sh*t

simply won't believe it

i guess if u dont rate nonsensical bohemian word association highly then u will struggletry something like the hurricane,that is more normalguy is very overated,i suppose he captured the sentiments of a rebellious generation with tracks such as blowing in the wind,its probly a case of not being there at the time

i think that is part of it, but i do think that some song have that timeless quality im a fan of some of his work, but ive never really got in too deeply to it

[YGNB]

I've never really delved too deeply into his music, I will at some point. I like when it takes you alot of time to get into a artist and then it just 'clicks'

[Superstition]

I reckon the reason he has achieved a religious level of fervent worship because his music was the soundtrack to the early lives of the current music "elders" (all the pezzonovantes and tastemakers in music media and business, and performers too). Their youth was the 1960s, coming of age at a time of rebellion, with civil rights struggles, Vietnam, hippies, Woodstock, the summer of love, counterculture, etc. The generation that genuinely felt like their movement was going to destroy the establishment and change the world forever, through taking lots of drugs and laying on the grass. Nostalgia is heavy, and although the revolution never came, they fully believe that era was a unique cultural achievement that has never been matched, and their leaders and icons for the most part were the musicians: esp. Dylan with his early protest songs. Ironically, he only really made radical/protest music for a very short time, but that's the material which swept him to fame, had him lauded as a poet/visionary/Tupac, and which continues to define him to this day.As you've identified, he definitely did a lot of nonsense stream-of-consciousness songs, and plenty of it seems to simply be surreal incantations and drug-fuelled imagery. Nuff people spend their lives trying to dissect bars which appear to be, and probably are, absurd waffle. But he also made a lot of amazing, important and influential ish tooI personally don't find it controversial to say he's one of the best (and most incalculably influential) songwriters ever. From what I understand, his recognised writing 'masterworks' are pretty much all of his 60's sh*t (Freewheelin, Times Are A-Changin, Back Home, Highway 61, Blonde), but my favourite album of his is Blood On The Tracks, which was later (1975) and is essentially a mournful, introspective lament over the dissolution of his marriage. The two LPs that you picked are from the more heavily druggy and surreal phase so that's why you might be plainfacing themSo it's important to understand his music in a wider context (lyrically, musically, culturally) to really get at why people worship him. If you really wanna digest his stuff I reckon it would help to follow his discography in chronological order. Some LSD probably wouldnt hurt either

[Trilliam]

I reckon the reason he has achieved a religious level of fervent worship because his music was the soundtrack to the early lives of the current music "elders" (all the pezzonovantes and tastemakers in music media and business, and performers too). Their youth was the 1960s, coming of age at a time of rebellion, with civil rights struggles, Vietnam, hippies, Woodstock, the summer of love, counterculture, etc. The generation that genuinely felt like their movement was going to destroy the establishment and change the world forever, through taking lots of drugs and laying on the grass. Nostalgia is heavy, and although the revolution never came, they fully believe that era was a unique cultural achievement that has never been matched, and their leaders and icons for the most part were the musicians: esp. Dylan with his early protest songs. Ironically, he only really made radical/protest music for a very short time, but that's the material which swept him to fame, had him lauded as a poet/visionary/Tupac, and which continues to define him to this day.As you've identified, he definitely did a lot of nonsense stream-of-consciousness songs, and plenty of it seems to simply be surreal incantations and drug-fuelled imagery. Nuff people spend their lives trying to dissect bars which appear to be, and probably are, absurd waffle. But he also made a lot of amazing, important and influential ish tooI personally don't find it controversial to say he's one of the best (and most incalculably influential) songwriters ever. From what I understand, his recognised writing 'masterworks' are pretty much all of his 60's sh*t (Freewheelin, Times Are A-Changin, Back Home, Highway 61, Blonde), but my favourite album of his is Blood On The Tracks, which was later (1975) and is essentially a mournful, introspective lament over the dissolution of his marriage. The two LPs that you picked are from the more heavily druggy and surreal phase so that's why you might be plainfacing themSo it's important to understand his music in a wider context (lyrically, musically, culturally) to really get at why people worship him. If you really wanna digest his stuff I reckon it would help to follow his discography in chronological order. Some LSD probably wouldnt hurt either

lol i don't even know what to say back

[LuLu]

HURRICANEthe song is an all time classic

[serpent]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mq6btEkprDQ

[Elementalism]

The fact that Bob Dylan used his platform to speak to truth to power puts him in that little 1% of artists you could label 'revolutionary'. He's up there with Tupac, Immortal Technique, Peter Tosh, Bob Marley (when he wasn't singing love-songs).

Powerful music, and still completely relevant. That is the power of true music (and by true, I mean honest, accurate, recognizably true), you can relate no matter how old you are.

Come you masters of war

You that build the big guns

You that build the death planes

You that build all the bombs

You that hide behind walls

You that hide behind desks

I just want you to know

I can see through your masks.

You that never done nothin'

But build to destroy

You play with my world

Like it's your little toy

You put a gun in my hand

And you hide from my eyes

And you turn and run farther

When the fast bullets fly.

Like Judas of old

You lie and deceive

A world war can be won

You want me to believe

But I see through your eyes

And I see through your brain

Like I see through the water

That runs down my drain.

You fasten all the triggers

For the others to fire

Then you set back and watch

When the death count gets higher

You hide in your mansion'

As young people's blood

Flows out of their bodies

And is buried in the mud.

You've thrown the worst fear

That can ever be hurled

Fear to bring children

Into the world

For threatening my baby

Unborn and unnamed

You ain't worth the blood

That runs in your veins.

How much do I know

To talk out of turn

You might say that I'm young

You might say I'm unlearned

But there's one thing I know

Though I'm younger than you

That even Jesus would never

Forgive what you do.

Let me ask you one question

Is your money that good

Will it buy you forgiveness

Do you think that it could

I think you will find

When your death takes its toll

All the money you made

Will never buy back your soul.

And I hope that you die

And your death'll come soon

I will follow your casket

In the pale afternoon

And I'll watch while you're lowered

Down to your deathbed

And I'll stand over your grave

'Til I'm sure that you're dead.