Bob Dylan

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Let the night air cool you off
Bob Dylan is one of the biggest names in music history, but what do you think of him? What is your favorite Dylan song? Which Bob Dylan song do you think is his best written tune? What do you think of Dylan between Highway 61 Revisited and Blood on the Tracks? What do you think of post-Blood on the Tracks Dylan? Do you like his Christmas album? What do you think of his voice? What do you think of his songwriting?

I know cat doesn't like him, so I look forward to what she has to say, if anything at all.

Personally, I am starting to listen to him a little more frequently. I was already familiar with his 65-66 era albums, but I don't guess I've ever looked as closely at his music as I am doing now. Something I am noticing now, after seeing it pointed out, is that he does something in his lyrics that I love about hip hop: internal rhyming:

"Aw, princess on the steeple and all the pretty people
They're all drinkin', thinkin' that they got it made"

I don't know what it is that I like so much about that style of writing, but it makes me giddy to notice more about Dylan's writing outside of it being "social commentary" or whatever.

His most famous song "Like a Rolling Stone" is so petty, and that's another reason to love it. It feels good to say "I told you so", and Dylan nails that by being universal and personal at the same time. Nearly every line feels like a mic drop, especially the sarcastic sneering comments like "But you'd better take your diamond ring, ya' better pawn it, babe". Bob's delivery helps it along the way, but I think what could be one of the bigger reason his music works so well for me is that he mixes his simple lyrics with his complex and ambiguous lyrics. He uses slang of the time with his beautiful and surreal imagery like:

"You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat
Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat
Ain't it hard when you discover that
He really wasn't where it's at"

But anyway, what do you guys think of Bob Dylan?



I haven't been bitten by the Dylan bug musically yet, but he's pretty fantastic lyrically for sure. He's a great writer. I would say I like him though as a whole, and am waiting until the day I start to love him.



I've never paid that much attention to his music or explored his discography and I'm not sure why. I always enjoyed his songs when they came on the radio and he's a Wilbury so of course that scores points with me. "Things Have Changed" is probably my favorite Dylan song, plus of course "Tweeter and the Monkey Man" from the Wilburys.






the samoan lawyer's Avatar
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Probably my favourite artist. So hard to name a favourite song or album as it changes every time I listen to him but usually its Lily, Rosemary and The Jack of Hearts from Blood On The Tracks. Listening to Desire a lot at the minute too, especially Black Diamond Bay, such an amazing story.
Love him.
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Master of My Domain
Not a big fan of his music, but I have to give him credit for this song which is way ahead of its time:

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Cinephiles who love Dylan should definitely watch Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He wrote the music for the film and also pays a role in it.



I'm a huge fan of the film's music. It describes man's longing for an unreachable freedom. Beautiful western poetry.

P.S. The film is also stunning.
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Let the night air cool you off
Cinephiles who love Dylan should definitely watch Sam Peckinpah's Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973). He wrote the music for the film and also pays a role in it.



I'm a huge fan of the film's music. It describes man's longing for an unreachable freedom. Beautiful western poetry.

P.S. The film is also stunning.
Agreed. That was during Dylan's phase of westerns and outlaws. Check out the song "Romance in Durango" for another good example of this.






I only heard this song a year ago, recommended by anotherDylan music lover. So beautiful, lyrically, musically, emotionally and with layers of meaning that reveal hidden depths with repeated listening. I've put in the Judy Collins version because Dylan 's songs have always been interpreted by others. An inspiration to all the musicians who followed him , even if the audience knows it or not.

I can't say enough about him. He changed the course of music. He is unique with a powerful vision. Able to write about anger, injustice, society as well as the most tender love songs and a timeless hymn for his son (Forever Young). He is a poet and well deserving of the Nobel prize for literature. He has travelled through and invented different styles of music like Picasso going through artistic phases. Too many songs to mention so there are no favorites.

I posted this song because he just keeps growing as a writer and musician - it 's not from his earlier Renaissance years of the sixties, but decades later. Unlike many of his peers from the 60s and 70s , he never fell back to rest on the laurels of his greatest hits- he just keeps moving forward. Also love the poignant line:
" Time is short and the days are sweet"

He has said he does not write the songs himself, they ' flow through him'
He is bound forever to his Muse-though I don't know if he sees the Muse as streaming from a collective unconscious , a trick of genetics or a gift from the out reached hand of the Lord. One thing I do know; when it comes to the Muse- Dylan's always been mine.



Let the night air cool you off
I've done a fair bit of listening to Dylan tunes this month, and here is what my current top 15 Dylan songs look like:

1. Tangled Up in Blue
2. Desolation Row
3. Like a Rolling Stone
4. Visions of Johanna
5. It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)
6. Tombstone Blues
7. Bob Dylan's 115th Dream
8. Outlaw Blues
9. Highway 61 Revisited
10. Subterranean Homesick Blues
11. Positively 4th Street
12. Lay Lady Lay
13. Maggie's Farm
14. Romance in Durango
15. Ballad of a Thin Man

1965 belonged to Bob Dylan. That might be the best year any music maker has had in the recording era. I'd be interested in hearing an argument for a better year for somebody else.