The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

Posted on by Live & Learn

bob-dylan-nobel-prize-cartoon

For those who endorse awarding Bob Dylan the Nobel Prize in Literature, the question might be: Why did the Swedish Academy wait so long? For those who oppose: A songwriter?

But there is never an expiration date on the acknowledgment of excellence, and Mr. Dylan is much more than a songwriter. One may quarrel that the award delays what appears to be the inevitable recognition by the academy of novelists Haruki Murakami and Philip Roth, among others, or that a composer for musical theater like Stephen Sondheim is the place to begin if songs are considered literature. But no one who knows Mr. Dylan’s work and its impact on his and subsequent generations of authors and composers can dispute its high quality.

To the point of whether the words to songs comprise literature: It is the rare lyric that can stand on its own without the rhythm the music provides. The irony of assessing Mr. Dylan’s words absent the accompaniment is that he changed popular music by discovering and then exploring, repeatedly and often magnificently, new ways to set distinctive narratives to melody and rhythm as in “Mr. Tambourine Man” or “Like a Rolling Stone.” There is no comparable body of work, regardless of standard of measurement, by any other artist of the rock era.

~ Jim Fusilli, excerpt from Yes, Bob Dylan Deserves the Nobel Prize

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24 thoughts on “The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind”

  13. I agree. I’m from Scandinavia and I like the idea of expanding the notion of what makes up literature. Wordsmithing that makes an impact. For the better. For humanity. For thinking.
    I’m not one for sharp lines, rigid structure, hard categorizing but welcome softer edges and blurred lines between – as in this case – lyrics and poetry. As long as the literature is of quality and has an impact.

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