The Burt Bacharach Discussion Forum

I woke up to this flabbergasting news. I`ve posted the following here before but it really says it all:

I really don`t want to get into this. Bob "Dylan"`s fame rests on the early folk-ish and "folk-rock" material. Most of is is speed- or acid-generated logorrhea and, therefore, consists of hit-or-miss imagery. Since he scrawled reams of this stuff, most of it was incomprehensible which led too many who should have known better to assume that he was writing over their heads which (of course!) made him a poet. Those early `6os albums were embraced by the student left as anthemic endorsements of the various civil rights movements of the time. In fact, "Dylan" never (to my knowledge) had any serious interest in or involvement with any of these groups or struggles. His turn to these themes was chiefly the result of his relationship with Suze Rotolo (sp?) whose parents were supporters of progressive causes. He wanted to ingratiate himself with her and them and wrote his early songs under their influence. When that affair ended, so did his interest in political or "protest" songs.
His crackpot fling with fundamentalist Christianity also saw him inveighing against space exploration and "Daughters of Satan" (Women, to you and me).
I really don`t want to go on. He`s a clumsy scribbler of doggerel and a lazy bullshit artist. If you like him, enjoy him.

Honestly, the Nobel Prize for Literature?
Kill me now.

Idolised by his countless fans and loathed by his detractors, I'm sure there are plenty like me who take the middle ground and just admire Dylan for what he's achieved while preferring some songs of his over others. I also prefer to hear most of his best songs sung by others, like Manfred Mann's excellent If You Gotta Go Go Now:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s1Tl2cVeCbY

Here are a couple of other covers> Eat this, "Dylan" idolators:

https://youtu.be/johU9X2A9no
https://youtu.be/py0aAkN273E

I wish I still had this album!

It's music Jim...but not as we know it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_0hTtsqiFCc

'blue'

As a nice antidote to the parodies and jokes, here's Barb Jungr's stunning 'It's Not Dark Yet'. I don't know how many albums of Dylan's songs she's done but she's a very engaging and persuasive interpreter of his material.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=pabKsJf1raE

‘Sara’ is a remarkably personal song by Dylan’s standards and is that rare instance of him stepping out of his public persona to address a real person, his first wife. Again it’s the Barb Jungr version of the song I find the most affecting.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMq26yiB7l4

I'm a fan but I do think the awarding of a Nobel Prize for literature is inappropriate. As "poetic" as his lyrics may be, they're songs and they're meant to be experienced that way.

Thank you, Mark. I, of course, enjoyed getting stoned to the great trio of his mid-60s albums as much as anyone. His influence on rock song lyrics is indisputable. It`s the claim for literary genius I object to.
Interestingly, the man himself has yet to even acknowledge his recognition:
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/ ... e-to-reach
If he refuses to accept this award and announces to all that he is a modern-day vaudevillian and nothing more, I`ll retract every nasty thing I`ve ever said about him.

I find Dylan's output wildly erratic and uneven in quality but the best stuff is extraordinary and more than stands the test of time. I still have several of his albums from the 60s and 70s including my personal favourite, 'Blood on the Tracks'. I played it again recently for the first time in years and it's still a compelling listen and rarely has he sounded so inspired, as a writer and as a performer.

I just read that Bob "Dylan" has (verbally) accepted the Nobel Prize for literature. This proves that he has no idea of what constitutes literature, no perspective on his own talent, and no sense of humor.
Really, I`m a bit relieved because it means that every caustic remark I have ever made about him still stands.

Blair,
Give him both both barrel's !

'blue'

I suspect that the reason Bob Dylan delayed responding publicly to the award was the initial shock of receiving it in the first place followed by indecision in whether to accept or not knowing that whatever he decided he'd be publicly condemned. The problem in declining the award would have been that no matter how much he stressed that he thought it was inappropriate and/or that he was undeserving he would still be accused of being ungrateful and arrogant. At least in the British honours system the initial approach to the individual is done privately and if they decline the award it remains confidential unless the person in question decides otherwise. I imagine that Dylan eventually decided, probably reluctantly, to accept the award simply because he didn't want to go down in history as 'The man who refused the Nobel Prize For Literature', for it to cloud his reputation and to have his motives for doing so forever doubted and questioned. Whether he actually turns up at the ceremony to accept the award in person is another matter.

My problem with this is how do you give the Nobel Prize in Literature to a songwriter (I don't care who the songwriter is) before you give it to Philip Roth? Sort of like giving a songwriting award to Bruno Mars before giving it to Burt Bacharach. Makes no sense.

Hey, Nabokov never received it, either.
If these clowns really thought that they had to acknowledge a songwriter, how could they have overlooked Leonard Cohen? He really is a poet.

It's a great pity Hal David never received that award.

'blue'