"Half a century ago, Bob Dylan shocked the music world by plugging in an electric guitar and alienating folk purists. For decades he continued to confound expectations, selling millions of records with dense, enigmatic songwriting.Now, Mr. Dylan, the poet laureate of the rock era, has been rewarded with the Nobel Prize in Literature, an honor that elevates him into the company of T. S. Eliot, Gabriel García Márquez, Toni Morrison and Samuel Beckett.Mr. Dylan, 75, is the first musician to win the award, and his selection on Thursday is perhaps the most radical choice in a history stretching back to 1901. In choosing a popular musician for the literary world’s highest honor, the Swedish Academy, which awards the prize, dramatically redefined the boundaries of literature, setting off a debate about whether song lyrics have the same artistic value as poetry or novels". The New York Times.
"According to the Swedish Academy, Dylan won "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition"". Rolling Stone.
If you want to understand why Dylan has won the prize, this article can give you a preliminary idea. From social commitment to faithless love, from existential introspection to the simplicity of life, he has written about almost everything; usually, not in the most accessible style, but always exploring the power of words entangled in music. These are, arguably, 100 of his best songs.
After this link in Blas's Pyjamas, you can see some older entries devoted to Mr. Zimmermann here. Of course, the best song of all times is included.
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| Click here to see the full list. |
He's come to town several times, the last one as recently as 2015:
Throughout
the years, tons of musicians from all over the world have covered his
songs and his work still is, quite probably, one of the most
influential sources for many. Just as a sample of this, you can
listen to this programme on Radio 3:
Dylan is an unquestionable genius; however, he's not the only one. Popular music in English is the perfect breeding ground for excellent writers, some of which have been discussed in this blog before. You can explore the works by Leonard Cohen, Nina Simone, Tom Waits, P. J. Harvey, Lou Reed, Patti Smith,Townes Van Zandt, Joni Mitchell... to name just but a few. Which others would you add to this list?
