Bob Dylan Awarded Nobel Prize for Literature

Bob Dylan,  American songwriter, singer, artist, and writer, whose work has influenced generations of songwriters and been intensely analyzed by fans, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature on Thursday.

Much of his best known work dates from the 1960s when his songs chronicled social unrest, although Dylan (75) rebuffed suggestions from journalists that he was a spokesman for his generation. Nevertheless, early songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin'” became anthems for the American civil rights and anti-war movements.

“Most song lyrics don’t really hold up without the music, and they aren’t supposed to,” poet Billy Collins said. “Bob Dylan is in the 2 percent club of songwriters whose lyrics are interesting on the page, even without the harmonica and the guitar and his very distinctive voice. I think he does qualify as poetry.”

The choice was lauded by a wide cultural and political spectrum. Rosanne Cash, the songwriter and daughter of Johnny Cash, wrote simply: “Holy mother of god. Bob Dylan wins the Nobel Prize.”

Mr. Dylan began his career on the New York music scene in 1961 as an artist in the tradition of Woody Guthrie, singing protest songs and strumming an acoustic guitar to small crowds in Greenwich Village. In 1963, the folk group Peter, Paul and Mary reached No. 2 on the Billboard pop chart with a version of his song “Blowin’ in the Wind”.

“Volume 1”  with The Traveling Wilburys,  a British-American super-group consisting of Dylan, George Harrison, Jeff Lynne, Roy Orbison, and Tom Petty, is undoubtedly one of my all time favorite recordings. They recorded two albums, the first in 1988 and the second in 1990, though Orbison died before the second was recorded.

The Swedish Academy’s choice has been criticized as pandering to baby-boomers, and Scottish novelist Irvine Welsh tweeted:  “I’m a Dylan fan, but this is an ill conceived nostalgia award wrenched from the rancid prostates of senile, gibbering hippies.”

Haven’t you heard, Mr. Welsh?

“The Times…They Are A-Changing”