Bob Dylan Analysis

In 2016, Bob Dylan won the Nobel prize for literature. Dylan was a famous musician who was always considered to not be the best at playing any one instrument. Dylan was also noted for not being the best vocalist either. So how is it that a musician like Bob Dylan who wasn’t known to be the best at any one instrument or the best vocalist; remain relevant and continue to release music from 1962 all the way until present day, 2018? Many people claim that Dylan’s long lasting fame is due to his ability to move people through his song writing. Bob Dylan attributes his ability to write to inspirational artists such as; Buddy Holly, Lead Belly, early folk musicians, and the book’s; Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front, and The Odyssey. Dylan’s
Dylan claims that these values were obtained from grammar school; and that they were primarily obtained through your classic grammar school readings such as Don Quixote, Ivanhoe, Robinson Crusoe, Gulivers Travels, and Tale of Two Cities [1]. Dylan also goes on to accredit these readings for teaching him “how to view life, an understanding of human nature, and a standard to measure things by” [1]. Themes from these specific books can even be seen in many of Dylan’s songs. It was a combination of all of these things that helped Dylan to compose his
When Dylan describes the ultimate idea behind the book Moby Dick, he calls it “an abstract goal, nothing concrete or definite” [1]. I feel as if this plays a big role into Dylan’s writing style seeing how many of his lyrics are abstract, with no concrete or definite meaning behind them. It is noted in other readings that Dylan’s writing style is influenced by symbolist poetry which never puts any single meaning behind one’s writings [2]. Dylan is also intrigued by the idea that this book tells a tale of how different men react in different ways to the same situation. “One of the men, the narrator says, ‘Call me Ishmael’, somebody asks where he’s from, and he says ‘it’s not down on any map. True places never are.’ Stubb gives no significance to anything, says everything is predestined. Ishmaels been sailing on a ship his entire life. Calls sailing ships his Harvard and Yale. Keeps his distance from people.” [1]. This quote that Dylan mentions is very powerful in my opinion on his writing influences. This writing style of Dylan is also noted in class readings where they explain that Dylan was also influenced by the Romantic poets. The Romantic poets have what is known as an “artistic hero” but this comes at a cost in which you can never be close to anybody [2]. Also from other class readings, Dylan admits to lying to the press about where he is from and other background information. This could