Bob Dylan Synthesis

Bob Dylan Synthesis Essay

The Nobel Prize in literature is a well sought after reward that fulfills the dreams of both aspiring and well known authors. Gordon Ball’s nomination of Bob Dylan for the prize in 1996 was a controversial decision that has yet to see any results, and it was this nomination that placed into question whether or not a singer-songwriter is eligible to receive the Nobel Prize. While Bob Dylan’s works have been to be found moving to many and arguably profound lyrical masterpieces, they were created with the intention of being verbally and visually expressed and do not read along the lines of traditional writing or poetry.

Bob Dylan is a well-recognized figure in the music industry, who has already “won lots of awards”

(Marcus). His popularity speaks loudly of his prowess as a musician, but does not necessarily stack him up against the great authors and poets who have been previous recipients of the prize or are set to receive it in the future. There’s “thousands of novelists” who’s original intention was to create literature with the intent of it being read and interpreted as the reader chooses. Marcus deemed those novelists far more deserving of the prize than Dylan, which I find to be highly agreeable because of his main point: Dylan is a songwriter, and songwriters should not be nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature before a far more deserving author is. It’s known information that he never made it through college, and while it wasn’t necessarily been detrimental to his career, one might expect a Nobel Prize winner to possess a formal education in their background.
(Sources A and E)
The argument that Dylan’s lyrics “are of considered literary value” (Ball) lies along the basis of the message that he delivers through song.

Michael Gray’s analysis of Dylan’s lyrics being a contrast between hackneyed expressions and “beautifully done” are exemplified in the song “Just Like a Woman.” Dylan’s lyrics “she aches just like a woman but she breaks just like a little girl” is given the harsh description of “maudlin platitude” and deemed to be a “non-statement.” If Dylan’s lyrics cannot uphold against meaningful music of the same category, how can they be expected to stand against literature written for a different field. John Lennon had his own critiques of Dylan’s works, calling out how the abstract nature of his lyrics, having loose definition, never achieved an actual point. Lennon’s definition of “poetry” referred to “stick[ing] a few images together” and “thread[ing] them” in order to create something meaningful. It once again boils down to the fact that Dylan’s music that was written and intended to be received as a live performance. The acknowledgement that “…you have to hear Dylan doing it” is a recognition of his composition’s failure to come across as a normal literary work. It’s all part of a “good game.” This in itself should disqualify Dylan as a possible candidate for the Nobel Prize.

(Sources C and F)

Regardless of the achievements of great men like William Blake, the particular of situation of Bob Dylan isn’t comparable because of the great headway

he’s admittedly made. If Gordon Ball had been advocating for Dylan to win a Nobel Prize in composition, perhaps he would’ve gotten further with his objective. The nature of Dylan’s works isn’t up to the level of competing with fully purposeful novels and poetry.