Let's Discuss How Bob Dylan Is Considered A Great Lyricist

[5 Grand]

Those are the first 3 songs that come up when you type "Bob Dylan" on Youtube.


Does anybody have any idea why Bob Dylan is held in such high regard?


The reason I bring it up is because I write rhymes. I'm a rapper/MC. I use an app called Rhymezone. Basically you type in a word and it gives you all of the words that rhyme with the word you typed. It also gives you an example of somebody that used that word in a song. 9 times out of 10, if you type a word, it gives you an example of how Bob Dylan used that word in a song and the word he used to rhyme.


After seeing so many examples of how Bob Dylan uses words to rhyme, it got me seriously thinking; Why would anybody pretend that Bob Dylan is such a great songwriter? I mean it must be a conspiracy to convince people that Bob Dylan is a great songwriter because I don't hear it, or see it.

His music is awful. I mean it really couldn't be any worse. If you played Bob Dylan's music for me and I didn't know who he was I'd think you are joking.

Why is he considered such a great songwriter?

 

[BRIAN B.]

His music is awful. I mean it really couldn't be any worse. If you played Bob Dylan's music for me and I didn't know who he was I'd think you are joking.

oh the ironing

 

[Qawshun]

Wouldn't know, I don't pay much attention to people outside my genre.

 

[Lab Baby]

Dylan is one of the most covered artists of all time. Ppl don't just pick up his music, which admittedly is an acquired taste (never got too much into it myself), just for kicks. Something resonated with them to cover those songs, and a lot of it has to do with the lyrics. One lyric that stands out to me is "you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows" off the song Subterranean Homesick Blues (I named my rap group Weather Underground after the domestic terrorist group whom were inspired by that lyric). He was speaking on sociopolitical unrest and the upcoming revolution (the Watts riots happened some time after this). Regardless of how the news media (weatherman) covered the Civil Rights movement and other movements (wind), it was happening in real time. Again, not too much into Dylan's music, but reading his lyrics would give one a different perspective in whatever realm.

On top of all that, he gave Jimi Hendrix his only top 20 US hit.

 

[AP3.0]

On a black website in black history month?

 

[Mister B. M. Ed.]

Meh.

I like “The Times are A-Changin” and “Lay Lady Lay.”





I digress.

 

[SneakDZA]

It's not for everyone. Especially since music has changed so much but I don't think it's fair to say he's overrated.

This is my favorite Dylan song.

 

[King Freeman]

It's black history month yall.

 

[Chi-Town B]

On a black website in black history month?

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So we segregating music?

 

[Rubato]

It’s disingenuous to pretend Bob Dylan is celebrated for his own songs, it’s really the ones he wrote for others

 

[King Freeman]

So we segregating music?

Yes.

 

[SneakDZA]

It’s disingenuous to pretend Bob Dylan is celebrated for his own songs, it’s really the ones he wrote for others

Or the ones that people covered and turned to hits. But that kinda reinforces "Let's Discuss How Bob Dylan Is Considered A Great Lyricist"

 

[Rubato]

Or the ones that people covered and turned to hits. But that kinda reinforces "Let's Discuss How Bob Dylan Is Considered A Great Lyricist"

Yea but he is also said this, which is true but irrelevant

His music is awful. I mean it really couldn't be any worse. If you played Bob Dylan's music for me and I didn't know who he was I'd think you are joking.

 

[AP3.0]

So we segregating music?

It's black history month yall.

 

[SneakDZA]

It's black history month yall.

Aiight...

 

[The Lonious Monk]

It's kinda hard to call a songwriter overrated when multiple artists have whole albums with nothing but covers of his songs. You might be able to call him an overrated artist overall, but you can't argue the fact that both singers and listeners seem to like his lyrics.

 

[Lab Baby]

Yea but he is also said this, which is true but irrelevant

I personally think the discussion should be limited to his reputation as a lyricist... only if to avoid travelling down @5 Grand's random ass train of thought. He was definitely in his "1000lb man", "pimp ninja" bag when he made this thread.

 

[Lab Baby]

He's basically the Quentin Miller to the entire folk music genre's Drake.

 

[The Lonious Monk]

Also, for the people that want a black side to this, a lot of black people covered his songs. Here's what he had to say about them.

Aaron Neville – Shooting Star (Live at MusiCares)
“I could always hear him singing that song. He’s recorded other songs of mine, all great performances, but for some reason I kept thinking about ‘Shooting Star,’ something he’s never recorded but I knew that he could. I could always hear him singing it for some reason, even when I wrote it. I mean, what can you say? He’s the most soulful of singers, maybe in all of recorded history. If angels sing, they must sing in that voice. I just think his gift is so great. The man has no flaws, never has. He’s always been one of my favorite singers right from the beginning.” (2015 BobDylan.com Q&A, Bill Flanagan)

Jimi Hendrix – All Along the Watchtower
“It overwhelmed me, really. He had such talent, he could find things inside a song and vigorously develop them. He found things that other people wouldn’t think of finding in there. He probably improved upon it by the spaces he was using. I took license with the song from his version, actually, and continue to do it to this day.” (1995 Florida Sun-Sentinel interview)

Jimi Hendrix
“It’s not a wonder to me that he recorded my songs, but rather that he recorded so few of them because they were all his.” (Essay for 1988 Hendrix exhibition)

Nina Simone
“I used to cross paths with her in New York City in the Village Gate nightclub. She was an artist I definitely looked up to. She recorded some of my songs that she learned directly from me, sitting in a dressing room. She was an overwhelming artist, piano player and singer. Very strong woman, very outspoken and dynamite to see perform. That she was recording my songs validated everything that I was about. Nina was the kind of artist that I loved and admired.” (2015 MusiCares speech)

The Staple Singers
“Long before they were on Stax they were on Epic and they were one of my favorite groups of all time. I met them all in ’62 or ’63. They heard my songs live and Pervis wanted to record three or four of them and he did with the Staples Singers. They were the type of artists that I wanted recording my songs, if anybody was going to do it.” (2015 MusiCares speech)

He made what people call "white folk music," but it seems like was very inspired by black artists. I actually only know of him through most over the covers from black artists like The Isleys and Isaac Hayes.

 

[5 Grand]

Dylan is one of the most covered artists of all time. Ppl don't just pick up his music, which admittedly is an acquired taste (never got too much into it myself), just for kicks. Something resonated with them to cover those songs, and a lot of it has to do with the lyrics. One lyric that stands out to me is "you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows" off the song Subterranean Homesick Blues (I named my rap group Weather Underground after the domestic terrorist group whom were inspired by that lyric). He was speaking on sociopolitical unrest and the upcoming revolution (the Watts riots happened some time after this). Regardless of how the news media (weatherman) covered the Civil Rights movement and other movements (wind), it was happening in real time. Again, not too much into Dylan's music, but reading his lyrics would give one a different perspective in whatever realm.

On top of all that, he gave Jimi Hendrix his only top 20 US hit.

"You don't need a weatherman to tell you which way the wind blows" is a cool line. But my point is that good rappers have lines like that all throughout the entire song. I mean a good rap song has lines like that every line for 16 bars, then a chorus, then a line like that for another 16 bars. then a chorus, then another line like that for 16 bars, etc.

If you go on Youtube right now you can catch freestyles from Black Thought, Papoose and even the old Dipset freestyles that have lines like that nonstop with no chorus.

I'd like to see Bob Dylan's top 20 lyrics/lines/punchlines and compare them to a b-list rapper. I'd bet that a b-list rapper would blow Bob Dylan's lyrics away.