Bob Dylan: Difference between revisions

For many critics, Dylan’s greatest achievement was the cultural synthesis exemplified by his mid-1960s trilogy of albums—''Bringing It All Back Home'', ''Highway 61 Revisited'' and ''Blonde on Blonde''. In [[Mike Marqusee]]'s words:

 

 

Dylan's lyrics began to receive critical study as early as 1998, when [[Stanford University]] sponsored the first international academic conference on Bob Dylan held in the United States.<ref>{{Cite web|date=March 7, 2017|title=Dylan Conference|url=https://tinomarkworth.com/dylan-conference/|access-date=February 12, 2023|website=tinomarkworth.com|language=en}}</ref> In 2004, [[Richard F. Thomas]], [[Classics]] professor at [[Harvard University]], created a freshman seminar titled "Dylan", which aimed "to put the artist in context of not just popular culture of the last half-century, but the tradition of classical poets like [[Virgil]] and [[Homer]]."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/15/arts/music/bob-dylan-101-a-harvard-professor-has-the-coolest-class-on-campus.html| title=Bob Dylan 101: A Harvard Professor Has the Coolest Class on Campus| author=Schuessler, Jennifer| date=October 14, 2016 |access-date=February 13, 2024|newspaper=The New York Times}}</ref> Thomas went on to publish ''Why Bob Dylan Matters'', exploring Dylan's connections with [[Classical antiquity|Greco-Roman literature]].<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.npr.org/2017/11/21/563736161/a-classics-professor-explains-why-bob-dylan-matters| title= A Classics Professor Explains 'Why Bob Dylan Matters'| author=Heller, Jason| date=November 21, 2017 |access-date = February 13, 2024| website=npr.org}}</ref> Literary critic [[Christopher Ricks]] published ''[[Dylan's Visions of Sin]]'', an appreciation of Dylan's work.<ref>{{cite news| last=Lethem| first=Jonathan| title=Alfred Tennyson, A. E. Housman. Now This.| date=June 13, 2004| work=The New York Times| url=https://archive.nytimes.com/query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage-9C04E3D91030F930A25755C0A9629C8B63.html}}</ref> Following Dylan's Nobel win, Ricks reflected: "I'd not have written a book about Dylan, to stand alongside my books on [[John Milton|Milton]] and [[John Keats|Keats]], [[Alfred, Lord Tennyson|Tennyson]] and [[T.S. Eliot]], if I didn't think Dylan a genius of and with language."<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/bob-dylan-s-nobel-prize-divides-irish-writers-and-literary-critics-1.2828753| title=Bob Dylan's Nobel Prize divides Irish writers and literary critics| author=Doyle, Martin| date=October 13, 2016| access-date=December 15, 2016| newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref> The critical consensus that Dylan's songwriting was his outstanding creative achievement was articulated by ''[[Encyclopædia Britannica]]'': "Hailed as the [[Shakespeare]] of his generation, Dylan&nbsp;... set the standard for lyric writing."<ref name =EncBr>{{cite encyclopedia| url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bob-Dylan-American-musician| title=Bob Dylan: American musician| author=Al Kooper| access-date=November 5, 2016| encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica| author-link=Al Kooper}}</ref> Former British [[poet laureate]] [[Andrew Motion]] said Dylan's lyrics should be studied in schools.<ref>{{cite news| url=http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2503109.ece| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100530105239/http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/poetry/article2503109.ece| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 30, 2010| title=Andrew Motion explains why Bob Dylan's lyrics should be studied in schools| author=Motion, Andrew| date=September 22, 2007| access-date=October 10, 2008| work=The Times| location=London}}</ref> His lyrics have entered the vernacular; [[Edna Gundersen]] notes that<blockquote>Lines that branded Dylan a poet and counterculture valedictorian in the '60s are imprinted on the culture: "When you got nothing, you got nothing to lose"; "a hard rain's a-gonna fall"; "to live outside the law you must be honest." Some lyrics — "you don't need a weather man to know which way the wind blows" and "the times they are a-changin' " — appear in ''[[Bartlett's Familiar Quotations]]''.<ref name =Gund2001>{{cite news| title=Times change, but Dylan leaves a lasting imprint| last=Gundersen| first=Edna| work=[[USA Today]]| date=May 17, 2001| url=http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/music/2001-05-bob-dylan.htm}}</ref></blockquote>