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Bob Dylan received the 2016 Nobel Prize. Below is a youtube link to his Nobel Lecture (recorded in 2017)
It's almost 30 minutes long - so know that going in. It's got the usual Dylan prose - almost stream of consciousness - and he reflects on those who influenced him. Including Buddy Holly whom he saw at 18, when Buddy was just 22 - and who died shortly thereafter; Also Lead Belly and one of his records... and also novels he read as a teenager like: Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Iliad and the Odyssey. Dylan admits many a songwriter read those novels too and may also have used them as inspiration to write lyrics as well.
I'm doing a deep dive on Dylan these past few days, inspired by the Biopic "A Complete Unknown". Of course as a musician myself - born in the late 1950's - both Dylan and Buddy Holly were influences on me too. The first song I learned as a beginner was "Blowing in the Wind" (soon after "Words of Love") so it's only natural that I revisit those songs of my youth, now, after being inspired by the film.
I recall a couple of years ago being inspired to dig up the Old Beatles songs I used to try and play as a novice as well, brought about by Peter Jackson's documentary series "Get Back". I put together about 20 Beatles songs and performed them as a "Beatles Sing-along" at the wineries and brewpubs at which I play regularly. I'm now working on a dozen or so Dylan songs as I type.
Some words Dylan writes in his Nobel lecture - found in the link: "Our songs are alive in the land of the living. But songs are unlike literature. They're meant to be sung, not read. The words of Shakespeare's plays were meant to be acted on the stage... just as lyrics are to be sung, not read on a page."
Check it out if you've time, or inclination:
It's almost 30 minutes long - so know that going in. It's got the usual Dylan prose - almost stream of consciousness - and he reflects on those who influenced him. Including Buddy Holly whom he saw at 18, when Buddy was just 22 - and who died shortly thereafter; Also Lead Belly and one of his records... and also novels he read as a teenager like: Moby Dick, All Quiet on the Western Front and The Iliad and the Odyssey. Dylan admits many a songwriter read those novels too and may also have used them as inspiration to write lyrics as well.
I'm doing a deep dive on Dylan these past few days, inspired by the Biopic "A Complete Unknown". Of course as a musician myself - born in the late 1950's - both Dylan and Buddy Holly were influences on me too. The first song I learned as a beginner was "Blowing in the Wind" (soon after "Words of Love") so it's only natural that I revisit those songs of my youth, now, after being inspired by the film.
I recall a couple of years ago being inspired to dig up the Old Beatles songs I used to try and play as a novice as well, brought about by Peter Jackson's documentary series "Get Back". I put together about 20 Beatles songs and performed them as a "Beatles Sing-along" at the wineries and brewpubs at which I play regularly. I'm now working on a dozen or so Dylan songs as I type.
Some words Dylan writes in his Nobel lecture - found in the link: "Our songs are alive in the land of the living. But songs are unlike literature. They're meant to be sung, not read. The words of Shakespeare's plays were meant to be acted on the stage... just as lyrics are to be sung, not read on a page."
Check it out if you've time, or inclination: