Well said, Maighread.
On 14 Oct 2016, at 20:05, Maighread Medbh wrote:
Dylan never touched me deeply, but like most people, I grew up involved with his sounds and lyrics at some level. He's been an intrinsic part of the social, sonic and verbal ambience of the past 50 years. His production has been enormous, his versatility and endurance remarkable. If it's 'genius' to represent the spirit of the age, then maybe he's a genius.
At first I thought that perhaps there should be a Nobel Prize for music, which might be more appropriate, because it seemed to me that the literary task is very different from that of a singer/songwriter. However, the reason given by the Committee changed my mind. I think he has indeed "created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition". You could, of course, also say that Eminem has done that, and many others, but Dylan has proved himself relevant, durable, meaningful, clever and liberating over time, even improving in some ways, I think. The way so many people speak of him, it's as if he's a kind of abiding poetic brother for a multitude.
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