Bob Dylan Awarded Nobel Prize in Literature

[Momsurroundedbyboys]

I'm thrilled about it.

[kim]

Well Chas ... as long as we're letting Bob tell the stories ... I see your blues and raise you my favorite ...

Early one mornin' the sun was shinin'
I was layin' in bed
Wondrin' if she'd changed at all
If her hair was still red
Her folks they said our lives together
Sure was gonna be rough
They never did like
Mama's homemade dress
Papa's bank book wasn't big enough
And I was standin' on the side of the road
Rain fallin' on my shoes
Heading out for the east coast
Lord knows I've paid some dues
Gettin' through
Tangled up in blue

She was married when we first met
Soon to be divorced
I helped her out of a jam I guess
But I used a little too much force
We drove that car as far as we could
Abandoned it out west
Split up on a dark sad night
Both agreeing it was best
She turned around to look at me
As I was walkin' away
I heard her say over my shoulder
We'll meet again some day
On the avenue
Tangled up in blue

I had a job in the great north woods
Working as a cook for a spell
But I never did like it all that much
And one day the axe just fell
So I drifted down to New Orleans
Where I was looking for to be employed
Workin' for a while on a fishin' boat
Right outside of Delacroix
But all the while I was alone
The past was close behind
I seen a lot of women
But she never escaped my mind
And I just grew
Tangled up in blue

She was workin' in a topless place
And I stopped in for a beer
I just kept lookin' at the side of her face
In the spotlight so clear
And later on as the crowd thinned out
I's just about to do the same
She was standing there in back of my chair
Said to me, Don't I know your name?
I muttered somethin' under my breath
She studied the lines on my face
I must admit I felt a little uneasy
When she bent down to tie the laces
Of my shoe
Tangled up in blue

She lit a burner on the stove
And offered me a pipe
I thought you'd never say hello, she said
You look like the silent type
Then she opened up a book of poems
And handed it to me
Written by an Italian poet
From the thirteenth century
And everyone of them words rang true
And glowed like burnin' coal
Pourin' off of every page
Like it was written in my soul
From me to you
Tangled up in blue

I lived with them on Montague Street
In a basement down the stairs
There was music in the cafes at night
And revolution in the air
Then he started into dealing with slaves
And something inside of him died
She had to sell everything she owned
And froze up inside
And when finally the bottom fell out
I became withdrawn
The only thing I knew how to do
Was to keep on keepin' on
Like a bird that flew
Tangled up in blue

So now I'm goin' back again
I got to get to her somehow
All the people we used to know
They're an illusion to me now
Some are mathematicians
Some are carpenters' wives
Don't know how it all got started
I don't know what they're doin' with their lives
But me, I'm still on the road
Headin' for another joint
We always did feel the same
We just saw it from a different point
Of view
Tangled up in blue

[kim]

I think the words stand on their own.





In case you don't know this one.

[Dom]

With God on Our Side

Bob Dylan

My name it is nothing, my age it means less
The country I come from is a part of the Free West
I was taught and brought up there its laws to abide
And that the land that I live in has God on its side

Oh the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalries charged, the Indians fell
The cavalries charged, the Indians died
For the country was young with God on its side

Oh the first World War, it came and it went
The reason for fighting I never could get
But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride
For you don't count the dead when God's on your side

And then the second World War, it came to an end
We forgave the Germans and now we are friends
Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried
The Germans now, too, have God on their side

But now we have weapons of chemical dust
And if fire them we're forced to, why then fire them we must
One push of the button and a shot the worldwide
And you never ask questions when God's on your side

Though many a long hour I've thought on this
That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss
But I can't think for you, you will have to decide
Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side

And now as I leave you, I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feelin', there ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head and drop to the floor
That if God's on our side, he'll stop the next war.

[TheGulegon]

(13-10-2016 08:15 AM)Grasshopper Wrote:  I'm as big a Bob Dylan fan as anyone (and I like his singing, too -- or I did until the last few years), but it's a real stretch to call his stuff literature, and I would have to consider this one of the worst prize selections ever.

Here comes the story of The Hurricane!
The man the authorities came to blame
For somthin' that he never done!
Put in a prison cell, but one time he could-a been
The Champion of The Worrrrrld!

Vio li hin mu oo hoo sic

[Anjele]

Once I got past his voice and learned the cadence of his songs I really learned to enjoy his stuff. Unique and original.

Oddly, my favorite song of his is one that doesn't follow his usual style. I really like 'Lay, Lady, Lay'.

[SYZ]

My thoughts on reading this over my morning joe?

First... incredulity.
Second... is it April 1st already?
Third... rolling around laughing helplessly at the apparent delusions of the Nobel committee..

As one who grew up during his mono-tonal banshee wailing and predictable political diatribes, I can only guess there's a newly rehashed Dylan CD on the way (god [sic] help us all).

[SYZ]

(13-10-2016 05:24 PM)Anjele Wrote:  Once I got past his voice and learned the cadence of his songs I really learned to enjoy his stuff. Unique and original.

Sorry Anjele... there's a few too many oxymorons in that sentence.

[Dom]

Well, I went back and read a bunch of his lyrics - some are really wonderful. Some sound like HOC wrote them. Some are not so great. I think he does deserve a prize for poetry. Some of his lyrics really make you think.

[Thumpalumpacus]

I'm okay with it. He expanded pop lyrics beyond surfer odes and bubblegum teen love so that it could address deeper and more substantive issues; he changed the way we hear and assess popular music forever.

I'm no big fan of his, but there's no denying his influence.