People who judge Robert Allen Zimmerman’s music harshly are people who have limited and simplistic ideas formed in their narrow view of the world. There is no other singer/songwriter who can compare to the quality in depth and range of expression with his body of work.
I'm just trying to see why people like his music. Obviously (excuse me if this is TOO obvious), people don't actually think the music itself is good -- but what am I missing? Clearly it's irony, yes?
He does not have a very good voice but wrote and performed lots of good songs and he can carry a tune and can project emotion and feelings. Not up there with Shane McGowan but pretty damned good
I don't consider myself a fan of Bob Dylan's music (especially when he's singing), but I do like Like a Rolling Stone and Knockin' on Heaven's Door. I do prefer his songs to be covered by others...All Along the Watchtower is the great example there.
His music is extremely simplistic which CAN be good, but when it's EVERY song, for me that gets boring.
Your definition of what it takes to be a real man is a classic, but you're all wet with your take on Dylan. His music is precisely the opposite of formulaic! He spent his career experimenting with styles, folk, rock, country, gospel. I agree with another poster's perspective - the "story" Dylan was always telling was exactly his own, regardless of the protagonist. You want to know why Dylan went to Nashville? Why Dylan became a gospel artist? He just wanted to explore the genres and show what he could do. And he did it better than anyone - Just listen to Girl from the North Country. Frankly, give a spin on the entire John Wesley Harding, which he put out after going electric but before Nashville. It's a classic country folk album loaded with stripped down masterpieces all delivered in a peppy presentation but with very dark, foreboding undertones. Just perfection. He was saying one thing with his delivery, while the lyrics clearly indicate something else is going on.
Yes, Hendrix All Along the Watchtower was a masterpiece, but Hendrix plays it straight. Listen to Dylan's version a few times and it's entirely different. He's offering a warning, but delivering in a cheerful manner - like a court jester.
1) I didn't use the word "formulaic." I said, "simplistic" because it is. The chord progressions are super simple and mostly boring...ESPECIALLY if you listen to more than one song in a row.
2) All Along The Watchtower? Am, G, F all the way through with no changes. I wrote a song with that chord progression when I was 6 years old.
3) Knockin' on Heaven's Door, G, D, Am, G, D, C all the way through with no changes.
4) Like a Rolling Stone, C, Dm, Em, F, G for the verses, and then a 1-4-5 (C, F, G) for the chorus.
5) Rainy Day Women uses 1-4-5 of E, A, B. One of the worst songs ever written too by the way.
I could go on.
The Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Sting, and TONS of others use much more interesting chord progressions and arrangement. Hell, even Air Supply does!
Dylan had this poet vibe going on when he started, and that's fine, but musically, he's about as simple as they come. He's a more brooding version of Jimmy Buffett.
Your definition of what it takes to be a real man is a classic, but you're all wet with your take on Dylan. His music is precisely the opposite of formulaic! He spent his career experimenting with styles, folk, rock, country, gospel. I agree with another poster's perspective - the "story" Dylan was always telling was exactly his own, regardless of the protagonist. You want to know why Dylan went to Nashville? Why Dylan became a gospel artist? He just wanted to explore the genres and show what he could do. And he did it better than anyone - Just listen to Girl from the North Country. Frankly, give a spin on the entire John Wesley Harding, which he put out after going electric but before Nashville. It's a classic country folk album loaded with stripped down masterpieces all delivered in a peppy presentation but with very dark, foreboding undertones. Just perfection. He was saying one thing with his delivery, while the lyrics clearly indicate something else is going on.
Yes, Hendrix All Along the Watchtower was a masterpiece, but Hendrix plays it straight. Listen to Dylan's version a few times and it's entirely different. He's offering a warning, but delivering in a cheerful manner - like a court jester.
1) I didn't use the word "formulaic." I said, "simplistic" because it is. The chord progressions are super simple and mostly boring...ESPECIALLY if you listen to more than one song in a row.
2) All Along The Watchtower? Am, G, F all the way through with no changes. I wrote a song with that chord progression when I was 6 years old.
3) Knockin' on Heaven's Door, G, D, Am, G, D, C all the way through with no changes.
4) Like a Rolling Stone, C, Dm, Em, F, G for the verses, and then a 1-4-5 (C, F, G) for the chorus.
5) Rainy Day Women uses 1-4-5 of E, A, B. One of the worst songs ever written too by the way.
I could go on.
The Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Sting, and TONS of others use much more interesting chord progressions and arrangement. Hell, even Air Supply does!
Dylan had this poet vibe going on when he started, and that's fine, but musically, he's about as simple as they come. He's a more brooding version of Jimmy Buffett.
I wonder how come your song from first grade isn't better known than all that?
1) I didn't use the word "formulaic." I said, "simplistic" because it is. The chord progressions are super simple and mostly boring...ESPECIALLY if you listen to more than one song in a row.
2) All Along The Watchtower? Am, G, F all the way through with no changes. I wrote a song with that chord progression when I was 6 years old.
3) Knockin' on Heaven's Door, G, D, Am, G, D, C all the way through with no changes.
4) Like a Rolling Stone, C, Dm, Em, F, G for the verses, and then a 1-4-5 (C, F, G) for the chorus.
5) Rainy Day Women uses 1-4-5 of E, A, B. One of the worst songs ever written too by the way.
I could go on.
The Beatles, Elton John, Elvis Costello, Sting, and TONS of others use much more interesting chord progressions and arrangement. Hell, even Air Supply does!
Dylan had this poet vibe going on when he started, and that's fine, but musically, he's about as simple as they come. He's a more brooding version of Jimmy Buffett.
I wonder how come your song from first grade isn't better known than all that?
1) I was 6, and I had no connections.
2) My song was about peanut butter. Dylan's lyrics are better.
3) I LIKE, and even LOVE All Along The Watchtower, both Dylan's version and Jimi's version. I didn't say it was a bad song. I said it was SIMPLE, and it is. ALL of Dylan's songs are simple. Because of that, I wouldn't want to listen to a string of his songs in a row.
I have also never said I was a better investor than Warren Buffett. Get serious.
Did Buffett beat the DOW 35 out of the last 33 years like you? Berkshire Hathaway stock has underperformed the DOW in 9 years since 1999. You beat Buffett and Munger! Sure you did…
I have also never said I was a better investor than Warren Buffett. Get serious.
Did Buffett beat the DOW 35 out of the last 33 years like you? Berkshire Hathaway stock has underperformed the DOW in 9 years since 1999. You beat Buffett and Munger! Sure you did…
Unclear. Buffett and the late Munger made BIG bets on companies and sectors. I don't do that.
OK, so you ARE claiming to have done better than them.
I’m glad you’ve helped me underline the ludicrousness of your claimed investing prowess.
Unless, of course, you mean to claim that you’re only just good enough to have beaten those legends in at least 6 of the last 25 years, because you were smart enough. So, smarter than them but not better than them. Or vice versa, I’m confused, actually…
You are, either, a liar and a blowhard, or, just not smart enough to properly compute returns. Or all those thing I suppose.
Bob Dylan was already a has-been decades ago. He hit it big for using an electric guitar in folk music, that's all. He faded right away after the novelty wore off.
Of course the music is musically crap. Folk music is designed that way, just like blues. The fans don't have high standards. They intentionally want to hear crap, like it's authentic, born of a lifetime of woe.
Hippies who think anyone will remember the guy in 50 years haven't noticed noone remembers him even now. Nearly every hippie act went that way. The Grateful Dead gathered the 60s unto themselves by the 1990s and it all died with Jerry, the end. No further. The boomer love affair with itself has fizzled. Out with a whimper.
Dream on, he's a has been and you know it. Don't take it personally
Well, he's 82 so his best days are probably behind him. Yet here we are still talking about him. And in every Dylan thread you show up to tell us he is a has been and his only claim to fame was playing folk music on an electric guitar.
I sincerely believe Dylan will be considered Shakespeare-like in history, and people will be listening to his songs hundreds of years from now. I can't think of a single other living artist that statement is true of.
Read the lyrics of Every Grain of Sand, Chimes of Freedom, or Boots of Spanish Leather and tell me any musical artist in history that was capable of that. Poets yes, William Blake comes to mind, but no musicians.