Bob Dylan and his Nobel Prize for Literature

[LuvTim]

Does anyone want to comment on Bob Dylan being awarded the Nobel? Are we surprised? Annoyed? Validated?

[buffyfan145]

I'm totally fine with it. I always thought Bob's music was more like poetry he put to music. As a writer I understand other authors and people in the literary world being upset but to me songwriting is a form of writing especially if it is published and a book of Bob's songs are going to be released soon.

[LuvTim]

I was fine with it, too, and for the same reasons you have stated, b. I'm a little surprised that it has been questioned publicly.
I am not a writer, so perhaps this is why it never occurred to me to be upset about it or to question whether it was appropriate. I just thought that it recognized the poetic nature of his work.
But I'm interested to read anyone's thoughts on it.

[NightMistBlue]

I think he deserves it; he revolutionized lyric writing. I haven't heard any criticism but I imagine it to be "music isn't literature," it's a different art form, etc. I don't think there's any doubt that Mr. Dylan is a poet and poetry is literature so ... everything is kosher, far as I can tell.

[LuvTim]

I've seen some sites reporting that Mr. Dylan will not return the Nobel Committee's calls, and has not acknowledged the honor at all.
Interesting. And so Dylan-esque, I think. ;-)
(Dylanian?) Lol...

[NightMistBlue]

He's acknowleged it on his web site now: http://bobdylan.com/books/the-lyrics-1961-2012/

[LuvTim]

Well, ok then. :-D I'm glad he's accepting this sort of grand token of how totally gifted he really is.
:yay:

[NightMistBlue]

Has he been reluctant to accept honors in the past? I remember him getting an award not long ago (last 1-2 years maybe) and he seemed quite gracious and pleased. I recall him thanking a lot of people who helped him over the years, even saying something like, "Joanie, I can never repay what you did for me." I've mentioned before I'm listening to Judy Collins' autobiography on CD. She says that Joan Baez (a good friend of hers) really promoted Dylan in the early 60s, making him a featured performer at her concerts, which had sizable audiences of 10,000-14,000 people. Yet Dylan didn't return the favor down the road. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. They're not giving him the Nobel Prize for Being the Nicest Guy - that would be for either Timmy Schmit or Randy Meisner :)

[LuvTim]

Oh, I don't know if he's refused honors in the past. I just sort of think of him as a kind of mysterious and enigmatic person. You know, maybe the kind of person who would react in a sort of unexpected way to...well, anything.

[NightMistBlue]

Absolutely. Did you read his autobiography? He has such a droll sense of humor, he had me going a few times: saying that Minnesota was founded by Vikings, claiming to have a "World's Greatest Grandpa" bumper sticker on his car, etc.

[LuvTim]

No, I didn't read his autobiography, but those statements are funny, so maybe I should read it. :-) A little levity can't hurt.

[buffyfan145]

I did hear about Bob not calling them back and nice to see his site says it now. LOL :) I've seen a lot of authors and those that are mad are so because they feel their books should've been recognized and usually is it something that was published in the past year.

[Freypower]

Here is the Dylan thread in which JCL & I had posted about this.

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3048

[Freypower]

Has he been reluctant to accept honors in the past? I remember him getting an award not long ago (last 1-2 years maybe) and he seemed quite gracious and pleased. I recall him thanking a lot of people who helped him over the years, even saying something like, "Joanie, I can never repay what you did for me." I've mentioned before I'm listening to Judy Collins' autobiography on CD. She says that Joan Baez (a good friend of hers) really promoted Dylan in the early 60s, making him a featured performer at her concerts, which had sizable audiences of 10,000-14,000 people. Yet Dylan didn't return the favor down the road. Anyway, that's neither here nor there. They're not giving him the Nobel Prize for Being the Nicest Guy - that would be for either Timmy Schmit or Randy Meisner :)

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-receives-french-legion-of-honor-20131114

Medal Of Freedom:

http://cbsnews2.cbsistatic.com/hub/i/r/2012/05/29/94b3579c-a644-11e2-a3f0-029118418759/thumbnail/620x350/8b95c57f31fe794b76cab9ca41d948d3/bob_dylan-AP120529136984.JPG
http://http://images.enstarz.com/data/images/full/2598/bob-dylan.jpg

[NightMistBlue]

That was it! Thank you.

[LuvTim]

Here is the Dylan thread in which JCL & I had posted about this.

https://www.eaglesonlinecentral.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3048

Thank you, FP. I see that buffy was on that thread, as well.

[Jonny Come Lately]

This is strange - it now seems that any mention of his Nobel Prize win has been removed from Bob Dylan's website. I've no idea whether he was behind either the decision to mention it in the first place, or whether he had anything to do with its removal.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/bob-dylan-removes-all-mention-of-nobel-prize-win-from-his-websit/

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2016/oct/21/bob-dylan-unacknowledges-nobel-prize-literature-win-removed-website

(The Guardian isn't really in my good books, not least for its mean comments about the Eagles last January, but this article made me smile for having a photo captioned with 'Stuck inside his website with the Nobel prize!)

I'm fully in favour of Bob winning the Nobel Prize. I think there are a select few who are his equal as songwriters, but as a lyricist I believe he is unsurpassed. The combination of poetic and enigmatic lyrics (often laced with clever social commentary) in his finest works remains unique. I think his seeming lack of acknowledgement of the prize is somewhat puzzling, but if Bob doesn't wish to acknowledge the award, I'm not sure there's anything anyone can do to persuade him otherwise. He wouldn't be Bob otherwise! I guess all will become clear when he appears (or does not appear) at the Nobel Prize award ceremony on 10th November in Stockholm.

(I personally wouldn't object at all if this topic was merged with the existing Dylan thread, but I'm relaxed either way).