Bob Dylan wins Nobel Prize

[DavidinSouthampton]

What a joke

Why? Have you ever read anything he has ever written.

I don't think it would be too fanciful to say that he was a poet first and a singer second. You can certainly not compare what he does to the often boring and banal stuff that has hit the charts over the decades.

 

[essbee]

Why? Have you ever read anything he has ever written.

I don't think it would be too fanciful to say that he was a poet first and a singer second. You can certainly not compare what he does to the often boring and banal stuff that has hit the charts over the decades.

I agree with Voroshilov - a joke.

The day that the Nobel prize became a laughing stock.

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

Except many of Dylan's lyrics could be considered to be poetry?

I much prefer them to most of the poems I've read but I accept that I am no academic.

What he said! I have a degree in modern languages, which was heavily literature based, so feel qualified to comment but would not describe myself as an academic. But stuff that Dylan has written would bear comparison with any other poet of his age.

And I don't like the compartmentalisation attitude which says you can't give him a literature prize because he is a musician. How many different Nobel Prizes might Leonardo da Vinci have won had they been around in his day. We can't give him the Physics prize for inventing the helicopter (or whatever) because he is an artist,

 

[DavidinSouthampton]

I agree with Voroshilov - a joke.

The day that the Nobel prize became a laughing stock.

I disagree strongly. Have you ever read anything he has written. Who would you give it to?

 

[Gwylan]

The day that the Nobel prize became a laughing stock.

I think that was the day that Henry Kissinger won the Peace Prize

 

[dejavuatbtn]

I have never read a JK Rowling book, but don't believe that songwriting should be under the umbrella of literature.

Then you completely misunderstand the purpose of being a lyricist.

 

[Gwylan]

Perhaps the greater honour is not winning the prize.

Let's look at some of the people who haven't won it - pretty much most of the great writers of the last 115 years

Tolstoy
Twain
Proust
Henry James
Joyce
Ibsen
Hardy
O'Neil
Fitzgerald
Kafka
Borges
Auden
Brecht
Woolf
Nabakov
Zweig
Hasek
Lorca
Achebe
Vonnegut
Roth
Stoppard
Hrabal
Marquez
DeLillo

and probably more that I've forgotten

 

[Pevenseagull]

Perhaps the greater honour is not winning the prize.

Let's look at some of the people who haven't won it - pretty much most of the great writers of the last 115 years

Tolstoy
Twain
Proust
Henry James
Joyce
Ibsen
Hardy
O'Neil
Fitzgerald
Kafka
Borges
Auden
Brecht
Woolf
Nabakov
Zweig
Hasek
Lorca
Achebe
Vonnegut
Roth
Stoppard
Hrabal
Marquez
DeLillo

and probably more that I've forgotten

Greene

 

[essbee]

I disagree strongly. Have you ever read anything he has written. Who would you give it to?

Yes I have.

The bloke is obviously good with words - but the Nobel f***** prize. Oh my lord.

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

So they're even dumbing down the Nobel Prize now? Wow!

 

[Tarpon]

Everything went from bad to worse
Money never changed a thing
Death kept followin', trackin' us down
At least I heard your bluebird sing
Now somebody's got to show their hand
Time is an enemy
I know you're long gone
I guess it must be up to me

If I'd thought about it I never would've done it
I guess I would've let it slide
If I'd-a paid attention to what others were thinkin'
The heart inside me would've died
But I was just too stubborn to ever be governed by enforced insanity
Someone had to reach for the risin' star
I guess it was up to me

Oh, the union central is pullin' out
The orchids are in bloom
I've only got me one good shirt left and it smells of stale perfume
In fourteen months I've only smiled once and I didn't do it consciously
Somebody's got to find your trail
I guess it must be up to me

It was like a revelation
When you betrayed me with your touch
I'd just about convinced myself nothin' had changed that much
The old rounder in the iron mask he slipped me the master key
Somebody had to unlock your heart He said it was up to me

Now I watched you slowly disappear down into the officers' club
I would've followed you in the door but I didn't have a ticket stub
So I waited all night 'til the break of day, hopin' one of us could get free
When the dawn came over the river bridge
I knew it was up to me

The only decent thing I did when I worked as a postal clerk
Was to haul your picture down off the wall near the cage where I used to work
Was I a fool or not to try to protect your real identity?
You looked a little burned out, my friend
I thought it might be up to me

I met somebody face to face and I had to remove my hat
She's everything I need and love but I can't be swayed by that
It frightens me, the awful truth of how sweet life can be
But she ain't a-gonna make me move, I guess it must be up to me

Now we heard the sermon on the mount and I knew it was too complex
It didn't amount to anything more than what the broken glass reflects
When you bite off more than you can chew you pay the penalty
Somebody's got to tell the tale
I guess it must be up to me

Dupree came in pimpin' tonight to the Thunderbird cafe
Crystal wanted to talk to him, I had to look the other way
Now, I just can't rest without your love, I need your company
But you ain't a-gonna cross the line
I guess it must be up to me

There's a note left in the bottle, you can give it to Estelle
She's the one you been wond'rin' about, but there's really nothin' much to tell
We both heard voices for a while, now the rest is history
Somebody's got to cry some tears
I guess it must be up to me

So go on, boys, and play your hands, life is a pantomime
The ringleaders from the county seat say you don't have all that much time
And the girl with me behind the shades, she ain't my property
One of us has got to hit the road
I guess it must be up to me

If we never meet again, baby, remember me
How my lone guitar played sweet for you that old-time melody
And the harmonica around my neck, I blew it for you, free
No one else could play that tune, you know it was up to me

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Why? Have you ever read anything he has ever written.

I don't think it would be too fanciful to say that he was a poet first and a singer second. You can certainly not compare what he does to the often boring and banal stuff that has hit the charts over the decades.

Yes, i have. I love me some Bob. Blood on the Tracks is my personal fave. And he's good with lyrics. But he's not Nobel prize for literature good.

 

[essbee]

Yep - shi*e.

 

[boik]

I think Dylan is an amazing songwriter/lyricist, unfortunately though, a god-awful performer. Covers of his songs are almost always better than the originals. Controversial? Moi? ;-)

 

[GT49er]

Yes I have.

The bloke is obviously good with words - but the Nobel f***** prize. Oh my lord.

"Good with words"? Isn't that what literature is all about?

As a slight concession to all those snobs who believe the only good literature is the stuff that is bloody hard work to read (but is always set books for 'A' levels and Uni. degrees!) I would concede that Dylan's lyrics are perhaps better described as poetry then literature; is there such a thing as a Nobel Prize for poetry? (Genuine question).

 

[essbee]

"Good with words"? Isn't that what literature is all about?

As a slight concession to all those snobs who believe the only good literature is the stuff that is bloody hard work to read (but is always set books for 'A' levels and Uni. degrees!) I would concede that Dylan's lyrics are perhaps better described as poetry then literature; is there such a thing as a Nobel Prize for poetry? (Genuine question).

But my aunt is good with words - but that doesn't make a Nobel Prize winner.

Is HG Wells hard to read? Is Orwell hard to read? Is Greene hard to read? All those are deserving of the title - not some song writer -that's what i'm thinkin'

 

[GT49er]

I think Dylan is an amazing songwriter/lyricist, unfortunately though, a god-awful performer. Covers of his songs are almost always better than the originals. Controversial? Moi? ;-)

Harsh. For his first few albums he was peerless.

IMHO his voice lost its edge after he broke his neck. Anyway, like most artistes, his early work was the most exciting.

 

[GT49er]

But my aunt is good with words - but that doesn't make a Nobel Prize winner.

She's good, but not good enough then.

Is HG Wells hard to read? Is Orwell hard to read? Is Greene hard to read? All those are deserving of the title - not some song writer -that's what i'm thinkin'

No, they're not (though Greene can be - 'The Power and the Glory' for English Lit. 'O' level was a whole bundle of fun! ...........Not!). Some of those Russian geezers bloody well are though! There's a few others on Gwylan's list (see above) that I wouldn't really like to have to read again either!
To paraphrase the Red Flag:
"The reading list can kiss my arse
I've got my damned degree at last!"

 

[essbee]

I agree - some of that heavy Russian literature stuff wouldn't get anywhere - but in my opinion that's as bad as let's say
JK 'literary dwarf' Rowling's load of sh*t. .

 

[GT49er]

I agree - some of that heavy Russian literature stuff wouldn't get anywhere - but in my opinion that's as bad as let's say
JK 'literary dwarf' Rowling's load of sh*t. .

Eh? What's as bad as J.K.Rowling, and why?