When I saw the headline on CNN I figured that he had won for his memoir, "Chronicles"- but I was wrong there. No, Bob Dylan was awarded a special citation from the Pulitzer prize committee for "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power." Well, hard to argue with that.
How many lines from Bob Dylan songs can you recite? What are your favorite lines? Evening's empire has vanished from Bob's hand- he is now 66 years old and cannot tell you where some of the songs came from. "Tambourine Man" is still one of my favorites. I always loved it, but I think I really did not understand it back in the day. I understand it now as a sort of love/hate salute to the creative force that animated Bob as a young man- something that was beyond his power to resist, but sometimes a harsh master. Deep stuff, personal stuff, but somehow universal.
"Like a Rolling Stone"- well that is unforgettable too. Rather than a love song, it is a sharp edged put down of the narrator's former lover. Ironic, bitter, but so memorable! Where the hell did it come from? Was it based on reality or just a daydream?
I have had the pleasure of seeing Bob perform once in my life. I have my daughter to thank for that- at age 21, she is one of his biggest fans. Well, if I did one thing right in helping to raise her it was to give her a grasp of the power of literature and art in our lives. Dylan is a national treasure, he should never die. Through his music, he never will.
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And the thought never hit
That the one road we traveled
Would ever shatter and split"
Oh mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck inside of Mobile with the
Memphis Blues again?
..........................
Businessmen they drink wine,
ploughmen dig my earth,
But not a one of them
Along the line
Knows what it is it is worth
'''''''''''''''''''
A saxophone someplace far off played
As she was walking through the arcade
Light bust through a beat-up shade
Where he (I) was waking up
She dropped a coin into the cup
Of a blind man at the gate,
And forgot about
A Simple Twist of Fate
,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
Meet me in the morning
56th and Wabashaw
Meet me in the morning
56th and Wabashaw
Honey we could be in Kansas
By the time the snow begins to thaw
---------------------------
Oh the ragman draws circles
Up and down the block
I'd ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don't talk
And the ladies treat me kindly
And furnish me with tape
But deep inside my heart
I know they can't relate
Oh, mama....
And so on. Just of the top of my head, maybe a few words wrong. I could stay up all night doing this, but I'd better not!
silhouetted by the sea" - my wife's favorite from Tambourine Man
"Though I know that evenin's empire has returned into sand,
Vanished from my hand,
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping.
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet,
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming." -I like that part too.
Rubicon, I agree that the music is integral and it is hard to ge the full impact without it.
How about that crazy staccato rap rhythm of Subterranean Homesick Blues? He invented rap there, let's face it. "Don't follow leaders, and check your parking meters". Hey, that is still great advice too.