People are crazy and times are strange - best lyricist ever, Bob Dylan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L9EKqQWPjyo&ob=av2e

....
People are crazy and times are strange I'm locked in tight, I'm out of range I used to care, but things have changed
....




Dylan is really the man, I mean who writes today so great, full of wisdom, powerful lyrics ??? nobody.

offnote



who writes today so great, full of wisdom, powerful lyrics ??? nobody.

Justin Currie, for one.

Plus;

Elvis Costello
Marc Cohn
John Hiatt
Nick Lowe
Tom Waits
Mark Knopfler

offnote

jamesg1213

offnote



who writes today so great, full of wisdom, powerful lyrics ??? nobody.

Justin Currie, for one.

Plus;

Elvis Costello
Marc Cohn
John Hiatt
Nick Lowe
Tom Waits
Mark Knopfler

it was rhetorical question.

OK, mine was a rhetorical answer then.

My hair is wet they wonder why, maybe its because rain fell from the sky!
They say why did I go outside, my heart replies, so I could hide the tears I cried!

Yes we still writing good lyrics!

Written and composed by Flywheel!

Sporange. Look it up.


Randy

If he thought people were crazy and times were strange back then, what the heck would he think NOW???

craigb


If he thought people were crazy and times were strange back then, what the heck would he think NOW???

that's the beauty of his lyrics, they hold the truth at any time.

Orange you glad you asked?

Burple. It's what happens after you've eaten Lavender too fast. Probably shouldn't look it up.


Randy

Hi,

By the time he's gone for a few years, I think that he will finally get some credit as a poet, rather than a song writer.

There are times when his reading of the material he writes throws people off ... and she knows what she needs and I know what she wants ... and the reading is not as strong, but when you listen to it ... with the sarcasm, or editorial plain visible, it is even better.
 
The "beat poets" are all like this ... reading Allen Ginsburg is "boring" ... but when you listen to him delivering it ... it's a totally different experience, and this is what "poetry" is about. But Bob, himself, might not say it's a poem ... I don't think that he "thinks" in terms of poem, or song ... I think that he just writes, stream of consciousness like, and might or might not add music to it later ... if ever!

Rock music, in general has not been a good place for poetry and the majority of the folks and fans are so worried about the fan side of things that they ignore the words and the poetry behind it ... the same thing happened to The Doors and many others ... when people just don't know what it all means and the lyrics are silly, pathetic, or obvious ... and supposedly mean something.

For my tastes, the best poets in rock today are Dylan, Roy Harper and Peter Hammill ... all three of these share some striking similarities ... they just go with the words and the music be damned sometimes ... and that is not something that most "rock fans" can appreciate ... but when you read the material itself ... yeah it stands out ... but we're too enthralled with the fan thing ... that a person like myself or others defending "poetry" leaves Bapu to make a one word statement ... like "FU" because it isn't funny ... and everyone else saying that I'm stuck up ...

It's not about me .... but as I say all the time there is something else out there that most of the rock'n'roll'rs playing with DAW's are not abel/willing/capable of listening to and learning from and as such the quality of their own ability and music will suffer and not get the individuality that it needs and deserves to stand up.

In the end ... it's about who you are ... or wanna be when you look at the mirror and ... Mosh's words are always making that effort ... not trying to change you for the worst or the better ... he has been next to very high literary standards that were also off-kilter in the other direction ... and I didn't like it either ... but at least I am being honest wiht an appraisal here ...

There is beauty out there ... how much more "visible" do you want to make it? Remember this is about you, not your ideas ... because ideas don't always make it anywhere ...

jamesg1213


Now, I like most of those listed, but you know, there is more music out there than early 1970's progressive rock. I think it's you that needs to broaden his horizons.

As for Dylan 'finally get some credit as a poet', he's been worshipped by his fans and the music press for decades and had his lyrics pored over, analyzed and written about ad infinitum by dozens of writers.

What you are failing to connect is that I am also discussing and mentioning a heck of a lot of other literature and music and other arts (specially film and theater), that most "rock fans" audience does nto appreciate, understand or can see a connection.
 
Same thing with me stating that Greg Lake does not "sing" (per se - conventionally) in KC or ELP for the most part and concentrates on the expression and poetic depth of the words to add an accent to it ... which he played tribute to Bob Dylan with on his first solo album!
 
Same with Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Tom Waits, Lou Redbone ... Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya ... I can continue ... but I imagine that you won't like it.
 
Not all "artists" are connected with the "world" and I do not look at Crosby, Stills and Nash or Joni Mitchel or Gordon Lightfoote as any lesser poets than anyone else ... with one exception ... I say it from a writing and poetry perspective, and this is the part that "musicians" do not like to hear if it makes them feel inferior or less knowledgable. I can't help that ... I'm not trying to make people feel inferior ... I'm simply showing that there is a lot more out there ... that we ALL do not check out to see/know how different these things are and can be ...
 
Ohh, you can also check out the live poetry readings by many people ... from Dylan Thomas to TS Elliot, and some others ... it's really different and there is a reason why these folks are remembered and it is not just a guitar lick!
 
And I happen to think that Bob is an American poet that will never be recognized because of the rock press and its lack of appreciation for the history of the "word" (so to speak) ... because they are so enamored with the cocks, the guitars and the **** around it. Bob Dylan is probably the greatest and best American poet of the 20th century ... but I don't think that folks will give a damn until 100 years from now! Doesn't mean I like how he uses music with his words ... others can do better ... but the wording is very good and then some.

Just put a clothes pin on your nose and you too can sing like Dylan. 

Just trying to be helpful



After all.... who among us hasn't wanted to sing like Dylan? 



or Willie Nelson? 

Hi,

-->> Sorry to be blunt, but 'says who?' You're making a lot of assumptions there. If you substitute 'most' for 'some', I wouldn't be arguing. <<--

Point well taken.  

-->> I don't agree. Lake sings very conventionally, always has done. If you want to hear someone singing unconventionally, try Elizabeth Fraser from the Cocteau Twins. She even made up her own language. <<--

So did Magma and Lisa Garrard and ohhh boy .. now I have to list a number of Hindu and Eastern singers that only use sounds and I still think that "feelings" sometimes come through a lot better than words themselves.

-->> How do you know what I would or wouldn't like? I'm a huge Tom Waits fan. Cohen..not so much. <<--

Okkk .. my bad ... you alredy gave me the 50 lashes. 

-->> Again, you're assuming I have no knowledge of literature or poetry..which I do. You're also assuming that musicians have no knowledge of any other aspect of the arts..which is bizarre. <<--

I didn't mean it to sound like that ... what was meant is that more often than not, you can listen to some of the things that folks do here, and it still sounds like a conventional song with a conventional design with a conventional chorus with a conventional ... and the mark of art history is? ... you got it ... change all that, scramble it and do somethign different. And that is the reason why folks like Bob will be remembered.

Can I ask why rock'n'rollers appear to be so affectionate with one "style" (rock'n'roll, blues, jazz, etc) ... and then when I say something about that, the replies make me feel I don't listen to these things, and you know I do ... is there any music "style" out there that you have not had me mention or dislike? ... you'll be hard pressed to find one, because I like "music" ... and it has nothing to do with styles ... it has to do with the person on it and behind it! There is a massive difference.

-->> Again, I think you're wrong. Ever since I started buying music papers and mags in the early '70's there have been endless discussions about Dylan's lyrics as poetry. <<--

I came to America in 1965 (or 66 ... can't remember .. have to look at that Green Card again)  and all the way through the early 70's in Madison, the only people that liked Bob were us .. the young ones. We could relate. And my dad, who spent a lot of his life translating American authors into Portuguese for schools, with the likes of Steinbeck, Pound, Hemingway, and many others coming and going all the time ... did not think that Bob was good, and my dad even used the words "pedestrian" ... for which I nailed his asssss to the wall for being a pretentious bastard and ellitist ... already in those days, 40 years ago, I was fighting for folks like Bob ... and the other issue, and it is not new, and it is even mentioned in Patti Smith's book ... why can't you Americans respect the poets you have ... and I didn't write that ...

A lot of those "discussions" on Rolling Stone (my favorite pick because Gonzo was a turkey too stoned to know the difference!) are not about "poetry" ... they are about idol'izing the star ... and yeah ... I guess that we have to suck up to Lady Gaga or Bob Gugu once in a while, but it does not help/teach people understand the work ... to help illustrate it better.

Even the first house I came in, and it was the same day we arrived, October 15th, what album was playing ... ??? Blonde on Blonde ... and I have to tell you that is probably one of the single greatest influences I have ever had in my life.

Greg Lake ... when you listen to Epitath, or The Endless Enigma, listen to where he accentuates things with the words ... which is more like a poet expressing himself than "singing a rock song" (so to speak!) ... and it is the accents in these pieces (as an example -- many others in their albums) that help identify moments in the music ... with various small moments ... like gun/bullet ... stop ... single snare drum hit! ... to help illustrate and add strength to the lyrics.  But maybe this is the part that I consider "theatrical" that helps make the music more important for me ... and that was one of the things I really liked about Greg singing ... doesn't mean he wasn't in key or didn't know how to sing ... he DOES.

...james, ol pal...great minds think alike.  I've recently been working on an arrangement of Wichita Lineman and critically thinking about it and it's structure.  Whether by sheer luck or skilled craftsmanship (or both) Jimmy Webb managed to break out of his usual completely obtuse dunderheadedness and come up with something freakishly original.  Do yourself a favor and go to YouTube and listen to the scores of covers (even one by Sammy Davis Jr!!!)...very interesting.

Plus one to your point about the best writing being the most economical.  Great writers say more with less.  It's still hard to beat Ernest Hemingway's six word short story:  For sale.  Baby shoes.  Never worn.