I don't "get" Bob Dylan

I'm familiar with a lot of his music and like some of his songs. My favorite is Lay Lady Lay. I also like that song Hurricane. It's way too long but that's kind of one of the cool things about it.

I can respect his influence on popular music, however, knowing how passionately a lot of people like his stuff, I feel like I'm just missing something. I just can't really get that into him.

Maybe it's his humorless image. Not sure.

If you feel like you can sway me, by all means, give it a shot.

don't bother

there's nothing to get

I didn't get him until I was 33.

  On 6/11/2012 at 7:34 PM, jefferoo said:

I'm familiar with a lot of his music and like some of his songs. My favorite is Lay Lady Lay. I also like that song Hurricane. It's way too long but that's kind of one of the cool things about it.

 

I can respect his influence on popular music, however, knowing how passionately a lot of people like his stuff, I feel like I'm just missing something. I just can't really get that into him.

Maybe it's his humorless image. Not sure.

 

If you feel like you can sway me, by all means, give it a shot.

I love Bob, but I felt exactly as you do until I saw No Direction Home (the Scorcese documentary). That movie really made me "get it".

By the way Bob isn't humorless at all. Very much the opposite! He has a very wry, pointed sense of humor. I suggest checking out the movie as it also has some hilarious moments, in addition to great performances and a good general sense of 60s insanity.

  On 6/11/2012 at 7:46 PM, psn said:

I didn't get him until I was 33.

My age. Hhmmmm??

I can understand anyone hating him, he sounds like a wretched goat!!!

However my first experience of Bob was a wise choice, and it was one of those moments that blew me away. What track? Masters of War.

Remember you don't listen to Dylan for melodies or great music moments. It's all about the words...

  On 6/11/2012 at 8:52 PM, beerwolf said:

Remember you don't listen to Dylan for melodies or great music moments. It's all about the words...

Kind of like Ol Dirty Bastard?

  On 6/11/2012 at 7:34 PM, jefferoo said:

I can respect his influence on popular music, however, knowing how passionately a lot of people like his stuff, I feel like I'm just missing something. I just can't really get that into him.

Same here. I actually find his interviews, especially in his heyday, far more entertaining than his music. That's primary what convinced me of his cleverness as an artist.

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But I can't get into him either. There should be no obligation to. Most people who love Dylan usually gravitate to singer-songwriters, folk music, etc. That's just not music I ever really want to listen to personally, with few exceptions, and even then I have to be in the right mood.

I feel like I really dig the whole folk/singer/songwriter thing.

I would just rather listen to Leonard Cohen, Arlo Guthrie or Donovan.

no fuckin god or genius, just a bad voice with good folk compositions. i prefer neil young & leonard cohen...

  On 6/11/2012 at 9:14 PM, nowyouknow said:

no fuckin god or genius, just a bad voice with good folk compositions. i prefer neil young & leonard cohen...

Yeah. I forgot to mention Neil Young. He's cool.

Same here.

I like the Nashville Skyline album (when he briefly stopped smoking).

I also like the mythology and stories behind him.

I certainly like tons of music that he inspired too.

But I just never sit down and listen to him for enjoyment like my favorite music.

i think it's absolutely fine to not 'get' bob dylan. most of the acclaim he gets is from critics with one leg in literature or poetry and the other in music. he's a much better lyricist than he is a musician. the music tends to be a vehicle for the lyrics and most of the time wouldn't be worthy of scrutiny by itself.

neil young, however, is pretty fucking awesome.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAdtUDaBfRA

dat riff. the handclaps! ...and the one-note guitar solo might be my favourite solo ever.

this one too.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoA5cqDSasM

EVERYTHING about it, but again especially that uber-minimal solo that just slurs and fuckin *aches* everywhere.

the cover version by low is also amazing

speaking of neil young, this has my favorite guitar solo ever:

[youtubehd]CKgj1FNToWY[/youtubehd]

3:04-3:20 is so good

I went to a Bob Dylan concert once (not by choice). He was playing this song and I couldn't understand a word he was saying...turns out, he was just introducing the band members for like 15 minutes. What a nightmare. I hate Bob Dylan.

someone should have handed bob dylan a lyric sheet for 'masters of war' when he was here

either hes now senile, or forgot the lyrics to his own song

Haven't heard much BoDyl but every Neil Young song I've heard has been like whooooaaaa & I need to get on getting that man's albums

  On 6/11/2012 at 9:14 PM, nowyouknow said:

no fuckin god or genius, just a bad voice with good folk compositions. i prefer neil young & leonard cohen...

Now you (dont) know, what you're talking about.

classic

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBebxm87Lus

  On 6/11/2012 at 10:50 PM, zaphod said:

speaking of neil young, this has my favorite guitar solo ever:

 

[youtubehd]CKgj1FNToWY[/youtubehd]

 

3:04-3:20 is so good

Phenomenal album.

  On 6/11/2012 at 10:54 PM, Awepittance said:

someone should have handed bob dylan a lyric sheet for 'masters of war' when he was here

 

 

 

either hes now senile, or forgot the lyrics to his own song

blah blah obama is bad. seriously. get a new schtick.

OP, Listen to Nashville Skyline and call me in the morning.

real fucking talk, you cunts

got really into dylan last year after always thinking he sucked but you cant "sway" somebodys opinion about music + stuff. it either clicks with you or it dosent. Certainly thought it sucked for a loing time. Also i dont buy into that "its all about the words" stuff for me it was more about how he delivered the words over the musical backing or something, more than the actual words themselves, just has a nice feel of like "FREEEDOM" or something. so like all the music i liked its more about the feel of it than what the actualy content is but in the best cases you can thuink about it too if you want. but overall if you dont relate to it then you wont like it probably, its not really like an intellectual exercise or sometyhing you could learn . definetly isnt humourless anyway.

anyways dont listen to his shit nowadays (or much of anything else for that matter) but still think he did some cool shit + will probably come back to it in the future at some point

Les Allemands e'taient chez moi, ils me dirent, "Signe toi," mais je n'ai pas peur;

j'ai repris mon arme. J'ai change' cent fois de nom, j'ai perdu femme et enfants;

mais j'ai tant d'amis; j'ai la France entie`re. Un vieil homme dans un grenier pour la nuit nous a cache',

les Allemands l'ont pris; il est mort sans surprise.

i think nobody really gets dylan, its just that pople don't want to explain themselves to other people who do the same and it's all a chain of misunderstanding that made dylan a millionaire with grammys.