The first paragraph of the NYT article is:
The title of Bob Dylan’s latest book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” is, in a sense, misleading. A collection of brief essays on 65 songs (and one poem), it is less a rigorous study of craft than a series of rhapsodic observations on what gives great songs their power to fascinate us.
Who's writing that? The article has the byline Bob Dylan, so you might be deceived into thinking that's Bob using the third person for fun and calling his own title "misleading." But after the first 6 paragraphs, you'll see the named of the NYT writer Ben Sisario.
Only after that point are we reading Bob Dylan, in what are excerpts from the book, which is, apparently, what he wants to say about this and that song and not a treatise on "philosophy."
The use of "philosophy" calls to mind "The Philosophy of Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again." It's not really philosophy.
It sounds a bit like the narrative parts of Bob's old "Theme Time" radio show. I will definitely read this book when it comes out on November 1st. You can buy it here (and by using that link make a contribution to this blog).
Click on the link to the NYT article to read much more from Bob and to listen to some audio. For example, from the essay on "Strangers in the Night":
Intruders, oddballs, kooks, and villains, in this gloomy lifeless dark, fight for space. Two rootless alienated people, withdrawn and isolated, opened the door to each other, said Aloha, Howdy, How you doing, and Good Evening. How could you have known that the smooching and petting, eros and adoration was just one break down mambo hustle away — one far sided google eyed look and a lusty leer — that ever since then, that moment of truth, you’ve been steamed up, head over heels, each other’s hearts’ desire. Sweethearts and honeys right from the beginning. Right from the inaugural sidelong sneak peek, the origin — the starting point. Now you’re yoked together, one flesh in perpetuity — into the vast eternity — immortalized.
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18 comments:
David Lynch: "I like the image of a dark road."
Not David Lynch
Glad to see that Bob is still a teenager.
That Warhol book is a big favorite of mine. I truly love the style in which it was written. It’s kind of blogging before blogs, when you think about it.
I guess you could be confused if you were a first time reader of the NY Times.
Dylan is overrated. Can't sing worth a damn.
Testing
Andrew, are you new here? That was really rude.
Dylan wonderful poet, singing debatable and guitar playing like his singing. He "nostralizes" all the way to the bank. Just my opinion of which I'm sure he doesn't care about. :)
>>Andrew said...
Dylan is overrated. Can't sing worth a damn.<<
Oh god, here we go yet again of course with the "Dylan can't sing."
Katy Perry, Madonna, Rihanna, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Joe Cocker - none of them can/could sing worth a damn. Hell, Sinatra sang flat half the time. Hard to say any of them are/were overrated.
You are of course certainly entitled to think Dylan is overrated, for whatever reason you see. But your ignorance of Bob Dylan, in thinking that it is about the singing, suggests that your rating ideas don't hold much water.
Andrew said...
Dylan is overrated. Can't sing worth a damn.
Some people love it.
Meanwhile... back in the jungle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_bpXhUavGY
Some people like it nice... and rough
Lol, lighten up, people. I was just having fun with Ann. I've been reading her blog since at least 2005. Maybe I'm lousy at trolling.
"You say I let you down; you know its not like that."
My favorite Dylan song, by the way, is "Most of the Time." As is often the case, his unusual voice enhances the song. No one else could sing it with the same impact.
I apologize profusely to those who I've offended, and even harmed. I am deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused. I pledge to learn from my mistakes, as I continue my life journey.
Dylan is overrated. Can't sing worth a damn.
Louis Armstrong says you're full of shit.
Dylan's riff on Strangers in the Night spoken in his own voice sounds like poetry. If you read it, though, your eyes glaze over....He makes some common sense observations about the Who's My Generation...Me, I'm just as glad I didn't die before I got old. Keith Moon would probably agree with me, but he can't, as they say, be reached for comment.
I swore off new Bob about 10 years ago when I went to one of his shows and only recognized one song and that only by happenstance. Understanding that this is a literary effort doesn't lift that ban. I'm 70, my event horizon has shortened appreciably and Bob will just have to stay where Bob was for me. Im glad we had a great life together.
"I apologize profusely to those who I've offended, and even harmed. I am deeply sorry for the pain that I have caused. I pledge to learn from my mistakes, as I continue my life journey."
Hah!
Well done.
>Andrew said...
Lol, lighten up, people. I was just having fun with Ann. I've been reading her blog since at least 2005. Maybe I'm lousy at trolling.<
Yeah, I think that might be it. Trolling is like telling a joke - if you have to explain it, you have failed. Trolling requires that there be at least just a teeny tiny hint that that is what you are doing, to be effective - otherwise it is just another dumb internet statement. Wait, "causing us pain", heh. Now you're getting the idea!
"if you have to explain it, you have failed"
But there could be legions who got it, who saw no reason to comment about the little joke. I suspect that's true in this instance.
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