... is awesome. His lyrics at least. His melodies are average, and his voice isn't good, but it's one that you'll recognize right away, since no one else is like it.
Anyone else a Dylan fan?
MadTheSwine73
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thomasquinn 32989
I don't agree that his melodies are not a strong point. Sure, there are plenty of Dylan songs with little melody, but they often don't need it, and then there are those songs that do have a great melody - like Simple Twist of Fate or Girl From The North Country.
MadTheSwine73
ThomasQuinn wrote: I don't agree that his melodies are not a strong point. Sure, there are plenty of Dylan songs with little melody, but they often don't need it, and then there are those songs that do have a great melody - like Simple Twist of Fate or Girl From The North Country.
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True, didn't think about those. I can't believe I forgot about GFTNC, I've listened to Freewheelin' thousands of times, literally. But, for the most part, the melodies aren't super. They aren't bad at all, don't get me wrong, but you can't say that the melodies are ever, anything close to his lyrics.
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True, didn't think about those. I can't believe I forgot about GFTNC, I've listened to Freewheelin' thousands of times, literally. But, for the most part, the melodies aren't super. They aren't bad at all, don't get me wrong, but you can't say that the melodies are ever, anything close to his lyrics.
thomasquinn 32989
Well, the thing is, folk music* has always been oriented around lyrics, much like the blues, where the object of the melody is to serve as a means of combining words with the accompaniment. As a result, most folk-melodies follow the chord-progression very tightly (this reasoning does not include some older European folk music (and consequently American styles based on it) which were monophonic and thus only had a melodic basis and did not have any kind of fixed harmony). Much of Dylan's music is inspired by the so-called "talking blues", which did not have any kind of melody to speak of. Dylan's songs are often lacking in melody the same way rap songs are: melody just isn't a part of the composition.
I do agree that Dylan's most important achievements by far are poetic. He is without a doubt the greatest poet of the 1960-1980 period, if not of the whole second half of the 20th century. Increasingly, though, my appreciation of his work as a guitarist is growing. He's done a lot more to combine various styles of folk-, blues- and jazz guitar playing than he's given credit for. In fact, I don't think rock-guitar as we know it could have existed if not for Dylan's folk-rock of the 1965-1967 period.
* When I talk about "folk music" here, I am referring to the American folk music of the first folk revival, the period between WWI and WWII.
I do agree that Dylan's most important achievements by far are poetic. He is without a doubt the greatest poet of the 1960-1980 period, if not of the whole second half of the 20th century. Increasingly, though, my appreciation of his work as a guitarist is growing. He's done a lot more to combine various styles of folk-, blues- and jazz guitar playing than he's given credit for. In fact, I don't think rock-guitar as we know it could have existed if not for Dylan's folk-rock of the 1965-1967 period.
* When I talk about "folk music" here, I am referring to the American folk music of the first folk revival, the period between WWI and WWII.
catqueen
There was a Dylan song at my dad's funeral... i dont like his voice and i hate harmonica, but i do respect him and like him a lot... his lyrics are like no other... and he is a brilliant musician
paulosham
You've got to love Bob, he's fucking amazing. My favourite album is Street Legal from 78 (I think) He's not a folk singer though. He hasn't been a folk singer since 1965
thomasquinn 32989
I disagree. His music has transformed many, many times, but at the heart of each and every Dylan-composition, there is a folk song. Quite simply because that is where he came from, and where he learned to play.
paulosham
So what you're saying is that because he started off as a folk singer he will always be a folk singer.
I don't agree, no matter though, here's my favourite performance. Go to 2:15 for some of the great white wonder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc6HcA6kEJc
I don't agree, no matter though, here's my favourite performance. Go to 2:15 for some of the great white wonder.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc6HcA6kEJc
MadTheSwine73
Bob started out as a folk singer, and then turned into a rocker. If not for him, The Beatles would have kept singing about holding hand and love songs. After the rocking years (1966-1980), he mellowed out, while becoming more of a mix between the two of them. Now, I consider Bob more of a soft rock artist. He's not folk, he's not rock, and he's not blues. He's something between the three. And by blues I mean bluesy instruments and lyrics.
thomasquinn 32989
No, what I'm saying is that the way he conceives music, its forms and purposes, and less abstract the way melodies and their melodic patterns are constructed and the way harmonies are related to tonality (such as in the use of dominant chords not natural to the scale in use, the way triads and extended chords are used, and which tonalities are preferred), are all based on a foundation of folk music.
Miles Davis started out as a jazz (more specifically bebop) trumpeter, but ventured much further into pop and hip hop music, in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the fact that his music had taken on much of the properties of popular music and hip hop, it was still undeniably jazz music, because at its heart was a jazz musician, even a bebop musician. Quite simply because the popular music had grown, in part, from his music.
With Bob Dylan, it's much the same - he has moved through all kinds of styles of music, but he gives each of these styles a folk touch. He will always compare himself to Woody Guthrie, who remains his idol. And that, I think, puts the spark of folk music into Bob Dylan's mind and his music.
Miles Davis started out as a jazz (more specifically bebop) trumpeter, but ventured much further into pop and hip hop music, in the 1970s and 1980s. Despite the fact that his music had taken on much of the properties of popular music and hip hop, it was still undeniably jazz music, because at its heart was a jazz musician, even a bebop musician. Quite simply because the popular music had grown, in part, from his music.
With Bob Dylan, it's much the same - he has moved through all kinds of styles of music, but he gives each of these styles a folk touch. He will always compare himself to Woody Guthrie, who remains his idol. And that, I think, puts the spark of folk music into Bob Dylan's mind and his music.
ms rebel 51604
Not really.
Dan C.
"The sun's not yellow, it's chicken" is one of my favorite lyrics by anyone ever.
MadTheSwine73
Ms Rebel wrote: Not really.
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I disagree. He folks. He rocks too.
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I disagree. He folks. He rocks too.
MadTheSwine73
Dan C. wrote: "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken" is one of my favorite lyrics by anyone ever.
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In-freakin'-deed
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In-freakin'-deed
thomasquinn 32989
MadTheSwine73 wrote: Dan C. wrote: "The sun's not yellow, it's chicken" is one of my favorite lyrics by anyone ever.
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In-freakin'-deed
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Thirded.
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In-freakin'-deed
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Thirded.