Winds of Change

Time changes everything except something within us which is always surprised by change.
– Thomas Hardy

I know you think I’m going to talk about Bob Dylan – but I’m not – because he’s not. But there is a lot of debris “Blowin’ in the Wind” surrounding the announcement from the Swedish Academy of Dylan’s five decade creative contribution to the world. If you find Dylan’s genre crossover “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition” an odd choice for the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, you might consider the irony of Alfred Nobel’s premature obituary published in 1888. Mortified by the prospect of being remembered as the merchant of death for his invention of dynamite and profiting from the sale of arms, Nobel decided to bequeath his fortune to the establishment of “prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit to mankind.” Prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology and/or Medicine, Literature and Peace.

The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.
– Alan Watts

If Alfred Nobel can establish peace from deadly explosives, surely Dylan should be honored for upending tradition and extending the boundaries. “The Times They Are A- Changin’…” In 1986 the first African to be honored in the category of Literature, Wole Soyinka writes: The writer is the visionary of his people… He anticipates, he warns. Such is the mission of the artist. And for those who frown on Dylan’s silence, let’s remember Jean Paul Sartre, the 1964 Literature recipient who rejected the prize “from a belief that no writer should allow him or herself to be tied to an official institution.” Sartre received the award, “For his work which, rich in ideas and filled with the spirit of freedom and the quest for truth, has exerted a far-reaching influence on our age.” And to stay true to himself, he turned it down.

But the ultimate lesson is just sit down and write. That’s all.
– Wole Soyinka

Inspired by the poetry of John Keats and Arthur Rimbaud (and taking his last name from the poet Dylan Thomas) the gravelly voice singer/songwriter delivered enduring lyrics from the confessional to political protest anthems, to hallucinatory stream of consciousness narratives. And so far, cryptic Dylan’s only acknowledgments of the honor may be the choice of closing number for his recent Desert Trip concert, “Why Try to Change Me Now” and a footnote on his website Winner of the Nobel Prize posted almost a week after the win – and removed two days later. But for those who protest the Literature prize should not go to a poet/musician, what about the 1913 recipient, poet/musician/novelist Rabindranath Tagore? The first non-European to win the award, Tagore reshaped Bengali literature and music.

While I find this year’s Nobel Prize for Literature choice not nearly as confounding as Dylan often likes to be, what I do find astounding relates to mathematical equations. If women make up approximately 50% of the world’s population, in the 115-year history of the Nobel Prize (in all categories) how is it that 833 men have received the prestigious prize while only 49 women have been honored? Wow! “Lay Lady Lay”…

People don’t want to see women doing things they don’t think women should do.
– Joan Jett

By the way this famous Dylan ode “Lay Lady Lay” (one of my favorites) written for the soundtrack of Midnight Cowboy did not make it in time for the finished film. And his next biggest hit, “Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door”, the soundtrack for Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, also launched his acting career in 1972. In addition to 13 Grammy wins and 26 nominations, an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for Best Original Song, 6 Recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a special Grammy award to honor recordings that are at least twenty-five years old, and that have “qualitative or historical significance,” Dylan has received Honorary Doctorates from Princeton University, New Jersey and St. Andrews University, Scotland.

But no, I’m not talking about Bob Dylan – because he’s not. I’m talking about the poetry of lyrics and the lyrical poets. I’m talking about the creative dynamic, the dynamics of creativity, the courage to experiment ­– the slipping and sliding of boundaries. I’m talking about the fickle winds that blow yet following your vision. I’m talking about remaining true to one’s self. 

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind
Yes, and…

 

SELECTED LYRICS
by Bob Dylan  

Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door 1973
Don’t Think Twice (It’s Alright) 1963
Maggie’s Farm 1965
Desolation Row 1965
Just Like A Woman 1966
Lay Lady Lay 1969
A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall 1963
One More Cup of Coffee 1975
The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll 1963
The Times They Are A-Changin’ 1963
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right 1963
Long and Wasted Years 2012
The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest 1967
My Back Pages 1964
Not Dark Yet 1997
Working Man Blues No. 2 2006
Mr. Tambourine Man 1965
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands 1966
Leopard-Skin Pill-Box Hat 1966
Idiot Wind 1974
Make You Feel My Love 1997
Hurricane 1975
It Ain’t Me Babe 1964
Highway 61 Revisited 1965
Positively 4^th Street 1965
Visions of Johanna 1965
You’re A Big Girl Now 1974
Masters of War 1963
It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding) 1965
Subterranean Homesick Blues 1965
Like A Rolling Stone 1965
Blowin’ in the Wind 1963

 

SELECTED HONORS AND AWARDS

Tom Paine Award
Songwriters Hall of Fame
The Dorothy and Lillian Gish Prize
Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres
Kennedy Center Honors
Polar Music Prize
Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame
Prince of Asturias Award
Pulitzer Prize Special Citations and Awards
National Medal of Arts
Presidential Medal of Freedom
Officier de la Legion d’honneur

The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame inducted Bob Dylan as Performer in 1988 and listed
5 Songs by Bob Dylan of the 500 songs that shaped Rock n’ Roll

Photos by Kari Kliman