The Philosophy of Modern Song

I love this book and happy to have it and read every day a little bit. I read Chronicles many times. It feels so good to read anything from Bob Dylan. I waited by his bus and attended his concert this year in Portland Oregon and it felt so good. He was right in front of my eyes, his hair looked so good! I thought I snapped a short video of him getting in the concert building but when I got home I realized I filmed the ground only. One guard came towards me and I don't know what happened but I have no movie. It's actually my second encounter with Bob Dylan up close but first time was accidental. It was a few years back when he was again in concert in Portland. At encore when all people were standing, clapping asking for more songs, I thought it was a good opportunity for me to get out of the building first, so I walked out at the first door. In the street right in front of my eyes was Bob Dylan rushing in his bus. He was not inside responding to encore he was outside rushing in his bus. That's where I learned about the bus. Anyway I don't know how this person can feel so good but I'm so lucky to be contemporary with Bob Dylan. I love this man with all my heart. Edited: So, I finished reading the book. It's like everything Bob Dylan: liberating, cool, gutsy, full of appetite for life. So inspirational. He still has it! And I finished reading the book the 2nd time. This book is a masterpiece. He freestyles. Pulls in, combines cool words, exciting characters, songs, stories, his emotions, different ideas, his wisdom, solutions, beautiful places, fantasy, reality, interactions between characters, and does it all with deep sensitivity, wisdom and unmatched style for 300+ pages. Must be fun doing this kind of dreaming. He touches the core of reality as it is, goes to the core of how he feels, is way cool, is successful and I relate to all that. He's one of the very few people who walks this earth that I can like and tolerate. There are people who understand reality as it is and are tough, they may not feel that much. I tolerate them well, they offer me sweet relief from my own emotionality. I work in tough industries and they build my houses, build my apps. Then there are people who have no clue what reality is. Emotional, stylish or not, I can't stand them. They are a pain with every interaction. And there are people I neither like nor dislike. I don’t see them at all. I read somewhere that you can consider yourself lucky if you find one single person that inspires you. Well, so far I found Bob Dylan and nothing else. I’ve always felt lucky for sure. In this book Bob Dylan plays on all sides. I barely can play on the side I can see with my eyes. I’m a bum blank in my head but at least I see well. I've been sitting at the feet of Master Bob Dylan trying to see how to walk from where I am to where I want to go as effective as I can without hurting myself. I'm hopeful that if he made it (like in making a good living) I can make it too. I like that he puts himself out there, can communicate and has so much to give. Many of us, simple people, non-mainstream, unrepressed, bored to tears, drinking too much, roaming too much, can relate to him and take what he gives with both hands. From the list of songs I only looked up one song and a half. It's too hard. I like and trust what Bob Dylan picks and chews and I eat all. I like everything, everything he gives. I'm happy and well-nourished. How not to like a person so lovable, who vibrates with life, fun, interesting, precise, true to himself, fearless like crazy, so precious and who benefits me.

This book was an enjoyable education to explore. Whether I knew the song or not, I approached the book by reading the text first and then listening to the song via computer. Sometimes, I repeated the process. The insights are valid (of course they are -- it's the great Bob Dylan) and the writing is sharp and entertaining. I love the book and will most likely start the exploration all over again.

This book tells us more about Dylan than songs. It is entertaining and informative in sections, but it can also be a bit frustrating. I guess you could say the same about many of his songs. They fascinate you and excite you, but if you study them too closely the substance unravels. That is a point our friend Bob makes more than once on this ride through popular songs from the 20th century for the most part. The one standout from the 19th century is Stephen Foster's Nelly Was a Lady. Dylan didn't pick the greatest songs of all time, nor did he necessarily just include his personal favorites. He uses this hodgepodge of musical offerings to illustrate certain points he wants to make. He reveals his octogenarian views in some of his lectures and he surely will offend some readers with expressions and attitudes that may seem a little out place in this century. But, as has always been the case with Dylan, you have to take it or leave it. He is who he is and he is not a simple man. He is a genius and, as such, he is worth the time and struggle any reader might have. This is a very short book, loaded with illustrations and old photos, some of which are strangely entertaining. His thoughts about little Richard's Long Tall Sally amount to less than half a page. His examination of Frank Sinatra is 1966 hit Strangers in the Night takes up a few pages and reveals a fascinating story about the men who wrote the melody and the lyrics. The little tidbits of trivia are fun to read and often illustrate what makes a song memorable. Dylan fans will eat all of this up, others may not. I am a Dylan fan, so I loved it.

Dylan gets inside 66 essential popular American recorded songs...a true historian of American song. Clearly a labor of love and very entertaining. Spans decades and genres. His reactions are aimed to pull you into whats going on in each piece...from Volare to Viva Las Vegas , Your Cheating Heart to London Calling. No one else could pull this off.

It’s a look inside to the insight and imagination of “one” Bob Dylan. Mr. Dylan is his own encyclopedic knowledge of the “song”. It’s not much of a secret - but the man has listened “well” and focused intimately to the lyric, the moment in time and the origins of “The Song”. At times his recounting of the period, the context and content of the material he is describing is “poetic prose” or a channeled Kerouac, Burroughs, Ginsberg rift on space, time and place. Dylan un -mask. Dylan invites the readers mind to hop on the bus, take a ride and listen, sing, reflect and enjoy the “ from between the line emergence of the poetic” , while soaking in the intimate insights of poet, singer, thespian, pilgrim, preacher and carny that this busy, respectful and passionate ( generously gifted ) artist has to share. It is why Dylan is Dylan - he is hardworking, ever curious and willing to expose his insights honestly. Brave man, great visionary - one can hear him humming the tunes while pecking on an old typewriter, smiling guilefully.

If you like Philosophy and you like Bob Dylan, you'll most likely love this book. It's an incredible history and an analysis of many of the popular songs that influenced Dylan's work. I always enjoy reading books that include some of the people or artists I've had the chance to meet and work with over the years. Dylan does not disappoint. He goes into the meanings behind many popular songs that influenced him. Wonderful.

“Like any piece of art, songs are not seeking to be understood,” is a surprising quote from a book about the philosophy of song. But Bob Dylan is not writing philosophy. He wants to make you re-experience a song, an era, an emotion. As he puts it, “Music is timeless; a thing with which to make memories and the memory itself.” So the selection is not from the one hundred most popular songs of all time, or even the best. It’s simply his riffs on songs he experienced as art. And so he tells you what a song feels like for him; not what it means but what it evokes; not what you’re supposed to feel but the whole gamut of what you could. Obviously, personal riffs on songs that expand to riffs on the 60s, that expand to riffs on life are more interesting if you’re already a Dylan fan. They’re even more interesting if you want to reincarnate memories from having heard these songs long ago. But anyone with a curious mind can find something to learn from a living legend. And given the author’s persona it’s not surprising that the book tilts heavily towards celebrating outlaws, misfits and the downtrodden. One may wonder if he couldn’t find something redeeming to say about authority. But anything else probably wouldn’t be authentically Dylan. An unsurprisingly well written book by one of the most unusual Nobel Laureates. Fans, music lovers and devotees of 60s counterculture will all find that Dylan has a lot of interesting things to say. But anyone can widen what they see in the rear view mirror by reading it. Highly recommended.

This is an odd book. Dylan obviously has a broad and deep understanding of “modern” music (although there are many examples from the 50s and 60s). His analyses and critiques are, well, Bobish and often quite insightful. I just can’t wrap my head around the choice of songs. It seems completely random. It’s as if he had a long list of songs he liked, threw them up in the air, and picked enough at random to result in a reasonably sized book. It may have been a more effective book if he had thought about and picked songs that actually did have a big influence on modern music. A few that he picked may fall into this category, but only a few. The book as-is is a bit of a waste of Dylan’s knowledge and insights. Just don’t expect a consistent theme or analysis. Having said that, I still enjoyed it.