Nothing Happens?

Poetry makes nothing happen.

There is nothing and the poem happens.

There was nothing and then something.

Poetry made Bob Dylan happen.

I can't help wishing that if they were going to give the award to a songwriter, they had picked a real poet like Leonard Cohen.

What Julie said.

Nemo

How many Dylan songs do you know by heart?

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

A lot, Mary! And Gail I love Leonard Cohen too, but Dylan's seam is richer and more varied.

I don't know if this one works particularly well on the page, but to me it is striking for the refrain. For one thing, the repeated line comes in the penultimate line of each verse/stanza instead of being the last line. (Is there a term for that? Are there poems that do this as well?). For another, it's a song in which Dylan's unique singing brings so much to the table, since on the album he phrases the refrain somewhat differently each time he comes to it, bringing a different attitude, from sadness to indignation, whenever he says it. One of Dylan's many strengths is his ability to use refrains in ways that build and change throughout the song, not just as a musical bridge or pure repetition.

Standing In The Doorway

I’m walking through the summer nights
Jukebox playing low
Yesterday everything was going too fast
Today, it’s moving too slow
....I got no place left to turn
....I got nothing left to burn
Don’t know if I saw you, if I would kiss you or kill you
It probably wouldn’t matter to you anyhow
You left me standing in the doorway, crying
I got nothing to go back to now

The light in this place is so bad
Making me sick in the head
All the laughter is just making me sad
The stars have turned cherry red
....I’m strumming on my gay guitar
....Smoking a cheap cigar
The ghost of our old love has not gone away
Don’t look like it will anytime soon
You left me standing in the doorway crying
Under the midnight moon

Maybe they’ll get me and maybe they won’t
But not tonight and it won’t be here
There are things I could say but I don’t
I know the mercy of God must be near
.... I’ve been riding the midnight train
....Got ice water in my veins
I would be crazy if I took you back
It would go up against every rule
You left me standing in the doorway, crying
Suffering like a fool

When the last rays of daylight go down
Buddy, you’ll roll no more
I can hear the church bells ringing in the yard
I wonder who they’re ringing for
.... I know I can’t win
....But my heart just won’t give in
Last night I danced with a stranger
But she just reminded me you were the one
You left me standing in the doorway crying
In the dark land of the sun

I’ll eat when I’m hungry, drink when I’m dry
And live my life on the square
And even if the flesh falls off of my face
I know someone will be there to care
....It always means so much
....Even the softest touch
I see nothing to be gained by any explanation
There are no words that need to be said
You left me standing in the doorway crying
Blues wrapped around my head

And to further demonstrate his range, this lovely and simple song:

IF NOT FOR YOU

If not for you
Babe, I couldn’t find the door
Couldn’t even see the floor
I’d be sad and blue
If not for you

If not for you
Babe, I’d lay awake all night
Wait for the mornin’ light
To shine in through
But it would not be new
If not for you

If not for you
My sky would fall
Rain would gather too
Without your love I’d be nowhere at all
I’d be lost if not for you
And you know it’s true

If not for you
My sky would fall
Rain would gather too
Without your love I’d be nowhere at all
Oh! what would I do
If not for you

If not for you
Winter would have no spring
Couldn’t hear the robin sing
I just wouldn’t have a clue
Anyway it wouldn’t ring true
If not for you

Hey Roger,

You've mentioned a few times on this thread about Dylan's voice, and I keep meaning to add my agreement. I too love the quality of his new 'old' voice, since Time Out of Mind I suppose. I can't listen to him sing:

I been to sugar town/I shook the sugar down

or

I was thinkin' about the things that Rosie said/I was dreamin' I was sleeping in Rosie's bed

without welling up a little bit. And if I've had a little glass of something, well...I'm ready for the broom as the man once said.

Edit: and New Morning is such a lovely underrated album. Winterlude never fails to cheer me up!

That Sugar Town line bowled me over the first time I heard it, though it didn't really fade after that. The whole song is pretty amazing, one of the more genuinely moving songs he has written.

PS--
I generally prefer Dylan's versions to the covers, but here's a cover that I might prefer to Dylan's, and it's in a more standard and smooth voice.

Leonard Bernstein was ahead of the curve in suggesting that pop music was art. This documentary includes about 15 minutes of music criticism (starting about 5 minutes in) arguing for the seriousness of late-sixties pop. Dylan gets a couple mentions, for the melody of "Mr. Tambourine Man" and for his lyrics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afU76JJcquI