Was Dylan The Best Lyricist Of All Time?

JimOfOakCreek

JimOfOakCreek

Audioholic Intern
I admit to being a huge Bob Dylan so I am biased. But I believe Dylan wrote some of the best lyrics that have EVER been written. Has anyone just read the lyrics to "All Along The Watch Tower"? No musical accompanyment, just read the words to the song. It reminds me of Robert Blake.

When Dylan was asked, "Do you consider yourself a poet or a song writer?", he laughed, "I consider myself a song and dance man"!
 
L

Leprkon

Audioholic General
best (and most true) lyrics ever written come from Bruce Springsteen in the song "Tunnel of Love"

well the house gets haunted
and the ride gets rough
you gotta learn to live with
what you can't rise above
if you want to ride on down
down into this Tunnel of Love
 
B

bobman1235

Audioholic Intern
hahahaha

I'm sorry, you're comparing a Bruce Springsteen song to BOB DYLAN?? Hahahaha. I'll admit that some schmoes come out with some good lines once ina while, but you're talking OVERALL LYRICISTS here, not one good lyric that you happen to like.

Anyways, I agree with the original post, Dylan's scary good when it comes to lyrics. Some of his songs are like stories that are as good as listening to any short story out there - the man could say more with fewer words than anyone.
 
L

Leprkon

Audioholic General
bobman1235 said:
the man could say more with fewer words than anyone.
He HAD too... he can only PRONOUNCE fewer words than anyone !!!!
 
Shadow_Ferret

Shadow_Ferret

Audioholic Chief
Personally, I've never cared for Dylan musically and never understood his lyrics or why people thought they were so great. "All Along the Watchtower" is a good example of lyrics that are just non-sensical to me.
 
M

MDS

Audioholic Spartan
Great lyricist, lousy singer. All Along the Watchtower is a great example of a song better done by someone other than the original writer.

If the words are non-sensical or unappealing to you that is ok. Music affects each of us differently and we each interpret the meaning of a song differently too. It's been more than 30 years and people are still debating what 'Stairway to Heaven' is really about. That's what makes music great.
 
2

20to20K

Full Audioholic
Before he started making crap...

...Sting has some pretty thought provoking lyrics while with the Police:

It seems as though when some innocent die
All we can offer them is a page in some magazine
Too many cameras and not enough food
This is what we see

Driven to tears...

50 Million years ago
you walked upon this planet so
God of all that you could see
Just a little bit like me

Walkin' in your footsteps...


I though Lou Reed, Peter Gabriel, John Lennon, Bob Marley, Stevie Wonder, and Donald Fagen where all very talented songwriters.

I too never "got it" with Bob Dylan. To each their own I suppose.
 
J

jmgillespie

Junior Audioholic
Another good song wrote by Dylan but better done by two other bands is "Knockin' on heavens door" my favorite version being done by Guns N' Roses and just as good but different is done by Eric Clapton.
 
H

Hawkeye

Full Audioholic
jmgillespie said:
Another good song wrote by Dylan but better done by two other bands is "Knockin' on heavens door" my favorite version being done by Guns N' Roses and just as good but different is done by Eric Clapton.
Also add Roger Waters as doing "Knockin' on Heaven's Door". It's from the soundtrack to "The Dybbuk of the Holy Apple Field" an Israeli film from 1998. I was able to find and download two minutes of it. Since its intersperced, at times, with dialog, perhaps that's all there is to it. Its a great song to begin with and Waters does a fine job with it.


And by the way, you can certainly add Waters name to the list as one of the best rock lyricists of the past 30 years or so.
 
D

davo19

Audiophyte
bobman1235 said:
I'm sorry, you're comparing a Bruce Springsteen song to BOB DYLAN?? Hahahaha. I'll admit that some schmoes come out with some good lines once ina while, but you're talking OVERALL LYRICISTS here, not one good lyric that you happen to like.

Anyways, I agree with the original post, Dylan's scary good when it comes to lyrics. Some of his songs are like stories that are as good as listening to any short story out there - the man could say more with fewer words than anyone.
Bruce has written some mighty good lyrics in his time. I'm still discovering new songs of his and downloading them and beleive me this guy can write lyrics, your probably fair in saying he's not quite in the class of dylan though. bob dylan seems to be the one with the unlimited vocabulary that could just produce clever lines forever, but bruce is cool to in my opinion bob tops the lot but bruce would be a close 2nd.
 
D

davo19

Audiophyte
JimOfOakCreek said:
I admit to being a huge Bob Dylan so I am biased. But I believe Dylan wrote some of the best lyrics that have EVER been written. Has anyone just read the lyrics to "All Along The Watch Tower"? No musical accompanyment, just read the words to the song. It reminds me of Robert Blake.

When Dylan was asked, "Do you consider yourself a poet or a song writer?", he laughed, "I consider myself a song and dance man"!
Check out the lyrics in 'it's alright ma' aswell, there oustanding i coulden't beleive it when i first heard them, they seem to just get better and better as the song progresses, spose most of dylan's songs kinda do that.
 
D

davo19

Audiophyte
bobman1235 said:
I'm sorry, you're comparing a Bruce Springsteen song to BOB DYLAN?? Hahahaha. I'll admit that some schmoes come out with some good lines once ina while, but you're talking OVERALL LYRICISTS here, not one good lyric that you happen to like.

Anyways, I agree with the original post, Dylan's scary good when it comes to lyrics. Some of his songs are like stories that are as good as listening to any short story out there - the man could say more with fewer words than anyone.
How good are the lyrics in ''it's alright ma''. Old lady judges watch people in pairs limited in sex they dare, to push fake morals, insult and stare while money doesen't talk, it swears. That's treasury and even bob himself admits he did pretty well with the lyrics in that song.
 
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Shadow_Ferret

Shadow_Ferret

Audioholic Chief
I guess ''it's alright ma'' also makes the point I was trying to make. To me good lyrics are lyrics that make sense and you can relate to. I can't relate to avante-guarde poetry or Dylan lyrics.

To me good lyrics are Simon and Garfunkel's "I am a rock" or "Bridge over Troubled Waters." Or Cat Stevens "Miles from Nowhere" or "Father and Son." You don't need a phD in English Lit to figure out what they are saying and they speak to you in a personal way, as if the writer was writing ABOUT you, not to you (or in Dylan's case, over you).

I hope you don't think I'm trying to put Dylan down, he has a large following for a reason, he's just one of those guys I just never got.
 
D

davo19

Audiophyte
Shadow_Ferret said:
I guess ''it's alright ma'' also makes the point I was trying to make. To me good lyrics are lyrics that make sense and you can relate to. I can't relate to avante-guarde poetry or Dylan lyrics.

To me good lyrics are Simon and Garfunkel's "I am a rock" or "Bridge over Troubled Waters." Or Cat Stevens "Miles from Nowhere" or "Father and Son." You don't need a phD in English Lit to figure out what they are saying and they speak to you in a personal way, as if the writer was writing ABOUT you, not to you (or in Dylan's case, over you).

I hope you don't think I'm trying to put Dylan down, he has a large following for a reason, he's just one of those guys I just never got.
Yeah well dylan's more of a poet to me, put it this way i'd be hapy to just read his lyrics on paper coz clearly they are very clever but that's i said bruce springteen would be right up there cause he writes your every day stuff like s&g, cat stevens etc. and yeah i agree that the lyricsw in father and son are 2nd to none.
 
I

Ilovemovies

Audioholic Intern
Dylan is absolutely,Totally one of the best lyrisists/poets it is nice to know that someone else recognises his tallents, check this out :) it is his "Last thoughts on Woody" poem, If you are truly a Dylan fan you will love this piece of writing, I think its litterally brilliant!


http://www.bobdylan.com/songs/guthrie.html
 
Mudcat

Mudcat

Senior Audioholic
davo19 said:
Bruce has written some mighty good lyrics in his time.
Lost in the Flood
Greetings From Asbury Park (1973)

The ragamuffin gunner is returnin' home like a hungry runaway
He walks through town all alone
He must be from the fort he hears the high school girls say
His countryside's burnin' with wolfman fairies dressed in drag for homicide
The hit and run, plead sanctuary, `neath a holy stone they hide
They're breakin' beams and crosses with a spastic's reelin' perfection
nuns run bald through Vatican halls pregnant, pleadin' immaculate conception
And everybody's wrecked on Main Street from drinking unholy blood
Sticker smiles sweet as gunner breathes deep, his ankles caked in mud
And I said "Hey, gunner man, that's quicksand, that's quicksand that ain't mud
Have you thrown your senses to the war or did you lose them in the flood?"

That pure American brother, dull-eyed and empty-faced
races Sundays in Jersey in a Chevy stock super eight
He rides `er low on the hip, on the side he's got Bound For Glory in red, white and blue flash paint
He leans on the hood telling racing stories, the kids call him Jimmy The Saint
Well the blaze and noise boy, he's gunnin' that ***** loaded to blastin' point
He rides head first into a hurricane and disappears into a point
And there's nothin' left but some blood where the body fell
That is, nothin' left that you could sell
just junk all across the horizon, a real highwayman's farewell
And he said "Hey kid, you think that's oil? Man, that ain't oil that's blood"
I wonder what he was thinking when he hit that storm
Or was he just lost in the flood?

Eighth Avenue sailors in satin shirts whisper in the air
Some storefront incarnation of Maria, she's puttin' on me the stare
and Bronx's best apostle stands with his hand on his own hardware
Everything stops, you hear five, quick shots, the cops come up for air
And now the whiz-bang gang from uptown, they're shootin' up the street
And that cat from the Bronx starts lettin' loose
but he gets blown right off his feet
And some kid comes blastin' round the corner but a cop puts him right away
He lays on the street holding his leg screaming something in Spanish
Still breathing when I walked away
And somebody said "Hey man did you see that? His body hit the street with such a beautiful thud"
I wonder what the dude was sayin' or was he just lost in the flood?
Hey man, did you see that, those poor cats are sure messed up
I wonder what they were gettin' into, or were they just lost in the flood?
 

Pac-man

Audiophyte
Bets lyricist

Bob Dylan was a very gd lyricist especialy blowin in the wind and all along the watch tower but 2 all u people who snub off hip hop try listeng 2 tupac hes my favourite

Take the evil out the people they'll be acting right
'cause both black and white is smokin' crack tonight
and only time we chill is when we kill each other
it takes skill to be real, time to heal each other
And although it seems heaven sent
We ain't ready, to see a black President, uhh
It ain't a secret don't conceal the fact
the penitentiary's packed, and it's filled with blacks


TUPAC RIP
 
skizzerflake

skizzerflake

Audioholic Field Marshall
davo19 said:
Bruce has written some mighty good lyrics in his time. I'm still discovering new songs of his and downloading them and beleive me this guy can write lyrics, your probably fair in saying he's not quite in the class of dylan though. bob dylan seems to be the one with the unlimited vocabulary that could just produce clever lines forever, but bruce is cool to in my opinion bob tops the lot but bruce would be a close 2nd.
I agree. Springsteen is really good at lyrics that have the feel of real speech, something Dylan never did much with. Springsteen's lyrics are like stories or snap shots of somebody's life, with lots of irony and and some distance that is revealing about the people. I have been a long time Dylan fan too and would find it really hard to say that one is better than the other. They both are at the top of the hill, different writers, with huge bodies of work.
 
G

genesis471

Audioholic
A clip from the 22 minute epic, Supper's Ready:

Wandering in the chaos the battle has left,
We climb up the mountain of human flesh,
To a plateau of green grass, and green trees full of life.
A young figure sits still by a pool,
He's been stamped "Human Bacon" by some butchery tool (he is you).
Social Security took care of this lad,
We watch in reverence, as Narcissus is turned to a flower.
A flower?

Not sure if the above was Peter Gabriel or Tony Banks, or both. But Gabriel and Banks of Genesis were amazing writers. Every song is a story
 
stratman

stratman

Audioholic Ninja
The answer to the question: no. He is one in a list of great lyricists.
 

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