Bob Dylan The Nobel Lecture

Dylan is such an enigmatic figure in history. A pivotal figure. Transforming culture and music icon through anthems meant to be messages to his generation to question, to rise up and be a person of conscience. The right person in the right time. The world was going through revolutionary upheaval in thought, music, fashion, and redefining freedom. He had the perquisite cool aloof dangerousness needed for breaking barriers and exposing impolite society change was necessary. The times demanded it.

He became a deliberate spokesman for the marginalized and was proactive such as setting political prisoners free by writing hit songs to draw attention to the plight of the railroaded. But that isn’t what this book/lecture is about. It’s about his own trials and struggling to find his voice. Thinking about his lifelong work, Dylan is humbled by great international acclaim but not from his audience but by scholars. And forced himself to be reflective how he got there.

He studied. He broke down the components of what a singer-songwriter-performer has to do. He learned the genres used to blend together that made up a new sound reverberating around the world. He understood what stage presence is suppose to sound and look like after watching and listening to Buddy Holly live as a teenager. He was a sponge and it provided the foundation to the work he needed to do. He stood on the shoulders of the greats of the times. He had a social consciousness spirit and purpose. He had a gift but listened carefully to melodies and lyrics to craft his own sound getting to his core and delivering “what’s it’s all about.”  The words and melodies then tumbled out of him once he put his own puzzle together.

Artistry is rare. It evolves, trial and error getting it right as one’s internal dialogue intersects with every experience and every thought an artist ever had. Dylan’s book delivers quiet introspective telling who, why and what he is and the path that got him there. He had a lot of inspiration without any part of it he is someone lost in the shadows. Just as he puts verse to melody, this time he puts the light on himself through self-examination and lays down revealing answers after searching his past how he found it.

For a brief moment, he bares his bones in a world where self-truth story-telling is more story than telling. He transcends the perennial iconoclastic troubadour caricature. A lifelong artist that has serious thoughts and treats them respectively, he places a high premium on getting thoughts and words right. He followed the hard path believing  searching for truth was a noble cause. He provides a reminder to present and future generations to be authentic, to look around, to be a change agent, find your true self, and to be an example doing the hard work not through the power of prevarication, hate or mindless ambition but through the power of words, work and love.