I woke up Thursday morning and scrolled through my long list of news updates. One particular news story struck me as strange. Bob Dylan, a folk singer, won the Nobel Prize for Literature.
At first, the announcement annoyed me. Weren't there actual writers that deserved possibly the highest award in the field of writing? Some of my favorite writers such as William Faulkner, Hermann Hesse, and Eugene O’Neill had received the award in years' past but why did Bob Dylan get it this year?
I went throughout my day slightly mad that a singer won an award that a novelist should have won. But then I started considering the concept of literature as a whole.
Literature is defined as "written works, especially those considered of superior or lasting artistic merit." The field of literature is not exclusive to just novel writers but to all storytellers.
Bob Dylan’s lyrics defined an age of change. The 1960s and 1970s were times where the world had no idea what was to come. The Cold War and the Vietnam War were on everyone’s mind. Racial Discrimination was accepted. Fear was prevalent and no one knew when it was going to end.
I grew up listening to Bob Dylan but never understood the meaning of his lyrics. In school, you read the literature and history text book chapters about the '60s and '70s but you never hear the music. The music of that generation is the vocal embodiment of the feelings of the masses.
I recommend all people listen to his music with the lyrics in front of them. Music is poetry and Dylan’s songs are no exception. One particular lyric I always liked was from the song “Blowin’ in the Wind”:
“How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
How many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, and how many times must the cannonballs fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind”
That lyric is from almost 60 years ago but it still feels relevant today. We are now living in a time that is in a similar state of anxiety of the past. Our political scene is a stagnated insult contest. The fear of terrorism is always looming.
But what can we do to find solace in a time where peace is absent from the horizon? Nicky Wire, a member of the band Manic Street Preachers, said: “If literature or music can make you think or become aware, then it’s done something.” Art is the answer. Art can soothe tensions, bring people together, and give people a chance to reevaluate life. Great art breaks the barriers of time. Bob Dylan’s music is no exception.
