Gathering No Moss

Dylan has gone through many transformations through his career,but has managed to retain a resonance with listeners,through his “lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic powers”,in the words of a special Pulitzer Prize jury (2008). Indeed,whatever his musical experimentations,from folk and gospel to his more controversial wanderings into rock,he will forever be remembered for his power as a poet.

Awareness of Dylan became contagious with the release of his second album,The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan. As American society examined the failure of the “American dream”,with civil rights still denied to African-Americans,and with pax Americana rife,the album boosted counter-culture. Indeed,through its timeless songs,such as Blowin’ in the wind and A hard rain’s a-gonna fall,it remains etched in our psyche. The penetrating questions of Blowin’ in the wind,which asks “how many years can a people exist,before they are allowed to be free” show that Dylan’s lyrics have never lost their relevance.

His controversial shift towards more electric forms of music did not blunt his revolutionary instinct; if anything,it sharpened it,not just in terms of message,but also music. Subtarranean Homesick Blues,for example,was among the most politically influential of all his works. But it was also a stylistic leap from his previous folk work,infused with the energy of Beat poets,a pre-cursor to early rap,and showed that rock music,previously considered frivolous,did not necessarily have to be anti-intellectual.

This idea of rock with intellect culminated in what Rolling Stones would go on to call the greatest song of all time: Like a rolling stone. Six minutes long and electric based,it alienated him from previous folk followers,“Judas!” being a common cry. But it re-established the parameters of music,showing the depth that could be infused into rock.

As controversial as his electric shift was his shift towards born-again Christianity in later life. Although Christian influences were long apparent in his music,from the Book of Ezekiel’s influence in Blowin’ in the wind,to the Book of Isaiah’s in All along the watchtower,Dylan’s pronounced shift in the late ’70s made many fans uncomfortable. But Dylan without his Christian influences would represent Dylan for the worse,it would mean the loss of the imagery and conviction in songs such as Every grain of sand.

For all Dylan’s experiments,and change in thought and style,he remains both a prophet and an iconoclast,and a dearly loved one at that.