I realize that Dylan is far more accomplished, and obviously there's more to him than that Transformer who won, but at the same time I think that our opinions on the relative merit of song lyrics is biased by our appreciation for the music as well as our appreciation of the message expressed (for some), rather than any underlying aesthetic merit to the "poetry" of the lyrics themselves. I almost want to automatically exclude any songwriters if they would be considered on the basis of their lyrics. Of course, the committee makes such terrible decisions as is that they couldn't ruin things much more these days.
OK, I was being facetious there, but I do think the social impact of Dylan globally (having a Pope and Havel and a few others cite his lyrics as inspiration) is what keeps his name being mentioned each year for the Nobel. At least his lyrics are better than Tolkien's prose
Illusions fall like the husk of a fruit, one after another, and the fruit is experience. - Narrator, Sylvie
Je suis méchant.
Je suis méchant.
With the Nobel Literature Prize set to be awarded tomorrow, here's a current betting pool
10/10/2012 11:31:45 PM
- 3371 Views
She totally deserves it.
11/10/2012 12:09:19 AM
- 590 Views
Totally.
11/10/2012 12:18:46 AM
- 709 Views
I'm sure the medal could double as a branding iron for S/M games. *NM*
11/10/2012 12:38:37 AM
- 235 Views
Bob Dylan? Really? That's so excessive I don't know where to begin.
11/10/2012 12:36:54 AM
- 594 Views
I don't know if I'd say "so excessive," but then again, I'm a fan of his songwriting
11/10/2012 05:40:35 AM
- 550 Views
Sure, and Sir Mix-a-Lot had a catchy number, too, but he's not nominated.
11/10/2012 01:56:00 PM
- 564 Views
Bah, Tarantula was an underrated book!
11/10/2012 05:41:11 PM
- 549 Views
And the winner is: Mo Yan
11/10/2012 12:10:45 PM
- 733 Views
I saw the movie of Red Sorghum in Chinese Cinema class in undergrad.
11/10/2012 01:59:48 PM
- 552 Views
Over on Westeros, I kept seeing speculation months ago that it would be him
11/10/2012 05:42:34 PM
- 535 Views
Me neither, but that movie won a Golden Palm at Cannes if I'm not mistaken. *NM*
11/10/2012 10:36:52 PM
- 259 Views
The link takes me to betting on sports personalities or some such
11/10/2012 04:13:36 PM
- 691 Views