Godlike Bob Dylan

[kalowski]

Bob Dylan criticism ahead!

Lazy, rambling, structureless music.  Take Positively 4th Street - it just goes on and on, repeating the same 8 bar melody for what seems like an eternity, without any signs of evolution or contrast.  No verse, no chorus, no breaks, no relief from the endless dirge.  Maybe its amorphous form is part of its genius, I dunno.

I know people praise his lyrics and that he won some Nobel prize or other, but I think he's a third-rate songwriter, musically speaking.  Unfortunately I also don't really rate him as a performer (e.g. All Along the Watchtower, and that fucking harmonica).

Sorry, as you were.  Bob Dylan, he's great isn't he!

Man, I love Positively 4th Street.

[SteveDave]

Bob Dylan criticism ahead!

Lazy, rambling, structureless music.  Take Positively 4th Street - it just goes on and on, repeating the same 8 bar melody for what seems like an eternity, without any signs of evolution or contrast.  No verse, no chorus, no breaks, no relief from the endless dirge.  Maybe its amorphous form is part of its genius, I dunno.

I always heard its relentless repeated melody with no chorus as giving the subject of the song a taste of their own medicine. With the big kiss off coming with the "You'd know what a drag it is to see you" ending.

Anyway, Simply Red's version is better than Bob's- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnMUEvMijHY

[Darles Chickens]

I always heard its relentless repeated melody with no chorus as giving the subject of the song a taste of their own medicine. With the big kiss off coming with the "You'd know what a drag it is to see you" ending.

Y'see, this is the kind of hot take I was hoping for!  I can see it in a different light already, even if I wouldn't particularly enjoy listening to it. 

Now why does Knockin' on Heaven's Door go on and on like that?

[SteveDave]

Now why does Knockin' on Heaven's Door go on and on like that?

Fuck knows. Drugs probably.

[pigamus]

Man, I love Positively 4th Street.

Me too.

[shagatha crustie]

I always thought the repetition in Positively was its greatest strength - it just makes the righteous vitriol of the lyrics feel relentless.

And Knockin' on Heaven's Door is only 2 and a half mins.

[Ferris]

Man, I love Positively 4th Street.

And me. I even love the "will this do" hammond organ part.

It's great.