I am trying to compare Bob Dylan to anyone else. As a poet, he is not more memorably gifted than Leonard Cohen, Yeats, John Berryman, or indeed Dylan Thomas. As a singer, he is no match for Frank Sinatra, Elvis Presley, or Pavarotti. As a songwriter, he is equalled by, perhaps, John Lennon, Kurt Weill, Kurt Cobain, Bob Marley, and Elvis Costello. Why is it then that he is singled out as the paramount genius of popular music? The answer, my friends, is 50 years. Dylan, that enigmatic, sexy, sly trickster figure has been in constant transformation for fifty years of unequalled song composition and performance, or reperformance, his interpretations and variations creating Borgesian complications. His personal journey has had more make-overs than Lady Gaga. He has been a Christian, a cowboy, a peacenik, a fierce Zionist, and a praiser of Scotland. He is, arguably, the Shakespeare of song - an uncanny talent of unlimited potential. At 20, at 40, and at 70, he amazed and amazes. I do not think he is the presiding genius of our age - our age seems too multiple to have just one. But he is one of the greats. It is good to be able to wish him a happy 70th.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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I used to believe that Bob Dylan was amazingly profound. Then I grew up. As a songwriter I think that he is inferior to both Paul Simon and Leonard Cohen (all three Jewish - interestingly) but when the twentieth century popular music dust has finally settled he will undoubtedly be remembered.
Best wishes from Simon
Of the other years, only Elvis Costello still has the chance to equal Dylan's longevity!