If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
Bob DylanRead
Aretha with no goals, eternally single & one step soft of heaven/ let it be understood that she owns this melody along with her emotional diplomats & her earth & her musical secrets
Interpretation
This quote expresses the profound connection between Aretha Franklin's music and her personal essence.
Bob Dylan's quote highlights the unique artistry of Aretha Franklin, emphasizing her mastery of melody and emotion. It suggests that she possesses a deep, intrinsic understanding of her craft—her music serves not only as entertainment but also as a powerful expression of her identity and experiences, almost elevating her to a celestial level.
In practice
In a discussion about the impact of music on culture, one might quote this to illustrate how an artist can embody their art.
If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.
I'm the oldest son of a crazy man, I'm in a cowboy band.
My songs are personal music, they're not communal. I wouldn't want people singing along with me. It would sound funny. I'm not playing campfire meetings. I don't remember anyone singing along with Elvis, Carl Perkins or Little Richard.
I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You'd know what a drag it is to see you.
That's another way of writing a song, of course. Just talking to somebody that ain't there. That's the best way. That's the truest way. Then it just becomes a question of how heroic your speech is. To me, it's something to strive after.
It's great when you play to an audience that knows the words to all your songs, and sings them back to you.
I felt very proud to be part of a music scene that was changing the face of commercial music and rock music internationally, but I also felt like it was necessary for Soundgarden - as it was for all of these Seattle bands - to prove that we deserve to be on an international stage, and we weren't just part of a fad that was based on geography.
If they played more blues, people would just get it - they try to hold it back but just about can't hold it back now because the blues is really going.
Blacks own so little of the music business, it's pathetic. But I see that changing soon. Black artists, black businessmen and women will unite.
The major rock instruments and classical instruments were designed for performance, for sharing the music with an audience, and then later people put microphones on them and recorded them. But for electronic music, the opposite was true - they're designed in laboratories, and later, we tried to put them on stage.
Until I realized that rock music was my connection to the rest of the human race, I felt like I was dying, for some reason, and I didn't know why.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.