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
Bob DylanRead
I'm not a playwright. The people in my songs are all me.
Interpretation
Bob Dylan expresses that his songs reflect his own identity rather than being fictional characters.
In this quote, Bob Dylan emphasizes the personal nature of his songwriting, indicating that the characters and stories he creates in his music are manifestations of his own experiences and emotions. This statement reveals the deep connection between the artist and their work, suggesting that true artistry often draws from personal truths and reflections rather than purely fictional narratives.
In practice
Using this quote in a discussion about songwriting and personal expression in music.
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
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.
I don't like records that are the same from beginning to end, that are too styled and slick. Everything is so designed and airbrushed and Botoxed, it makes us think, 'Oh, everybody's perfect except me. Everything's smooth except me.' But nothing is smooth.
It may be said that artist and censor differ in this wise: that the first is a decent mind in an indecent body and that the second is an indecent mind in a decent body.
Memory exercised in a particular way is a natural gift of poetic genius. The poet above all else, is a person who never forgets certain sense impressions which he has experienced and which he can relive again as though with all their original freshness.
I'd like to get something together - like a Handel, Bach, Muddy waters, flamenco type of thing. If I could get that sound, I'd be happy
The only way to avoid being unhappy is to close yourself up in Art and to count for nothing all the rest.
I was honoured when they asked me to appear at the president's birthday rally in Madison Square Garden. There was like a hush over the whole place when I came on to sing 'Happy Birthday,' like if I had been wearing a slip, I would have thought it was showing or something. I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, what if no sound comes out!'
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