New Delhi: Bob Dylan’s ‘The Philosophy of Modern Song’ a momentous artistic achievement. Bob Dylans ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘The Times They Are a-Changin’ became the anthems of the Civil Rights and Anti-War Movements of the 1960s and resonate even today. He has released 39 studio albums, which collectively have sold over 125 million copies around the world. He won the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature and has been awarded the French Legion of Honor, a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian honour of the US. His memoir, “Chronicles: Volume One”, spent a year on the New York Times bestseller list.
That memoir appeared in 2004 and in 2010 Dylan began writing “The Philosophy of Modern Song” that is set to be published in November by Simon & Schuster. His first book of new writing is, in fact, a master class on the art and craft of songwriting.
It will contain over 60 essays focusing on songs by other artists, spanning from Stephen Foster to Elvis Costello, and in between, ranging from Hank Williams to Nina Simone. He analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal.
The essays are written in Dylan’s unique prose. They are mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound, and often laugh-out-loud funny. And while they are ostensibly about music, they are really meditations and reflections on the human condition. Running throughout the book are nearly 150 carefully curated images as well as a series of dream-like riffs – a short, repeated phrase in music – that taken together, resemble an epic poem and add to the work’s transcendence.
In 2020, with the release of his outstanding album ‘Rough and Rowdy Ways’, Dylan became the first artist to have an album hit the Billboard Top 40 in each decade since the 1960s. “The Philosophy of Modern Song” will contain much of what he has learned about his craft in all those years, and like everything that Dylan does, will be a momentous artistic achievement.
“The publication of Bob Dylan’s kaleidoscopically brilliant work will be an international celebration of songs by one of the greatest artists of our time,” said Jonathan Karp, President and Chief Executive Officer of Simon & Schuster. “‘The Philosophy of Modern Song’ could only have been written by Bob Dylan. His voice is unique, and his work conveys his deep appreciation and understanding of songs, the people who bring those songs to life, and what songs mean to all of us.”
The book will also be published by Simon & Schuster’s international companies in Australia, Canada, India, and the UK, and as an audiobook.
Dylan will narrate a portion of the audiobook with a mix of other voices.
–IANS
