For a while now, I've been asked over and over again why I got into Bob Dylan's style of music. It would seem that a lot of people are confused by why I like it which I'm not sure why since I used to be a huge Nirvana fan (and yes I do know that Nirvana and Bob Dylan have completely different styles of music). Well I'm going to write this blog to hopefully clear up any questions as to why I find Bob Dylan's musical workings amazing! Ok, well I'll admit this first and foremost, the first thing I ever saw or heard from Bob Dylan (other than "Blowin' In The Wind") was the recent movie "I'm Not There" which told the very unique story of Bob Dylan's life. The reason I picked up this movie is because "The Dark Knight" was coming out and I wanted to check out what other roles the actor Heath Ledger had been in before I saw his portrayal of the Joker, and I was really captured into the story of Bob Dylan as it would seem that he has lived and is continuing to live a very obscure life. Before I saw the movie I never really listened to much folk music, I never really bothered to care since I foolishly assumed that all folk music was exactly the same in every way and form, but I couldn't have been more wrong. After seeing the movie I went out and picked up a few of Bob Dylan's cd's since I really liked what I heard in the film. Now obviously not all of his songs are amazing, to tell the truth he has a lot of songs I don't really seem to go for, but the songs that I like are quite literally some of the most amazing songs I've ever heard in my lifetime. Just like most Bob Dylan fans will say, my favorite album of his is "Highway 61 Revisited". Now when this album came out the majority of Bob Dylan fans felt betrayed by him as "Highway 61 Revisited" was a complete left turn from his other works. Every artist seems to have this problem at one point in their life, they will be known for a certain style, and the moment the decided to try and explore their creative horizon, the avid fans of them feel alienated and unappreciated as if the artist was claiming that they didn't need the fans in some odd way. Well "Highway 61 Revisited" turned out to be a genius move by Dylan as it gave us the song he is known best by which is "Like A Rolling Stone". This song was recently featured in Rolling Stone Magazine's top 500 best songs of all time list and came in at a towering number 1. Now I don't know if that's because the song is just that good, or if Rolling Stone Magazine just wanted to try and promote their own title, but either way that song topped the list which I believe is quite well deserved. Now I understand that not everyone out there is a Bob Dylan fan, and thats alright by me, to each their own I always say, but I absolutely can not stand it when someone will judge negatively my taste in music or books or what have you just because they haven't heard it or read it or whatever. I believe that Bob Dylan was a genius without trying to be a genius. When he came onto the scene way back when, his style of music was almost unheard of, and to be able to shift his way of music in the mid of his career was a daring and brilliant move that some artists are still doing in this day and age. I find Bob Dylan to be a person who took the term of open mind quite literally and applied it to his works. He didn't think in a box, he wouldn't be restricted by what people thought of him, and sure enough he was able to endure even the most outlandish of hatred from fans and publicists alike.
Well I could talk about this subject for hours, but I figure it will just be me saying the same thing over and over again only worded differently. The point is that just because your friends and/or family listens to something and expect you to listen to the same does not mean at all that you have to. Go out and find what inspires you and work with it! That's the entire point I'm trying to get across here.
And that is why I like Bob Dylan.
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