Yes its true and so well deserved - he changed the thoughts of a generation
Z
Everyone is entitled to their opinion I guess 
It sure wasn’t for his vocal abilities. 
He had a vocal ability ? 
The prize was for literature, so they didn’t check his singing, luckily. But he sure made a big impression on a couple generations.
Lot’s of people don’t get Dylan. It does take a while, but if you listen to the early stuff in particular - maybe John Wesley Harding, its genius at work for sure, the voice, well eventually you realise its part of the pie. His voice is shot now of course. 
Apparently Bob is playing a gig tonight and may not even be awake or aware of this yet which is extremely Dylanesque!
The statement made was the award was “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.
Go Bob!
Hi,
Wow, are people just joking here or are they actually really serious in the majority of their comments?!
If the former, then it is quite unfortunate that people attempt to reduce someone’s credibility in winning such a highly prestigious Award. This is a very typical maneuver for the public to look for a reason to shun a successful persons talent. I do not particularly know a great deal about Dylan or his music (other than the obvious tales and songs), but I have huge respect for a MUSICIAN achieving such a high distinction. And I would only have thought that every MUSICIAN for the most part would be proud to see the Award go to a person of the same art-form, because we all want to see MUSICIANS reach their highest possible goals.
And if he WAS a great singer (I am not to judge because I do not sing myself) then perhaps people would attack his looks or appearance instead!?
But as I say, I am assuming that people are just kidding here?
Paul
What Dylan can do, and I have experienced this live, is deliver a lyric. He can put his whole presence into what he is telling you, its not him reading a line, its him dragging you in front of his face inches away and looking you in the eye whilst he forces the truth of the line down your throat. This is not what Cliff Richard does, Cliff has a prettier voice. It’s like writers, some people want to be writers, so they find something to write, some have something to say so they learn how to write, the product is completely different - the latter only speaks to the soul.
Hi Zero,
Thanks, that is interesting (and your ‘Dylan vs. Cliff’ analogy was very clear).
While I have only written the lyrics to 1 x song (just a personal and non-famous song!) I have become interested in learning something of this skill over the summer. There are a couple of avenues I am exploring in some depth which may (or may not!) help me attain my goal of understanding the deeper meaning of a song (thru it’s lyric).
I have already changed my (often stubborn!) viewpoints quite radically in such a short space of time, and have begun listening (and beginning to appreciate!) some Artistes I would NEVER have ordinarily listened to. I never realized that JOHNNY CASH is very highly regarded as being a MASTER in the field of lyric writing! Now, admittedly, I have always kind of humorously classed him as being something of an out of tune Guitarist (although I DO like some Country Music including some of JC’s more popular hits). But now I am finding out (quite late-ish in life!) that I have been MISSING OUT on 50% of the SONG simply because I listen exclusively to the Arrangement and it’s Instrumentation!
I do not know anything about you or your music Zero, but your attitude and aptitude both seem very positive and open-minded; in which case I think you will always find something GOOD in music and all other things that may interest you . . .
Ta,
Paul
Thank you for the compliment, its usually me giving them to my wife 
As far as delivering a lyric the whole point is that its about life and living. To say you can’t learn it would be overkill, but certainly plastic pop voice coaching teach it out of you. I hear a lot of that in the media and it makes many of us baby boomers cringe. For me, apart from Dylan, there is Billie Holiday and Nina Simone - you could say they had unremarkable voices, plenty have better technique and range.
All on Utube:
Nina Simone: Nina Simone Performs “Four Women” Live - totally uncompromising
Billie Holiday - All the way (the last track on her last album before heroin took her soul.
Nine Simone: Cotton Eyed Joe (Slaves in the cotton fields eventually went blind)
Enjoy
Zero,
No problem.
I think today people expect you to be good at EVERYTHING! Of course, if you ARE then that is a positive thing for sure! But regarding those female vocalists you referenced, they just instinctively knew HOW to sing/deliver a song. That was the skill/talent they were born with and that is what carried/led them along their life/career path. They certainly never went to COLLEGE to learn how to sing the Blues!
And I suppose with Dylan [from what I have heard of him?]), his God given talent was the power of the pen, and the EXECUTION of his work (ie. Voice/Guitar Technique) was just a vehicle to deliver it on (ie. it was secondary). I mean, you don’t buy a Johnny Cash album for the purpose of learning right-hand-Guitar-technique! If you judge it’s relevance by this factor then you are clearly missing the point!
As I say, people nowadays tend to judge you on EVERYTHING, and I just don’t subscribe to that way of thinking. I believe this is the result of the likes of Saturday night talent show contests which have dominated the universe for the past circa: 10 x years.
Ta,
Paul
Agreed
Jahmene Douglas’ audition - Etta James’ At Last- The X Factor UK
A case in point.
He killed it, then they made him sing their way, he lost his instincts
Zero,
Well to be totally honest, I am afraid I have never watched a single episode of any of these TV talent shows. It’s just not my sort of thing, and also it reminds me of having to accompany the Talent Show weekly competitions in holiday centers and onboard cruise ships for 25 x years. They were always on the penultimate evening of the week. But it was a part of the JOB and the rest of the time I just tried to get away with playing JAZZ every night! 
If you watch and enjoy the shows then perhaps you have a family and so it’s part of todays Saturday night entertainment (I dare says it’s better than Ted Rodgers ‘321’ show was!). But I live ALONE and therefore I can choose exclusively what I want to view (which is the NEWS 99% of the time).
Anyway, I do not want to run the risk of diverting this thread off topic and so any future posts will be directly related to the subject matter.
Ta,
Paul
Zero,
I think BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN was the other Artiste being considered. The person who won it last year was a lady who wrote about the journalistic life within Russia.
The big question people seem to be debating is:
“Is it actually LITERATURE”?! The defense being that it is POETRY, albeit set to music
Ta,
Paul
When Dylan was young he read a lot of the great poets
Zero,
I am sure he did, and obviously it has paid off.
Although, ultimately, I am sure Dylan was not composing/performing purely for financial gain or the worldwide recognition that so many Artistes hunger for (he does not come across [to me] as being that type of guy). He did what he did simply because he LOVED doing it! And that’s the best attitude to be blessed with I would say.
Ta,
Paul
Can’t stand his whiney annoying voice for more than 5 seconds, but he is a great songwriter and lyricist.
Yes, to clarify my earlier comments, I agree with Peppa here, except my tolerance might run to 5 minutes. Agreed, his sound is part of the package, but you don’t hear a whole bunch of imitators do you? (at least not non-derogatory ones). It is what it is… he’s an old man now, hopefully all of you will be some day too.
We studied “Blowing in the Wind” in my high-school English class one year, way back in time, I am 58 now. That was without the music. Good stuff.
And I am glad he won the award. I was just being my usual smart-ass self earlier. 