More Than Crafty

I have some sympathy with Leonard Cohen fans (since I am of that ilk) who feel that he was more deserving of the Nobel Lit Prize than Dylan. And the same goes for Joni Mitchell (again, as a fan myself.) Funnily enough in my interview in the last century for university admission I held firm to my belief, at that time, that LC could be held the superior wordsmith in a comparison with JM, the interviewer being of the contrary opinion. I still think that is the case, but I also think the comparison is pointless, both being superlative artists we should simply celebrate, both being expert in their craft.

As is the Bobster - but he is something more, going beyond craft - when on top form. It's worth noting that Dylan has himself talked of how the way his songs have so often come as gifts has sometimes deserted him. Case in point, the wonderful Street Legal. The album is a sort of special favourite of mine, but I'm conscious of a sense of something forced about the lyrics, as if Dylan is consciously writing like Dylan writes - a slight clunkiness haunts almost every song.

Rough and Rowdy Ways is soaked in giftedness: the songs are coming from somewhere else, somewhere beyond. Much of the excited commentary on the lyrics of various tracks as they came out understandably focused on the jaw-dropping zingers. It's difficult not to draw attention to the perfection of I sing songs of love / I sing songs of betrayal (from False Prophet.) And then, of course, you notice what has preceded those lines: I search the world over / For the Holy Grail, and you realise that the slightly clichéd reference to the Grail quest is revivified by the False Prophet context and the brilliant Grail / betrayal rhyme, a startling yoking of opposites that the voice forces to echo each other.

But then you get to realising that beyond the obvious 'moments' pretty much every line of the song adds richly to the whole, sometimes not so much in the content as in the peerless delivery. This was brought home to me a day or two ago when I was listening to the song whilst following the lyrics from an on-line source. I laughed aloud on the line: When your smile meets my smile something's got to give, not just for the engaging wryness of the statement, but because of the pause punched in on got to ... give. The line itself 'gives' as it is sung.

As I say, beyond craft. (And I'm guessing that when he's back on the road, (God willing) Dylan will find a new way to deliver the line if we're blessed enough for him to include False Prophet in the set (or a set.)