Ilustrating Dylan's lyrics
DC
Why would anyone feel the need to illustrate the lyrics of the most
evocative of modern songwriters? Do such Bob Dylan lines as "Pistol
shots ring out in the barroom night," "I've walked and I've crawled on
six crooked highways" or "the cracked bells and washed-out horns /
blow into my face with scorn" really require graphic interpretation?
That depends, of course, on the illustrators. More than a dozen of
Europe's most skilled graphic artists and authors tackle 13 of the
bard's songs for "Bob Dylan Revisited" (Amazon.com: http://tr.im/Hej8
), a handsome new collection of drawings published by W.W. Norton --
evidently with the approval of Dylan and Sony Records...
Continued: http://tr.im/Hejr
Gray Flannel Dwarf
wrote:
> Why would anyone feel the need to illustrate the lyrics of the most
> evocative of modern songwriters?
I always like this drawing for "Any Day Now"
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41KK1QH846L._SS500_.jpg
Martin
wrote:
> Why would anyone feel the need to illustrate the lyrics of the most
> evocative of modern songwriters? Do such Bob Dylan lines as "Pistol
> shots ring out in the barroom night," "I've walked and I've crawled on
> six crooked highways" or "the cracked bells and washed-out horns /
> blow into my face with scorn" really require graphic interpretation?
As so many of the songs have a strong visual element, a graphic could
work well. On the whole however, I'd say they don't. I'd also say
that once the songs have 'spoken' to you, the resulting change in
brain cells, nerve activity, intersteller electric signals and cosmic
neurons are already there in your head - no one else's take is likely
to compete with that. I saw that Bob Dylan Revisited book, and it
looks like some very ambitious collage work. Bob's Drawn Blank
drawings compliment the songs in a way no other artist is likely to
manage
Just Walkin'
wrote:
> LA Times
>
> Why would anyone feel the need to illustrate the lyrics of the most
> evocative of modern songwriters?
>
see pictures in the words.
Mr Jinx
wrote:
Dylan's lyrics illustrate themselves, of course. But if someone can
use them as a springboard to another area of creativity then that is
very cool, I think.
Mr Jinx
Arindam Banerjee
"DC" <Use-Author-Supplied-Address-Header@[127.1]> wrote in message
news:ca6ca7c70912100738g2f9...@mail.gmail.com...
In 1978, I was offered hospitality by a Bob Dylan fan.
It resulted from a mistake, the sort which changes destinies.
I was starting my first job in Delhi. My father would meet me at Ghaziabad
station. Together we would go to Delhi.
But I missed him. Later on he said he was there at the station. We were
both way over 6 feet tall, so it was remarkable that we could miss each
other, even though it was night.
I spent the night in the waiting room. The next morning I reported for the
job.
There I found someone who knew me in my IIT years. He offered me shelter
with his lot, they were renting a place.
So I let my father know that I would be staying - temporarily, so I
thought - in Ghaziabad. Plans thus got altered in the Delhi end.
Well, this guy was a great Bob Dylan fan. He had a tape recorder and would
play them every evening. He had a routine. He would buy a small bottle of
whiskey and consume all but a tenth. In the morning he would again listen
to Bob Dylan, and wake himself up fully with the remaining tenth.
I remember a few of the lines, from "The times they are a changing". And
the surroundings. Two very small rooms, four people occupying them. The
narrow flight of staris, the very little courtyard, the tiny kitchen, and
the shared toilet... It wasn't much, but it was better than no
accommodation at all. And they did not ask much from me.
Before he would drop off, he would narrate the most amazingly funny jokes.
Mr Jinx
These hard-drinking Indian Dylan fans can be very amusing at times.
Can you recall any of the jokes he used to tell?
Mr Jinx
Arindam Banerjee
"Mr Jinx" <vernon_...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:668e2630-6f30-4f13...@z41g2000yqz.googlegroups.com...
Mr Jinx
AB: They were very rude and biased as well, and in this PC age cannot be
re-told. I am after all not a no-name personality, hence may be sued or
have even worse befall me. The atmosphere, the quality of narration, the
imagery so generated in such telling... all that cannot be recreated in this
medium. The eye-movements, beard-wagging, tonal changes, etc. can only
remain in the mind.
I would rather talk of reality. The Dylan fan and I had the job of
shopping. Fish was cheap in Ghaziabad, as the locals were vegetarians who
abhorred fish-eating in particular. The cheapest of fish was the local
"bata", a kind of carp. Freshly caught in the local Hindon river, it was
very tasty. But it had to be cleaned. We did not do the cleaning, someone
else (Pal-da did that).
So the most memorable memory for me, from those days, was how the Dylan fan
told me about Pal-da grumbling while he cleaned the fish: "Khaitay toe
bhaalo laagay, khaitay toe bhaloe laagay". Meaning "it tastes good to eat"