British Poet Laureate Andrew Motion on Bob Dylan
Alan Fraser
>
>The Poetry Society has posted preliminary essays/interviews by some
>of its members on the theme of lyrics and poetry. Here's the link to
>Motion's interview:
>
>http://www.poetrysoc.com/npd/1999/motion.htm
Today is National Poetry Day and "pop lyrics are the new poetry".
BBC radio news has been including Andrew Motion's view on Bob and
Visions, quoting "Ain't it just like the night, to play tricks when
you're tryin' to be so quiet".
Alan
The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face...
Tiernan Henry
of its members on the theme of lyrics and poetry. Here's the link to
Motion's interview:
http://www.poetrysoc.com/npd/1999/motion.htm
Andrew Motion on Bob Dylan
Have you ever met Bob Dylan? No, alas.
How often and where do you listen to him? Almost every
day - but seldom at home; usually in the car. Also, of
course, I read him a good deal - the volume Lyrics
1962-1985. This is a curious experience, since I know
most of them by heart.
How highly do you rate him? He's one of the great
artists of the century. He comes on the scene at a very
high level, then (with a few glitches here and there)
extends himself steadily - usually staying one step
ahead of his audience.
What is it about him you especially like? The
concentration and surprise of his lyrics; the beauty of
his melodies (and the rasp of his anger); the dramatic
sympathy between the words and the music; the range of
his devotions; the power of self-renewal; his wit; his
surrealism; the truth to experience.
What don't you like about him? Occasionally some dodgy
attitudes get an airing - about women, and (during the
late '80s and '90s) about the Middle East.
What do you think about the Keats/Dylan debate? In one
sense it's important to establish differences, and
these can be described pretty simply. Keats didn't play
the guitar, or write much for music (I mean: his words
are free-standing in a sense that Dylan's aren't), and
Dylan hasn't produced any book-length narrative poems.
In other respects I think it's a false dichotomy. They
each have their own brilliant and distinctive things to
say, and neither - in their greatness - matters more or
less than the other. But this doesn't mean that I think
that all contemporary rock music, or pop music, or folk
music, or whatever music, always and inevitably holds
its own when compared to poetry proper. Most song
lyrics rely heavily on their accompanying music;
without their music, they're banal, repetitive,
nothingy. I don't find them rewarding as poems. This
isn't meant to sound crusty or stick-in-the-mud. It
just acknowledges the particular merits and
opportunities of different forms. In other words: Dylan
is an exception proving a more-or-less general rule. He
doesn't (as Robert Lowell said he did) 'lean on the
crutch of his guitar'.
Tiernan
**************************************************
Tiernan Henry
Department of Engineering Hydrology
National University of Ireland, Galway
Galway
IRELAND
PH: +353-91-524411, ext 2619
FAX: +353-91-524913
http://www.nuigalway.ie/hydrology/
*************************************************
Ed Ricardo
Carrying on Andrew Motion's work:
http://www.poetrysoc.com/npd/1999/npdchat.htm
On 7 Oct 1999 01:44:41 -0700, in rec.music.dylan
Alan Fraser <alan....@cwcom.net> wrote:
>In article <8FCCB...@bee.nuigalway.ie>, TIERNA...@NUIGALWAY.IE says...
>>The Poetry Society has posted preliminary essays/interviews by some
>>of its members on the theme of lyrics and poetry. Here's the link to
>>Motion's interview:
http://www.poetrysoc.com/npd/1999/motion.htm
>Today is National Poetry Day and "pop lyrics are the new poetry".
>BBC radio news has been including Andrew Motion's view on Bob and
>Visions, quoting "Ain't it just like the night, to play tricks when
>you're tryin' to be so quiet".
>The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face...
http://downloads5.mp3.com/mp3s/1/angry_johnny_and_the_killbillies/jesus_please_come_on_down.mp3