Bob Dylan just won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is awesome

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I thought this was going to be an utterly garbage day, but it seems like there is one really nice piece of news. I was so scared when I saw that “Bob Dylan” was trending on Twitter, and I said a little prayer of “please don’t let him die, please don’t let him die” before I clicked. As it turns out, he was trending for the best reason: Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature. Can you believe that??? Isn’t that amazing?

Bob Dylan was awarded the Nobel Prize in literature on Thursday. The music legend was cited for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Dylan wrote some of the most influential songs of the 1960s. He will receive a prize of $927,740.

[From NBC News]

While it’s unusual – perhaps unprecedented? – for a songwriter to win the Nobel for Literature, think of it this way: he’s a poet. Perhaps he is one of the most famous and beloved American poets in history, right up there with Walt Whitman. Let’s spend the day listening to Bob Dylan recite and sing his best poetry!

Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN, Fame/Flynet.

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60 Responses to “Bob Dylan just won the Nobel Prize for Literature, which is awesome”

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  1. T.Fanty says:

    Hmmmmm, yes and no. Dylan is terrific, don’t get me wrong. However, it’s been a long time since an American has won, and there are many, many deserving writers (Don Delillo, for one). To give it to a songwriter seems a tiny bit of a backhanded compliment to America.

    • Locke Lamora says:

      There is amazing American literature, but works in the English language get much more exposure and acclaim anyway, so the Nobel Prize is one of the rare ways literature from smaller, non-English speaking countries gets exposure.
      I love Dylan and think he’s an amazing artist, but Nobel Prize worthy? I’m not sure.

      • Marcia says:

        Agree w/ u Locke. Hollywood has taken over. All these wonderful lits and this is who they give it to? Criteria alone doesn’t even put him in contention. BTW, what is his real name?

      • SusanneToo says:

        Robert Zimmerman.

      • Megan says:

        He has been nominated many times before, including nominations by Bill Wyman and Alan Ginsburg. This year he was nominated by a group of English, literature and fine arts university professors from several different countries. Most people only know his hits (which were mostly popularized by other singers), but a deeper look into his canon shows a poet of remarkable depth.

      • SusanneToo says:

        In 115 years twelve Americans have won the Literature prize and three of those writers were immigrants who wrote mostly in their native language, such as Isaac B. Singer. Perhaps another poster can detail the number of British authors. But, at any rate, it doesn’t seem that English language writers have dominated the Nobel Lit. Awards.

      • Locke Lamora says:

        @SusanneToo
        That’s what I’m saying.

    • EscapedConvent says:

      But Paul Simon and Joni Mitchell should be next, if they’re handing prizes out to songwriters. All of their lyrics stand alone as poetry.

      • Locke Lamora says:

        Or maybe some non-English speakimlng songwriters?

        I don’t know. These successfull songwriters get so much acclaim as it is, I think the Nobel Prize should be left to writers and poets.

      • delphi says:

        *cough* Leonard Cohen *cough*

        Multi-lingual, a published poet, author, advocate, AND musician. Yes, he’s Canadian, but he’s had a massive cultural impact on the world.

        Sorry…fangirling.

      • supposedtobeworking says:

        @delphi – I second your nomination for Cohen and would stuff the ballot box in broad day light. He once said there were ‘over’ 75 verses to Halleluja and I would love to read them in his writing. Or have them speak them. He is amazing.

    • seesittellsit says:

      This . . . +1,000

    • TyrantDestroyed says:

      Agreed, there are other non English speakers composers worth of the same recognition. Anyway, it didn’t shocked me to learn this as much as I was shocked by this year’s Peace Nobel prize.

  2. lightpurple says:

    Saw Baez in concert Saturday night and she performed a number of Dylan tunes. Amazing songs, best performed by people who can sing better than Dylan. Which is pretty much everyone. My cat can sing better than Dylan. But he is a brilliant poet.

    • SusanneToo says:

      When I saw Dylan in ’63 he could sing and was the best interpreter of his songs. His voice is ragged now, but, oh, the words! I still go to his shows anytime he’s near. Congratulations, Bob Dylan!
      What happy news after all the other mess going on.

    • DianaB says:

      I thought I was the only one who couldn’t stand his singing. He’s a poet alrigtht, but I preffer my music to be harmonic.

    • PGrant's Girl says:

      I saw Dylan and Willie Nelson in concert about 10 years ago and I couldn’t understand anything coming out of Dylan’s mouth. Like, he was more garbled and incoherent than usual. I was very disappointed! Willie Nelson kicked a$$, though.

  3. Simpatico says:

    What awesome news and so well-deserved for a lifetime of work from Mr. Dylan. More importantly, it’s a reminder that art matters. Art touches lives. A heartwarming thought in this grim, soulless election season.

    • Megan says:

      Simpatico, we’re simpatico. I have been a fan of Dylan’s work for three decades and am thrilled that he won.

  4. Maum says:

    I’m conflicted. Considering past winners I am not sure he is up there, however much of a talented songwriter he is.

  5. Angel says:

    I can’t help it…I LOVE Bob Dylan!

  6. Nona says:

    Dylan is brilliant. This is awesome.

  7. mellie says:

    He is one cool cat, I love him. I was thinking the same thing when I saw his name trending on yahoo this morning, “please let him be ok”…

  8. Gabriella says:

    If it had to be an American songwriter, it should have been Leonard Cohen

  9. Karen says:

    Dylan is a poet, you don’t listen for his voice. His concerts he doesn’t even talk, just gets down to it. I think its an interesting choice. He has effected minds and change in this country with his words in many ways.

  10. Tulip says:

    Bob Dylan’s work is amazing, but I think that song lyrics and poetry should be respected as two seperate works of art. I think that both are cheapened when they are lumped in together as the same thing.

    Also, when you award a songwriter’s lyrics for being poetry, you get other songwriters thinking that that should be their new goal. It’s a new motivation that distracts and takes away from the craft of song writing (because songs don’t need to be full of meaning to be awesome).

    • Esmom says:

      I’m with you. I majored in literature and songwriting was not part of the canon. Unless things have changed in the past couple decades, I imagine some profs might be wringing their hands.

      I feel like if you have to bend over backwards to justify the choice, like I’ve heard some media do this morning (“he took his stage name from a British poet, after all!”), it’s bound to be controversial.

  11. hmmm says:

    I hate to say it because I can’t stand his personality, but he deserves the prize. His is an original and timeless voice. Next up, Leonard Cohen, who actually had written many books of poetry before he began singing .

  12. paolanqar says:

    Dario Fo died today. For the people who didn’t know him, he won a Nobel Prize in literature too.. so RIP mio caro Dario.

  13. Sixer says:

    I quite like an unusual choice so quite like this.

    Not so keen on EVERY Nobel laureate of 2016 being a man, though.

  14. Ignatius J. Reilly says:

    President Obama’s smile is adorable in the bottom picture. I think he is internally fangirling Dylan!

    • SusanneToo says:

      That seems like one of the perks of the difficult job of being President – getting to award a medal to someone you admire.

  15. maria 2 says:

    First time I didn’t have to google to find out what the winner has written.

  16. Jayna says:

    I have certain Dylan albums that are always played several times a years. I have to have Bob Dylan and Neil Young in my music-listening life.

  17. Minxx says:

    Nothing against Bob Dylan but Nobel Prize for literature? Seriously? It’s not awesome, it’s ridiculous. Nobel Prize actually means something in Europe, so with all due respect, this is a joke.

    • Mel says:

      “Nobel Prize actually means something in Europe,”

      It used to. As far as I – and many people I know – are concerned, the prize (not just for literature) has been a joke for many years now.

      • Megan says:

        The fact that the Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973 says Noble committee can be a cynical and opportunistic as any other multi-national.

      • Apples says:

        Sounds like it is a joke indeed.

      • Truthful says:

        A joke ? Alice Munroe? Orhan Pamuk? Mario Vargas Llosa?

        These people are giants in term of Literature no it’s not a joke it’s still serious.

        And as much I love Dylan his prize is indeed bordering a joke… and is slap in the face of so many (many many many) extremly talented writers: Kundera, Murakami, Column Mc Cann, arundhati Roy , Louise Erdritch and many more…

        As talented as Dylan is , he is not in these people leagues.

        ps: people who have no idea who the former Nobel Prize are just don’t read..; because 90% of the winners on the 115 ones are immense masters, legends in their own…

  18. Susan Solomon says:

    Song lyrics are generally not poetry. Dylan is one of my favorites and writes stunning song lyrics, but is no poet. The only songwriter I know whose lyrics border on poetry is Joni Mitchell. And I hate to say this, but if she were a man she would have won, period.

  19. paranormalgirl says:

    Though you might hear laughing, spinning, swinging madly through the sun
    It’s not aimed at anyone
    It’s just escaping on the run
    And but for the sky there are no fences facing
    And if you hear vague traces of skipping reels of rhyme
    To your tambourine in time
    It’s just a ragged clown behind
    I wouldn’t pay it any mind
    It’s just a shadow you’re seeing that he’s chasing

    Seems like poetry to me.

    • SusanneToo says:

      There was poetry in every album he put out between 1962-75. He deserves it IMO.

    • KateBush says:

      Thankyou for writing this paranormal girl and what about this:
      Maggie comes fleet foot
      Face full of black soot
      Talkin’ that the heat put
      Plants in the bed
      The phones tapped anyway
      Maggie says that many say
      They must bust in early May
      Orders from the DA
      Look out kid don’t matter what you did
      Walk on your tip toes
      Don’t try no doze
      Better stay away from those
      That carry round a fire hose
      Keep a clean nose
      Watch the plain clothes
      You don’t need a weather man
      To know which way the wind blows

  20. Apples says:

    No, it’s not “amazing!”! Very disappointed with the choice this year. The writers got screwed again. Nobel is one of those rare awards that give literary masters well deserved recognition and sadly in some cases, provide a financial lifeline. Musicians have all of that and more. When was he last time you heard of an author getting an Oscar for a movie based on his or her book? Urge, but what do you expect, with the way Nobel has been distributed in the past couple of years!

    • Huh? says:

      Not sure I understand your analogy. The person who writes the screenplay can get an Oscar – if that’s the author of the book adapting his/her own work, great; if not, it’s whoever wrote the script. Dylan writes his own lyrics, so he gets the prize. (And books that go on to inspire Oscar-winning movies often do see a bump in sales, even if the writer doesn’t get the gold statue.)

      And yes, Bob’s doing fine financially, but the idea that all musicians get recognition and money is… really uninformed. If you’d prefer that the prize go to someone who isn’t a superstar, I can understand that, but there are plenty of writing superstars and plenty of down-and-out musicians.

      • Truthful says:

        @Huh:

        From your comment I can see why you don’t understand @Apple’s…

        ps: Littérature is not the oscars…. and writer are not screenwriters
        ps2: you should give reading a try…

    • Lex says:

      If someone is a writer only with the hopes of winning a prize, that’s pretty sad.

      It’s an honour bestowed and shouldn’t be someone’s goal. If writers can’t make a living without 1mil prize money, perhaps a change of career is in order.

  21. Frosty says:

    It’s fantastic to see lyrics finally put on a par with poetry. About damn time! Dylan should be on the same footing as Yeats, in my opinion.

  22. KateBush says:

    Thankyou for posting this .. it’s made my day. he is most definitely absolutely a poet first and foremost.