Why Bob Dylan is a Poetic Genius

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  • čas přidán 29. 07. 2021
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Komentáře • 740

  • @willlord7232
    @willlord7232 Před 2 lety +911

    i cant imagine how anyone could say Bob Dylan isn't a poet, all his songs are so layered with mystery and meaning.

    • @goldmund2902
      @goldmund2902 Před 2 lety +51

      I mean, he has won the Nobel price of literature...

    • @JohnZ117
      @JohnZ117 Před 2 lety +19

      He's popular, mainstream. Nothing that a lot of people like can have deep meaning.
      /s

    • @chops5853
      @chops5853 Před 2 lety +23

      I don’t disagree that he is a poet…but I do disagree that all of his songs have meaning. Especially in the mid-sixties I think he was more interested in piecing together words that sounded good phonetically over having any real meaning to them (ex. Subterranean Homesick Blues, Leopard Skin Pillbox Hat)
      Then a lot of people will take every line and over-analyze and give some kind of meaning to it and come up with their own interpretation but if you asked Mr. Dylan himself, he would probably say something like whatever you think it means or I have no idea what it means.
      But yes, many of his songs are layered with deep meaning. Especially his earlier work and then Blood on the Tracks and Desire

    • @Gekokujo76
      @Gekokujo76 Před 2 lety +1

      Nobody is saying Bob Dylan isnt a poet...nobody who is taken seriously or is mainstream enough to be quoted. Still, it's hard to pose the question if everybody agrees on the answer.

    • @sv.aquinaslord4243
      @sv.aquinaslord4243 Před 2 lety +3

      He's not a poet

  • @CipherSerpico
    @CipherSerpico Před 2 lety +194

    I think my favorite Dylan lyric is:
    _I ain't saying you treated me unkind_
    _You coulda done better, but I don't mind_
    _You just kinda wasted my precious time_
    _But don't think twice, it's all right_
    But…
    _And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mind_
    _Down the foggy ruins of time, far past the frozen leaves_
    _The haunted, frightened trees, out to the windy beach_
    _Far from the twisted reach of crazy sorrow_
    _Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free_
    _Silhouetted by the sea, circled by the circus sands_
    _With all memory and fate driven deep beneath the waves_
    _Let me forget about today until tomorrow_ …
    Those might be the most beautiful lyrics ever.

    • @ramiladrianfarinas9768
      @ramiladrianfarinas9768 Před 2 lety +7

      “Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky
      With one hand waving free”
      So imba. This line(s) is poetry unto itself.

    • @billh.1940
      @billh.1940 Před rokem +7

      If this is not poetry what is?

    • @CipherSerpico
      @CipherSerpico Před rokem

      @@billh.1940 The answer is:
      Poor people have it.
      Rich people think they need it.
      What is it?

    • @billh.1940
      @billh.1940 Před rokem +3

      @@CipherSerpico don't know but the rich want everything from everyone. Me, I will settle for the love of a good woman, and peace of mind!
      Btw I have both. Peace and love 😘!
      The funnest thing was singers who sung don't think twice as a love song, but it is a breakup song. Sonny and Cher comes to mind.
      Go way from my window! 😂. I always thought mr tambourine was his dealer.

    • @CipherSerpico
      @CipherSerpico Před rokem +4

      @@billh.1940 The poor have it;
      The rich _think_ they need it…
      “If this is not poetry, what is”?
      _Nothing._
      The answers to your question, and to my “riddle” - are both _”Nothing”._
      There’s a longer version of that “Riddle”, but i heard that when I was very young, and it always stayed with me, because-similar to what you said: I’ve never cared about being rich; I’ve always only cared about “love”, “beauty”, and all that jazz.
      So yeah, for whatever reason, that riddle popped in my head when I read your comment.
      👊
      Also…
      Two of my favorite covers of all time, are two Dylan covers.
      • “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue” by
      *Dion* (DiMucci):
      czcams.com/video/X6cE-uQanfs/video.html
      • And, *Jon Martyn’s* version of “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright”:
      czcams.com/video/zwnskM2Bsrw/video.html
      I think both of them did a brilliant job of reinterpreting the song.
      I would definitely recommend checking those out.

  • @gearandalthefirst7027
    @gearandalthefirst7027 Před 2 lety +196

    Ngl I always thought all lyricism was automatically poetry, didn't realize there was controversy lol

    • @bunwithgun1587
      @bunwithgun1587 Před 2 lety +15

      Same lol

    • @dylanthompson8511
      @dylanthompson8511 Před 2 lety +17

      His Nobel Lit prize a couple years ago really brought the question back

    • @grais3
      @grais3 Před 2 lety +7

      honestly same

    • @kokubo399
      @kokubo399 Před 2 lety +23

      There isn't, really. Poets can be pretty gatekeepy with what is and isn't poetry. But to me, the mere existence of free verse poetry means that if strings of sentences sound musical and beautiful when put together, they can be considered poetry in some way.

    • @jamesdean9183
      @jamesdean9183 Před 2 lety +6

      I always thought that it was something like "a square is a rectangle but a rectangle is not a square" scenarios. Like lyricism is a form of poetry, but poetry is not lyricism.

  • @Fromtheforgottengardens
    @Fromtheforgottengardens Před 2 lety +589

    For me Bob Dylan is a poet. Listen to Desolation row and Hard rains gonna fall. His songs/poems is often an allegory to something important along side history and culture.

    • @Roxanneredpanda
      @Roxanneredpanda Před 2 lety +6

      one of the best of all time at that

    • @bernardorojas4511
      @bernardorojas4511 Před 2 lety +17

      Desolation Row has to be one of the greatest long poems of modern time. There is no one way to interpret it, it is up to the listener or reader to decide. The call outs to grim historical events, and yet that isn't even the focus of the song.

    • @wallsendgeordie4154
      @wallsendgeordie4154 Před 2 lety +13

      Visions of Johanna and its alright ma are 2 of my favs

    • @coreyjames1202
      @coreyjames1202 Před 2 lety +4

      Was just thinking Desolation Row would have been a better study

    • @LPChipi
      @LPChipi Před 2 lety +2

      Desolation Row is such a haunting work of art, it's insane. Its like going in trance with every listen. No wonder it inspired Watchmen. Greatness inspires greatness.

  • @hankthetank8039
    @hankthetank8039 Před 2 lety +220

    Polyphonic: This video was brought to you by Brilliant.
    Me: Yes, I'm listening to the brilliant's voice right now.

  • @Eggbutts
    @Eggbutts Před 2 lety +322

    In this video I'll break down one of Dylan's most esteemed pieces, Wiggle Wiggle.
    In the chorus, Dylan urges the listener to "Wiggle wiggle wiggle like a bowl of soup".
    This is clearly in reference to the dish known as 'soup'. In 2006, he visited the Chef Boyardee factory so it's very likely he has consumed soup at least once. Soup has been a constant inspiration for poets, including Jasper Hemmin who once wrote "I ate some soup for lunch" in a letter to his mother.

    • @dylanthompson8511
      @dylanthompson8511 Před 2 lety +26

      It was a nursery rhyme album for his young daughter. It was a lame joke 10 years ago

    • @diegofleitas8273
      @diegofleitas8273 Před 2 lety +16

      @Eggbutt - Yale wants to know your location. (tbh Wiggle Wiggle is a hoot)

    • @ryankiesow8440
      @ryankiesow8440 Před 2 lety +7

      This ducking comment made me cry laughing

    • @fivecitydirttracker4776
      @fivecitydirttracker4776 Před 2 lety +3

      Dang...."wiggle wiggle".......LMFAO...eggbut..giggle..giggle..too

    • @larryrubin5150
      @larryrubin5150 Před 2 lety +3

      The entire Under The Red Sky was written for kids. Starting with the lyrics to the title song
      Under the Red Sky.
      Great song wiggle wiggle
      Who else but Dylan

  • @jacobrees4848
    @jacobrees4848 Před rokem +96

    I'm 14 and I've been a fan of your work for a while, I watched this video not knowing much about Bob Dylan or his music, and I liked this song so much I decided to learn it on guitar since I've started learning guitar again recently, I learnt to sing it aswell and once I'd gotten good at it I went to my mom and asked if she wanted to hear this song I'd learnt. I was a bit shaky at first but I got into it pretty good and realised she was crying, turns out this was a song her mom used to play for her when she was a kid, her mom had died recently and she'd been quite depressed but it made her so happy. This is the effect music can have and I'm glad I have found your channel so that I can appreciate music more.

    • @dmtpussybacon5564
      @dmtpussybacon5564 Před 11 měsíci

      Beautiful

    • @DarhaLB
      @DarhaLB Před 11 měsíci +3

      Awesome 👏 👏
      Young man.!!! Keep learning

    • @tommonk7651
      @tommonk7651 Před 8 měsíci +1

      You are a lucky young man. You are just beginning to discover the music of a true genius. There is a huge amount of incredible music to take in....

  • @sambarker6312
    @sambarker6312 Před 2 lety +247

    I've always said Mr Tamborine Man is Dylans best piece of poetry

    • @dairebeare7839
      @dairebeare7839 Před 2 lety +8

      very important song in the development of psychedelic music

    • @spider19990506
      @spider19990506 Před 2 lety +13

      It's very good, but i'd have to say it's "Ballad of a Thin Man"

    • @aryamanachanta
      @aryamanachanta Před 2 lety +17

      Tangled up in blue is a perfect example of Dylan's lyrical genius

    • @melongod2094
      @melongod2094 Před 2 lety +9

      Visions of Johanana is my favourite

    • @ramiladrianfarinas9768
      @ramiladrianfarinas9768 Před 2 lety +3

      Everything said here I affirm, but even his most direct is poetry unto itself. Hurricane Forever Young, Murder Most Foul, just to name the few.
      Though his most poetic I can say is All Along The Watchtower and Desolation Row.

  • @guybayo2002
    @guybayo2002 Před 2 lety +106

    For me, mister tambourine is Bob himself, but I actually always interpreted the song as man walking down an ampty street after a great night, insisting that he isn't sleepy, not realising that he is already asleep as the world around him becomes more and more 'dream like'

    • @diamondcomplex2376
      @diamondcomplex2376 Před 2 lety +2

      A drug deal.

    • @guybayo2002
      @guybayo2002 Před 2 lety +4

      @@diamondcomplex2376 No.

    • @meb2126
      @meb2126 Před rokem +1

      I understand this song.

    • @JoeKoOhNo
      @JoeKoOhNo Před 11 měsíci +2

      Dylan admitted he wrote it to describe his wait for a pot dealer one night. Maybe not a drug dealer but that's what the song's about. Waiting for weed. Bwahaha ha ha ha.

    • @guybayo2002
      @guybayo2002 Před 11 měsíci

      @@JoeKoOhNo trolling. Classic Dylan

  • @bobaoriley1912
    @bobaoriley1912 Před 2 lety +167

    Fun fact: T.S Eliot won the literature nobel prize, just like bob dylan.

    • @Eggbutts
      @Eggbutts Před 2 lety +29

      Fun fact: TS Eliot is an anagram of toilets, just like Bob Dylan is an anagram of bony bald.

    • @kaushik61
      @kaushik61 Před 2 lety +9

      W.B.Yeats too

    • @CorbCorbin
      @CorbCorbin Před 2 lety +5

      @@Eggbutts
      Or Bland Boy

    • @Mark-co8gt
      @Mark-co8gt Před 2 lety +3

      @@Eggbutts or nobby lad

    • @paulmcgrory5165
      @paulmcgrory5165 Před 2 lety

      Kissinger and Obama won the Peace Prize so it is worthless. He is not a poet. Neruda is. Come on.

  • @mikesides617
    @mikesides617 Před 2 lety +86

    Mr. Tambourine Man has always hovered just overhead, a few yards away, bathed in colored light, and casting his spell out to the crowd. He is the artist on the stage.

  • @ghasemnajjary5140
    @ghasemnajjary5140 Před 2 lety +27

    maybe it's all about that vagueness of tambourine man figure.
    when you imagine it, you're not seeing someone, or even dylan himself.
    you're seeing a vague figure of an anonymous musician who we will never know.
    and that's poetry. that's music. that's bob dylan.
    thank you for the video. it was indeed brilliant.

  • @oniemployee3437
    @oniemployee3437 Před 2 lety +10

    Who even thinks that Bob isn't a poet? That man's lyrical skills are beyond anyone I've ever listened to.

  • @rman52
    @rman52 Před 2 lety +58

    Dylan and Paul Simon are wonderful poets. Blowin in the wind is a masterpiece of poetry.

    • @zackzallie8735
      @zackzallie8735 Před 2 lety +1

      True, although Paul Simon keeps mocking Dylan in lot of songs. lol

    • @rman52
      @rman52 Před 2 lety +1

      @@zackzallie8735 Really? What songs ?

    • @zackzallie8735
      @zackzallie8735 Před 2 lety +1

      @@rman52 The song A Simple Desultory Philippic (or How I Was Robert McNamara'd into Submission) by Simon and Garfunkel is one of the funny examples.

    • @rman52
      @rman52 Před 2 lety +2

      @@zackzallie8735 I think that one is actually a tribute to Dylan, not making fun of him. The whole song is in Dylan's style. And in the lyrics he makes fun of a guy that doesn't know Bob Dylan from Dylan Thomas. Now this one is a funny parody of Dylan. czcams.com/video/JUQDzj6R3p4/video.html

    • @RoughlyArtistic
      @RoughlyArtistic Před 2 lety +2

      @@zackzallie8735 One song with only two recordings back in the 60s hardly counts as "keep" mocking but okay xD

  • @fornostios8970
    @fornostios8970 Před 2 lety +55

    Another Dylan video by Polyphonic! Life is good right now!

  • @456012
    @456012 Před 2 lety +47

    For me It’s alright ma I’m only bleeding exemplifies everything I love about Dylan’s sharp, humorous and absurdist writing and contains better bars than 99% of anything any rapper today has written

    • @liquidsolids9415
      @liquidsolids9415 Před 2 lety +4

      “He not busy being born is busy dying.” Great song.

    • @endoneswa
      @endoneswa Před 2 lety +2

      It sure is a foreign sound to some ears.

    • @elijahgiter9559
      @elijahgiter9559 Před rokem

      But it's alright ma... it's life and life only.
      Thank you I wanted to make sure someone posted about it's alright ma. Imo, his best work and just as relevant today as it was upon its release. Hard rain gonna fall is amazing as well as far as a "poem" goes. His writing was just magical.

  • @pglima27
    @pglima27 Před 2 lety +185

    Yes, he's a poet. Look at something like Desolation Row, that's a masterpiece

    • @Gekokujo76
      @Gekokujo76 Před 2 lety +1

      ^ This guy Dylans!

    • @robertwhitten265
      @robertwhitten265 Před rokem

      So you are Peter Gabriel?

    • @TheMarshmelloKing
      @TheMarshmelloKing Před rokem +1

      Desolation Row is a song. It is a masterpiece, but it’s not a poem.

    • @keepthefaith6909
      @keepthefaith6909 Před 10 měsíci

      ​@@TheMarshmelloKingPoems are songs

    • @FlaschDJ
      @FlaschDJ Před 7 měsíci

      @@keepthefaith6909No. poems are poems and songs are songs. Songs with poetic lyrics are ……… songs!
      Poems sung aloud are ?
      Of course this debate is semantic nonsense.

  • @pyrostooge78
    @pyrostooge78 Před 2 lety +49

    I think the song is about transcendence. I always felt like Mr Tambourine Man was the muse - or maybe God if you will. I think it's about desire to have purpose - to be open and willing to take the ride, or see the vision - or follow the path. I feel like what he's asking for transcends music or art of any kind in a way - it's more like he's asking to understand the moment in a way that can't be described by words or pictures. I think this song - as well as many of his songs exist on many levels, and it's probably best to not think about them too much. I have a feeling Dylan himself probably didn't think about them too much when he was writing them - at least the really good ones. Only a poet can write stuff like this - but Dylan also said, "Anybody that calls themselves a poet - isn't a poet." So there's that.

    • @kenkaplan3654
      @kenkaplan3654 Před rokem +1

      I agree with this totally about transcendence (or the sacred). However I do think Dylan i knew quite well what he was writing about. However because it was so, much a gestalt, a flow,
      I agree he probably did not want everything dissected like a frog on a table. which we do anyway

  • @connorhurd3261
    @connorhurd3261 Před 2 lety +33

    He's always been a song and dance man

  • @F8Lwrld
    @F8Lwrld Před 2 lety +80

    can you try to do a writing analysis of bowie's literary style? imo his choice of words is second to none

    • @datavalisofficial8730
      @datavalisofficial8730 Před 2 lety

      That's be sick
      Why dont you do it? :3

    • @regolithia
      @regolithia Před 2 lety +1

      So true, this would make for a great video

    • @thechordwizard8429
      @thechordwizard8429 Před 2 lety +3

      something seems off about calling it second to none as well

    • @F8Lwrld
      @F8Lwrld Před 2 lety +1

      @@thechordwizard8429 you're right, changing it. my bad I didn't notice it

    • @huntermessick1286
      @huntermessick1286 Před 2 lety +5

      It would be really cool if he made it into a series. Bowie, Dylan, Paul Simon, Townes Van Zandt, Leonard Cohen, would all be good editions

  • @dannysroom
    @dannysroom Před 2 lety +5

    Bob Dylan is undoubtedly a poet, you listen to his album span from those released in 1960s - 1970s, you will find one of the best pieces of songwriting and lyricism.
    Forever Young Bob Dylan !

  • @deborraholiveri6202
    @deborraholiveri6202 Před 2 lety +13

    He's receiving the Nobel Prize for literature so I think he's earned to be known as a poet.

  • @joostkoppenaal5835
    @joostkoppenaal5835 Před 2 lety +4

    The album Desire is pure poetry. The way he sings about Sara or his adventure on Isis.
    Also One moe cup of coffee is as beautiful as dark
    The music is on that album is so rare I’ve never heard anything like it.
    One of the greatest albums ever made in my opinion

    • @zero-pl3tt
      @zero-pl3tt Před 2 lety

      I completly agree. That album has a very unique sound, and the lyrics were just as good. To me, 1975-1976 is Dylan at his second peak. His first being 64-66.

  • @weewaw3406
    @weewaw3406 Před 2 lety +20

    His book, Tarantula, is a really intriguing read. It was definitely interesting reading his poetry that was not meant to be put to song.

    • @Luke-cp2jz
      @Luke-cp2jz Před 2 lety +6

      I’m not discounting your opinion but I’ll share mine as well. I don’t think Tarantula is poetry. It’s really just avant-garde stream of consciousness writing. 99% of it can’t be tied into the entirety as a whole, there’s very little to derive or analyze from it. I’ve really tried connecting the dots and it’s just impossible. I’m a huge English literary analysis nerd so I used a lot of techniques I like to use when analyzing books, none of it worked. I really do believe it’s just drugged up stream of consciousness writing. Not to say it’s bad, I don’t. think it’s good either though. It’s extremely interesting to read and it was a fun challenge to try to analyze though I found very little to make conclusions from.

    • @JoeKoOhNo
      @JoeKoOhNo Před 11 měsíci

      It's meaningless and it sucks. I wasted forty-five minutes reading that piece of shit. Try Joyce if you want "intriguing" literature.

  • @jucypu
    @jucypu Před 2 lety +22

    My Tambourine Man , a musician who can take me out of reality and into a different world, discribed by lyrics and music , is Jimi Hendrix. To me no other musical poet can envelop me in his musical world quite as Hendrix. I can hear songs like ,,Castles Made Of Sand'' or ,,1983...'' for the hundreth time and be immediately pulled in the song ; simply by his lyrical work beyond his musical interpretation and underlining of those very lyrics. It's just like re-reading a good book like ,Lord of the Rings': You know the story and know whats coming but halfway through the first page you're straight back in this world.

    • @dondamon4669
      @dondamon4669 Před 2 lety

      Jimi Hendrix was basically trying to write like Dylan

  • @djxcd2284
    @djxcd2284 Před 2 lety +12

    Mr. Tambourine Man is my favourite Dylan’s song. Finally some attention to this overlooked lyrical masterpiece!

  • @sonicyouth29
    @sonicyouth29 Před 2 lety +5

    Visions of Johanna and Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands is downright poetry!

  • @VinceWhitacre
    @VinceWhitacre Před rokem +2

    "I don't call myself a poet, because I don't like the word. I'm a trapeze artist."
    -Bob Dylan

  • @jamesdean9183
    @jamesdean9183 Před 2 lety +66

    According to Elton John in his biography "Me," Bob Dylan, the greatest lyricist of all time, was horrible at charades because he couldn't tell you how many syllables a word had or what it rhymed with without taking a minute to think about it😂

    • @sebastian6736
      @sebastian6736 Před 2 lety +14

      This is very interesting. I've always wondered how much craft there was to his songwriting. I do believe he edits a lot, but I guess it's all based more on feel rather than meter.

    • @lgpsan
      @lgpsan Před 2 lety +7

      I think Bob was messing with Elton because charades is stupid 😆

    • @brown22sugar25
      @brown22sugar25 Před rokem

      Thank you for letting Bob borrow your coat

    • @jamesdean9183
      @jamesdean9183 Před rokem

      @@brown22sugar25 I’m so proud of myself for getting the reference you were making without having to think about it😂😂
      (You are referencing the lyric from American Pie aren’t you? Just making sure I was right before I got too excited 😂)

    • @brown22sugar25
      @brown22sugar25 Před rokem

      @@jamesdean9183 yes

  • @shaman9
    @shaman9 Před 2 lety +4

    Mr Tambourine Man is a muse - yours, mine, Dylan's, anyone's, everyone's... It's that moment of inspiration that leads to creation, that moment you lose yourself in the Zen timelessness that follows

  • @Faygris
    @Faygris Před 2 lety +6

    What? Who in their right mind would doubt he's a poet? 😦
    Mr. Tambourine Man has always been one of the most special songs to me personally. It's also the reason why I started playing the guitar.

  • @tylerhackner9731
    @tylerhackner9731 Před 2 lety +30

    Minnesotan here. He’s a damn legend!

    • @datavalisofficial8730
      @datavalisofficial8730 Před 2 lety +4

      Brazillian here. He's a damn legend !

    • @deanyanko3326
      @deanyanko3326 Před 2 lety

      his consciousness is far beyond.

    • @NolalanD
      @NolalanD Před 3 měsíci

      I've been wanting to go to Duluth and Hibbing to see where he was born and raised.

  • @gottfridgrubb9628
    @gottfridgrubb9628 Před 2 lety +3

    I belive that MR tamburin man is the feeling from just flying away in music those early mornings after being out with friends, the cigarets lying all aorund, emot bottelse and all that

  • @therenewedpoet4292
    @therenewedpoet4292 Před 2 lety +37

    Yes, lyrical poet. Singular, objective answer.

  • @Gekokujo76
    @Gekokujo76 Před 2 lety +3

    Mr Tambourine Man is music itself....a nameless personification of music. We who take refuge in music's sheltering arms are the observer. I have heard the many drug references/interpretations, but I would ask you to (just once) see music as that "mood changing" substance and listen to the song again. Whether it is discomfort, boredom, happiness, depression, or celebration....many of us look for a tambourine man in that situation. The music isnt magical, but our need of it in those moments makes it seem like a drug/trip/magic.

  • @tomm1413
    @tomm1413 Před 2 lety +7

    For me Mr. Tambourine Man always has this special place in my heart, because I could easily relate to the meaning it had my mind.
    The song is about Dylan and some friends, being up late and just making interesting conversations (Something my friends and I do a lot). The verses being the conversations about random subjects, such as politics (the empire in the sand), loneliness (empty streets and having nowhere to go) and adventure (I'm ready to go anywhere).
    Everytime we reach the chorus, someone decides they're not tired yet and they ask the tambourine man to play another song. The songs being a new conversation all together, so they don't have to go home yet.
    For me this song is just a metaphore for all the late nights, me and my friends have spent at bars, talking about whatever comes to mind. We even discussed Mr. Tambourine Man and came up with this meaning for the song!

  • @mokodo813
    @mokodo813 Před 2 lety +4

    Bob Dylan is definitely a poet. His storytelling is one of a kind.

  • @Dazbog373
    @Dazbog373 Před 2 lety +1

    He's a poet in the original sense of the word: a maker, a troubadour. His words are more impactful when sung than on the page. But poetry is written to be sung.

  • @ciannolan9713
    @ciannolan9713 Před 2 lety +1

    For me Mr. Tambourine Man has always been any musician you hear after a prolonged period of elation that ended too soon for you. Be that a busker on the street, someone jamming in the park or someone on a stage in a small pub in the wee small hours

  • @enrique.garcia
    @enrique.garcia Před 2 lety +6

    13:07 I totally was expecting "That's JUST A THEORY!"

  • @lp-xl9ld
    @lp-xl9ld Před 2 lety +2

    I knew a guy in college who thought that music started and ended with Dylan. Wonder where he is now and if he saw this.

  • @LouisHansell
    @LouisHansell Před 11 měsíci

    I was lucky enough to have great teachers in high school, who led us to Yeats and Eliot. But when we arrived at Artur Rimbaud, the connection to Dylan was clear.
    Read Rimbaud's "The Drunken Boat". Yes, Sailing to Byzantium and The Love Song each have specific imagery that Dylan refers to in "Mr. Tambourine Man".
    "The Drunken Boat", which precedes those poems, is that poem that Dylan pays tribute to in his song.

  • @andrewhoyle1521
    @andrewhoyle1521 Před rokem +3

    The last verse in this song is the most beautiful I've ever heard. It's pure Magic, it always takes my mind on a trip of wonder, fantasy, and imagination. I want this song played at my funeral .

  • @ZacargoGaming
    @ZacargoGaming Před 2 lety +4

    From sleeping through Literature in high school to watching an explanation of poetry on YT years later

  • @musamusashi
    @musamusashi Před rokem

    When i was first introduced to Dylan i was 9, and this became my favorite song.
    Way back in 1977.

  • @DEPARTMENTOFREDUNDANCYDEPT
    @DEPARTMENTOFREDUNDANCYDEPT Před 3 měsíci

    This is one of the many wonderful songs from the soundtrack of my life and my coming of age in the 1960's. At the end of that decade I was 24 years old, newly married, and recently honorably discharged from the U.S. Navy, having served aboard a destroyer during one combat cruise to the Gulf of Tonkin during the Vietnam War. I was discharged into a civilian life of chaos, division, and controversy over the war, civil rights, and a "War on Poverty" that was failing just as badly as the war in Vietnam. In those days, just as is true today, sixty years later, music was one of my primary sources of escape from the madness of the world swirling around me. I sometimes think I might not have survived until today without the soundtrack of my life. It was the best soundtrack anyone could ever have hoped for. Is Bob Dylan a poet? What a silly question.

  • @valentinavargas6302
    @valentinavargas6302 Před 2 lety +1

    It’s always a good day when it’s a Bob Dylan video

  • @2ndRangersbn
    @2ndRangersbn Před 2 lety +21

    Bob the greatest EVER

  • @elstonngunn4193
    @elstonngunn4193 Před 2 lety +1

    Fuck yea, always love polyphonics videos on Bob Dylan and always wanted him to do tambourine man, this is great

  • @liammcdonagh4242
    @liammcdonagh4242 Před 2 lety +1

    Always though it was “ I promise to go wandering”

  • @zachparade2791
    @zachparade2791 Před 2 lety +2

    I always sensed that Mr. Tambourine Man was a Pan like figure-a sort of ghost or spirit of music acting as the Pied Piper pulling Dylan through New Orleans, the night, and life.

  • @oleggorky906
    @oleggorky906 Před 11 měsíci

    It’s a search for transcendence. An escape from all the problems pressing in when he can’t sleep. He’s feeling lonely, even when he’s in a crowd.

  • @adamfinucane3048
    @adamfinucane3048 Před 2 lety +15

    Mr Tambourine man is anyone who feels music as the escape from daunting reality and as a coping mechanism to the inevitable hardship.

  • @r3znor_x
    @r3znor_x Před 2 lety +1

    For me the song always conjured up the image of a sad drunkard in a quiet old-time bar talking to a guitarist in the early hours of the morning; The tambourine man in my mind was the only person that drunkard had left to talk to, to keep his spirits up, to bring him any sort of happiness after a long night. I feel that, much like with most every song of Dylan's, it's a song that's deeply personal to each and everyone who hears it for different reasons, and I feel that that's what he truly wanted his music to be.

  • @raymohyde422
    @raymohyde422 Před 8 měsíci

    Tambourine man is an ode to all the minstrels and poets before and including himself

  • @lesiaguinn7358
    @lesiaguinn7358 Před 2 lety +2

    12:56 is a brilliant poem in a poem about what Dylan’s work meant to the author. I’m in awe!

  • @ericandthecanyonlanders5425
    @ericandthecanyonlanders5425 Před 6 měsíci

    He's following his muse. Today, a muse is a person who serves as an artist's inspiration.

  • @hunterhill1739
    @hunterhill1739 Před 2 lety +2

    My all time favorite song. The imagery in his final verse takes you somewhere else

  • @freesk8
    @freesk8 Před 2 lety +2

    This College English paper would have gotten an A+ back in the 1970's... Loved it! Thanks! :)

  • @harrybackus2258
    @harrybackus2258 Před 9 měsíci

    "I decided that it was not wisdom that enabled poets to write their poetry, but a kind of instinct or inspiration, such as you find in seers and prophets who deliver all their sublime messages without knowing in the least what they mean." - Socrates

  • @Denleendeapan
    @Denleendeapan Před 2 lety +11

    I thought I’d add a few notes on this terrific video and especially the three poets and their influence on Bob Dylan.
    Rimbaud’s influence, while already felt in ‘64, can be heard most clearly on the symbolist material that Dylan wrote in ‘65/‘66, especially Visions of Johanna (which I consider Bob’s greatest lyrical accomplishments). Rimbaud was also important to others in Bob’s sphere, especially Patti Smith.
    Yeats’ impact on Dylan is less stated. He has never (to my knowledge) explicitly spoken about Yeats, but nevertheless I see the impact of the Irish laureate on songs like Shelter from the Storm and All Along the Watchtower.
    In ‘Chronicles: Vol. 1’, Dylan’s autoficticios memoirs, Dylan claims that he came around to reading the poet later on in his life. When he name-drops Eliot and Pound in Desolation Row (written a year after Tambourine Man), he had not yet read either man’s work (and he claims that he never got around to reading Pound). This said, a lot of what Dylan writes and says should be taken with about a metric tonne of salt.
    Whether or not these poets had a direct influence on Tambourine Man, it remains fascinating how the works of others, integrated into our cultural milieu, directly or indirectly osmose into the literary creations of those that come after them.

    • @Denleendeapan
      @Denleendeapan Před 2 lety +2

      And yes, Dylan is a poet. Perhaps the greatest working today :)

    • @nozecone
      @nozecone Před 2 lety +2

      "it remains fascinating how the works of others, integrated into our cultural milieu, directly or indirectly osmose into the literary creations of those that come after them." - Sorry - felt it bore repeating ... !

    • @Denleendeapan
      @Denleendeapan Před 2 lety

      @@nozecone Thank you!

    • @Skanda1111
      @Skanda1111 Před 2 lety

      Thank you for taking the time to write this.

  • @lordsleepyhead
    @lordsleepyhead Před rokem +1

    You're absolutely right. Anyone who has ever been in a night they never wanted to end would recognize these lyrics. These night could be drug-fueled or just energy-fueled but the end is always the same: the night dies as the next day is being born and you're left wanting it to go on just a little bit longer.

  • @wrcurley
    @wrcurley Před 5 měsíci

    I know a lot of Shakespeare. I know a lot of Dylan. These things nourish. At odd moments, phrases rise like slow fish in dark water. It is always a comfort.

  • @mintman325
    @mintman325 Před 2 lety +2

    Mr. Tambourine Man is my favorite song of all time. So happy it resonates with others too :D.

  • @landonoberg519
    @landonoberg519 Před 2 lety +2

    Interesting. I always interpreted Mr. Tambourine Man as an artist's attempt to converse with, submit to and/or chase after his elusive muse. I really like your interpretation though. :)

  • @danielboard9510
    @danielboard9510 Před 2 lety +1

    Its about being hungover, and the attempt to recollect everything, from the journey you went on, the night before.

  • @Pumpkinking64
    @Pumpkinking64 Před 2 lety +4

    Amazing. AMAZING. As a huge Bob Dylan fan myself, I really look forward to seeing your future videos on him. Would love to see a deconstruction of "Jokerman".

  • @harrisonshields7084
    @harrisonshields7084 Před měsícem

    I've always understood this song, and Mr Tamborine Man himself, to be intimately tied to the story of the Pied Piper somehow, only with tamborine instead of pipe. I like what you said about it being an "ode to any musicians who can tear us away from the malaise of the world and let us disappear into dream and fantasy". I think it is that, and sometimes that musician is Dylan himself. I also think Mr. Tamborine Man may just be that inherent power within music to deliver us into ecstasy for at least a moment here and there. But in any case it is from the point of view of one of the children of the village, not coerced into following the Pied Piper- that mysterious and hypnotizing force of nature- but begging to be put under his spell.

  • @subhendukarmakar2767
    @subhendukarmakar2767 Před 2 lety +3

    This song is art dripping like honey.
    We cannot contain it in the confines of poetry or music or anything worldly for that matter; anything definable. Dylan combines elements of our ragged world and manages to transcend it effortlessly.

  • @dreadmink8577
    @dreadmink8577 Před 2 lety +4

    he needs to go through "Desolation row" its a beautiful song probably my favorite

  • @isaiahtrueweaver9708
    @isaiahtrueweaver9708 Před 2 lety +1

    To me, Mr. Tambourine Man has always been myself, not only because of how the lyrics demand so much of the listener but because of how the song drew me personally into the making of music. It was my central driving force into the learning of guitar, the craft of lyric writing, and of songwriting. The song made me into Mr. Tambourine Man. I like to imagine Dylan would be pretty happy with that.

  • @philipgwilliam6989
    @philipgwilliam6989 Před 2 lety +8

    I honestly never realised that people exist out here in the world that claim that he isn't a poet.

  • @HanabangIrawan-nu7uo
    @HanabangIrawan-nu7uo Před 4 měsíci

    Here from.indonesia ......real dylan fans since 1961 ......speak indonesian ....ok , bob dylan adalah sosok seorang yg sangat tinggi kemamouannya membuat puisi yg dituangkan ke setiap lagu2 nya ,tdk perlu debat atas hal.itu , dng ksesederhanaan nada pada setiap lagunya namun ditutup oleh bunyi puisi atau seruan yg membuat hti setiap orang tergugah dan berpikir .....daya magnit power lagunya justru dr isi puisinya yg di aransir hingga jadi sebuah lagu yg punya arti dlm dan indah ....love to dylan , ever n forever , dewa musikku slmnya , disini dr indonesia jakarta sweet regard for you guys

  • @tjn2458
    @tjn2458 Před 2 lety +3

    I love your style of editing so much, it's always on point!

  • @gary1477
    @gary1477 Před rokem

    Judy Collins in introducing the song, tells a different story. She said that she attended a party in Woodstock, NY. After the party finished, she went to sleep, but woke to a faint melody. She went downstairs and sat on the steps, listening to Bob Dylan composing "Hey Mr Tambourine Man" for two hours behind a blue door of a room in the basement.

  • @kaylubproductions4517
    @kaylubproductions4517 Před 2 lety

    Thank you for everything you do with this channel Polyphonic! Out of all the CZcamsrs I'm subscribed to, I get the most excited whenever I see that you've released a new video! You're a master at what you do!

  • @davidbrizuela1042
    @davidbrizuela1042 Před 2 lety

    I was waiting for a video like this from you, thank you

  • @Uplike747
    @Uplike747 Před 2 lety +10

    Bob Dylan the goat got more bars than jay z

  • @annorder
    @annorder Před 2 lety

    I always enjoy your analyses, especially of Dylan’s songs. Thanks for this.

  • @theonewhoknocks4145
    @theonewhoknocks4145 Před 2 lety +1

    Dylan was a huge fan of New Orleans, so much so, he went back and recorded his album Oh Mercy there. Saying he was pulling from inspiration of days past

  • @asthmatraumatic1024
    @asthmatraumatic1024 Před 2 lety

    Great video! One of my favourites you’ve done so far

  • @Mister413_
    @Mister413_ Před 2 lety

    Excellent essay! One of your bests. Thank you for sharing these insights!

  • @deesee6009
    @deesee6009 Před 2 lety +9

    This video is a masterpiece

  • @waltero.8957
    @waltero.8957 Před 2 lety +1

    You captured perfectly what the song has always meant for me. Beautifully put. That song is just pure bliss

  • @augustdaye2746
    @augustdaye2746 Před 2 lety +6

    Beautiful. Insightful. Unpretentious. I usually avoid anything that hints at explaining the meaning of a song. This one doesn't impose any interpretation on the listener. It just enhances whatever this great song already means to you.

  • @patchiezero
    @patchiezero Před 2 lety +2

    babe wake up new polyphonic video

  • @angusguite9816
    @angusguite9816 Před 2 lety

    Thank you so much for this. Your contents are always insightful and informative. 🥺💙

  • @isaaclopezcisneros7062
    @isaaclopezcisneros7062 Před 2 lety +6

    When you said "Is Bob Dylan a poet?" I heard Raycevick

  • @pnuemam3330
    @pnuemam3330 Před rokem +1

    I’m really happy that I’ve happened across your channel. Your videos are very enjoyable and so well done. I absolutely love the focus on the powerful combination of music and poetry. Personally I feel like they go hand in hand. Thank you for the excellent content. 🤘

  • @valeriepamelabernard3176

    Im speechless… I get just as emotional listening to your comments as I do when I listen to the songs themselves!!! 😍😍😍 I found myself going on about my day listening to your videos in the background, but paying attention to every single one of your words!!! And I find myself answering out loud when you bring up a question and my heart literally skips a beat every time I hear your answer as I’m answering .. and our answer is the same!!! So far on every video I’ve watched I thought to myself « Wow! That’s it! This guy knows exactly what it is! » you are amazing!!! How you paint with words the beautiful métaphores from these amazing songs takes my breath away!!! 😍😍😍

  • @JeffRebornNow
    @JeffRebornNow Před 2 lety +2

    As someone who has written and published (and, of course, read) a lot of poetry the answer, for me, is yes. And I don't know any literary academicians who would say otherwise.

  • @zhikrqueen
    @zhikrqueen Před rokem

    I knew the actual Mr. Tambourine man in Dylan’s circle, musician Bruce Langhorne, but I also appreciate your meta-analysis.

  • @johnthemachine
    @johnthemachine Před 2 lety +3

    The highway is for gamblers, betters use your cents, take what you have gathered from coin-cidence.

  • @neru6183
    @neru6183 Před 2 lety

    Wow, just WOW! I felt it, really, when you said "let me forget about today until tomorrow" as an explanation of YOUR experience with Dylan's music, using HIS words. Truly beautiful, I'm really hoping on more vids on Dylan. Keep up the good work :))

  • @lisalane7648
    @lisalane7648 Před 2 lety +3

    Bob Dylan won The Noble Prize for his Songwriting. There will never be a better song writer. ❤️✌️✝️♥️🦃😇🍁🙏🌹🛷🎅🦌🍎😊☮️

  • @billyritchey7292
    @billyritchey7292 Před 2 lety

    Highway 61 revisited is one of my favorite stories he tells

  • @blackeyedlily
    @blackeyedlily Před 2 lety +2

    I think the award of the Nobel Prize for literature firmly places Dylan among the great poets of our modern age.

    • @robertemanuelfollett1146
      @robertemanuelfollett1146 Před rokem

      I didn't need to see a Nobel prize to know that Bob Dylan was/is a great poet. His first few record albums more than demonstrated that.

  • @pauls2073
    @pauls2073 Před 2 lety

    I was waiting and searching for this for some years now... thank you

  • @emilsvensson7491
    @emilsvensson7491 Před 2 lety

    One of my favourite videos in a while! Very good!!

  • @marcadiadd5681
    @marcadiadd5681 Před 5 měsíci

    “Well I sing about dreams
    And I rhymes it with "seems"
    'Cause it seems that my dream always means
    That I can prophesy all kinds of things.”
    -Syd Barrett (Bob Dylan Blues)