In fairness to Dylan, he doesn't appear to have asked for any of this adulation. He just wants to write and perform his songs and be left alone for the most part. Nothing wrong with that. From all that I've read about him, aside from his skill at songwriting, he's just an average guy, although perhaps a bit naive in the ways of the real world, having been sheltered from it most of his life.
What I find amusing about some Dylan fans is that they spend so much time analyzing his lyrics. Dylan writes his songs in a stream-of-consciousness manner and they contain a lot of nonsense lyrics. His true gift lies in arrangement and melody. The lyrics are secondary to his art. He could mumble his songs (and he often does) and they will sound just as good.
“’My Back Pages’ is a bad poem. But it is a good song” - Robert Christgau.
Your comments about his art being in the arrangement and melody are so true - and largely overlooked by the lyric analysts and critics of his performance and singing style.
Dylan’s tours in the 1990s were marked by excellent musicianship - he surrounded himself with some real talent on stage.
If I’m not mistaken Robert Zimmerman once said he uses words like a mathmetician uses numbers.
I like a lot of his stuff, from the old blues covers to the late 60s political songs, and into the 70s. He screwed the pooch with his “Hurricane” about Ruben Carter, though.
Hard to pick a favorite, “Subterranean Homesick Blues” maybe, or “Like a Rolling Stone.” Maybe “Tangled up in blue.” The stuff he did with Emmylou Harris is very good.
Is this a satirical post? You have that exactly opposite. Early in his career Dylan admitted he didn't give d...about melody, lyrics were everything. He didn't care much about arrangements either. Many fellow musicians were stunned by his refusal to do more than one take on any of his songs. Don't get me wrong, I have a number of early Dylan albums. In fact, it's strange, "Desolation Row" has been going through my head all day.
“Dylan writes his songs in a stream-of-consciousness manner and they contain a lot of nonsense lyrics.”
Wonder why that is? Hmmmmm?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqvvOD4bdRs