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Bob Dylan
Birthday:
24 May 1941
Birth Name:
Robert Allen Zimmerman
Height:
171 cm
Biography
[on Gordon Lightfoot] Every time I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever.
[on Gordon Lightfoot] Every time I hear a song of his, it's like I wish it would last forever.
[on Bing Crosby] A lot of people would like to sing like Bing Crosby, but very few could match his phrasing or depth of tone. He's influenced every real singer whether they know it or not. I used to hear Bing Crosby as a kid and not really pay attention to him. But he got inside me nevertheless.
[on Bing Crosby] A lot of people would like to sing like Bing Crosby, but very few could match his phrasing or depth of tone. He's influenced every real singer whether they know it or not. I used to hear Bing Crosby as a kid and not really pay attention to him. But he got inside me nevertheless.
The Fifties were a simpler time, at least for me and the situation I was in. I didn't really experience what a lot of other people my age experienced, from the more mainstream towns and cities. Where I grew up was about as far from the cultural center as you could get. It was way out of the beaten path. You had the whole town to roam around in, though, and t...
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The Fifties were a simpler time, at least for me and the situation I was in. I didn't really experience what a lot of other people my age experienced, from the more mainstream towns and cities. Where I grew up was about as far from the cultural center as you could get. It was way out of the beaten path. You had the whole town to roam around in, though, and there didn't seem to be any sadness or fear or insecurity. It was just woods and sky and rivers and streams, winter and summer, spring, autumn. The changing of the seasons. The cultural was mainly circuses and carnivals, preachers and barnstorming pilots, hillbilly shows and comedians, big bands and whatnot. Powerful radio shows and powerful radio music. This was before supermarkets and malls and multiplexes and Home Depots and all the rest.
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Folk musicians, blues musicians did write a lot of songs about the "Titanic". That's what I feel I'm best at, being a folk musician or a blue musician, so in my mind it's there to be done. If you're a folk singer, blues singer, rock & roll singer, whatever, in that realm, you oughta write a song about the "Titanic", because that's the bar you have to pass.
Folk musicians, blues musicians did write a lot of songs about the "Titanic". That's what I feel I'm best at, being a folk musician or a blue musician, so in my mind it's there to be done. If you're a folk singer, blues singer, rock & roll singer, whatever, in that realm, you oughta write a song about the "Titanic", because that's the bar you have to pass.
If you're not fulfilled in other ways, performing can never make you happy. Performing is something you have to learn how to do. You do it, you get better at it and you keep going. And if you don't get better at it, you have to give it up...Whatever you do, you have to be the best at it-Highly skilled. It's about confidence- not arrogance. You have to know y...
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If you're not fulfilled in other ways, performing can never make you happy. Performing is something you have to learn how to do. You do it, you get better at it and you keep going. And if you don't get better at it, you have to give it up...Whatever you do, you have to be the best at it-Highly skilled. It's about confidence- not arrogance. You have to know you're the best whether someone tells you that or not. And that you'll be around, in one way or another, longer than anybody else.
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I don't care what people expect of me. Doesn't concern me. I'm doing God's work. That's all I know.
I don't care what people expect of me. Doesn't concern me. I'm doing God's work. That's all I know.
[on the recordings that become known as 'The Basement Tapes'] I didn't know how to record the way other people were recording, and I didn't want to. The Beatles had just released Sgt. Pepper which I didn't like at all. I thought that was a very indulgent album, though the songs on it were real good. I didn't think all that production was necessary.
[on the recordings that become known as 'The Basement Tapes'] I didn't know how to record the way other people were recording, and I didn't want to. The Beatles had just released Sgt. Pepper which I didn't like at all. I thought that was a very indulgent album, though the songs on it were real good. I didn't think all that production was necessary.
[on folk rock] It's all music. No more, no less. I know in my own mind what I'm doing. If anyone has imagination, he'll know what I'm doing. If they can't understand my songs they're missing something. If they can't understand green clocks, wet chairs, purple lamps or hostile statues, they're missing something too.
[on folk rock] It's all music. No more, no less. I know in my own mind what I'm doing. If anyone has imagination, he'll know what I'm doing. If they can't understand my songs they're missing something. If they can't understand green clocks, wet chairs, purple lamps or hostile statues, they're missing something too.
You can be a priest and be in rock 'n' roll. Being a rock-'n'-roll singer is no different from being a house painter. You climb up as high as you want to.
You can be a priest and be in rock 'n' roll. Being a rock-'n'-roll singer is no different from being a house painter. You climb up as high as you want to.
Politics was always one because there were people who were trying to change things. They were involved in the political game because that is how they had to change things. But I have always considered politics just part of the illusion. I don't get involved much in politics. I don't know what the system runs on. For instance, there are people who have defini...
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Politics was always one because there were people who were trying to change things. They were involved in the political game because that is how they had to change things. But I have always considered politics just part of the illusion. I don't get involved much in politics. I don't know what the system runs on. For instance, there are people who have definite ideas or who studied all the systems of government. A lot of those people with college-educational backgrounds tended to come in and use up everybody for whatever purposes they had in mind. And, of course, they used music, because music was accessible and we would have done that stuff and written those songs and sung them whether there was any politics or not. I never did renounce a role in politics, because I never played one in politics. It would be comical for me to think that I played a role. Gurdjieff thinks it's best to work out your mobility daily.
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A saint is a person who gives of himself totally and freely, without strings. He is neither deaf nor blind. And yet he's both. He's the master of his own reality, the voice of simplicity. The trick is to stay away from mirror images. The only true mirrors are puddles of water.
A saint is a person who gives of himself totally and freely, without strings. He is neither deaf nor blind. And yet he's both. He's the master of his own reality, the voice of simplicity. The trick is to stay away from mirror images. The only true mirrors are puddles of water.
The myth of the starving artist is a myth. The big bankers and prominent young ladies who buy art started it. They just want to keep the artist under their thumb. Who says an artist can't have any money? Look at Picasso. The starving artist is usually starving for those around him to starve. You don't have to starve to be a good artist. You just have to have...
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The myth of the starving artist is a myth. The big bankers and prominent young ladies who buy art started it. They just want to keep the artist under their thumb. Who says an artist can't have any money? Look at Picasso. The starving artist is usually starving for those around him to starve. You don't have to starve to be a good artist. You just have to have love, insight and a strong point of view. And you have to fight off depravity. Uncompromising, that's what makes a good artist. It doesn't matter if he has money or not. Look at Matisse; he was a banker. Anyway, there are other things that constitute wealth and poverty besides money.
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Sometimes I might shift paradigms within the same song, but then that structure also has its own rules. And I combine them both, see what works and what doesn't. My range is limited. Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.
Sometimes I might shift paradigms within the same song, but then that structure also has its own rules. And I combine them both, see what works and what doesn't. My range is limited. Some formulas are too complex and I don't want anything to do with them.
[on artist from the 1960s who still play songs in the same way they always have] Those guys all had conspicuous hits. They started out anti-establishment and now they are in charge of the world. Celebratory songs. Music for the grand dinner party. Mainstream stuff that played into the culture on a pervasive level. My stuff is different from those guys. It's ...
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[on artist from the 1960s who still play songs in the same way they always have] Those guys all had conspicuous hits. They started out anti-establishment and now they are in charge of the world. Celebratory songs. Music for the grand dinner party. Mainstream stuff that played into the culture on a pervasive level. My stuff is different from those guys. It's more desperate. [Roger Daltrey], [Pete Townshend], [Paul McCartney], the Beach Boys, [Elton John], Billy Joel. They made perfect records, so they have to play them perfectly...exactly the way people remember them. My records were never perfect. So there is no point in trying to duplicate them. Anyway, I'm no mainstream artist.
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[on what kind of artist he is] Byronesque maybe. Look, when I started out, mainstream culture was [Frank Sinatra], Perry Como, Andy Williams, The Sound of Music (1965). There was no fitting into it then and of course, there's no fitting into it now. Some of my songs have crossed over but they were all done by other singers.
[on what kind of artist he is] Byronesque maybe. Look, when I started out, mainstream culture was [Frank Sinatra], Perry Como, Andy Williams, The Sound of Music (1965). There was no fitting into it then and of course, there's no fitting into it now. Some of my songs have crossed over but they were all done by other singers.
I'm coming out of the folk music tradition and that's the vernacular and archetypal aesthetic that I've experienced. Those are the dynamics of it. I couldn't have written songs for the Brill Building if I tried. Whatever passes for pop music, I couldn't do it then and I can't do it now.
I'm coming out of the folk music tradition and that's the vernacular and archetypal aesthetic that I've experienced. Those are the dynamics of it. I couldn't have written songs for the Brill Building if I tried. Whatever passes for pop music, I couldn't do it then and I can't do it now.
People have different emotional levels. Especially when you're young. Back then I guess most of my influences could be thought of as eccentric. Mass media had no overwhelming reach so I was drawn to the traveling performers passing through. The side show performers - bluegrass singers, the black cowboy with chaps and a lariat doing rope tricks. Miss Europe, ...
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People have different emotional levels. Especially when you're young. Back then I guess most of my influences could be thought of as eccentric. Mass media had no overwhelming reach so I was drawn to the traveling performers passing through. The side show performers - bluegrass singers, the black cowboy with chaps and a lariat doing rope tricks. Miss Europe, Quasimodo, the Bearded Lady, the half-man half-woman, the deformed and the bent, Atlas the Dwarf, the fire-eaters, the teachers and preachers, the blues singers. I remember it like it was yesterday. I got close to some of these people. I learned about dignity from them. Freedom too. Civil rights, human rights. How to stay within yourself. Most others were into the rides like the tilt-a-whirl and the roller-coaster. To me that was the nightmare. All the giddiness. The artificiality of it. The sledge hammer of life. It didn't make sense or seem real. The stuff off the main road was where force of reality was. At least it struck me that way. When I left home those feelings didn't change.
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[on the question of "what made you decide to go the rock-'n'-roll route?"] Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I...
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[on the question of "what made you decide to go the rock-'n'-roll route?"] Carelessness. I lost my one true love. I started drinking. The first thing I know, I'm in a card game. Then I'm in a crap game. I wake up in a pool hall. Then this big Mexican lady drags me off the table, takes me to Philadelphia. She leaves me alone in her house, and it burns down. I wind up in Phoenix. I get a job as a Chinaman. I start working in a dime store, and move in with a 13-year-old girl. Then this big Mexican lady from Philadelphia comes in and burns the house down. I go down to Dallas. I get a job as a "before" in a Charles Atlas "before and after" ad. I move in with a delivery boy who can cook fantastic chili and hot dogs. Then this 13-year-old girl from Phoenix comes and burns the house down. The delivery boy - he ain't so mild: He gives her the knife, and the next thing I know I'm in Omaha. It's so cold there, by this time I'm robbing my own bicycles and frying my own fish. I stumble onto some luck and get a job as a carburetor out at the hot-rod races every Thursday night. I move in with a high school teacher who also does a little plumbing on the side, who ain't much to look at, but who's built a special kind of refrigerator that can turn newspaper into lettuce. Everything's going good until that delivery boy shows up and tries to knife me. Needless to say, he burned the house down, and I hit the road. The first guy that picked me up asked me if I wanted to be a star. What could I say?
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[on the question of "message" songs] Well, first of all, anybody that's got a message is going to learn from experience that they can't put it into a song. I mean it's just not going to come out the same message. After one or two of these unsuccessful attempts, one realizes that his resultant message, which is not even the same message he thought up and bega...
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[on the question of "message" songs] Well, first of all, anybody that's got a message is going to learn from experience that they can't put it into a song. I mean it's just not going to come out the same message. After one or two of these unsuccessful attempts, one realizes that his resultant message, which is not even the same message he thought up and began with, he's now got to stick by it; because, after all, a song leaves your mouth just as soon as it leaves your hands. Are you following me? Well, anyway, second of all, you've got to respect other people's right to also have a message themselves. Myself, what I'm going to do is rent Town Hall and put about 30 Western Union boys on the bill. I mean, then there'll really be some messages. People will be able to come and hear more messages than they've ever heard before in their life.
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What's so bad about being misunderstood?
What's so bad about being misunderstood?
I don't need to be happy. Happiness is kind of a cheap word. Let's face it, I'm not the kind of cat that's going to cut off an ear if I can't do something.
I don't need to be happy. Happiness is kind of a cheap word. Let's face it, I'm not the kind of cat that's going to cut off an ear if I can't do something.
[on Paul McCartney] I'm in awe of McCartney. He's about the only one that I am in awe of. He can do it all. And he's never let up...he's just so damn effortless.
[on Paul McCartney] I'm in awe of McCartney. He's about the only one that I am in awe of. He can do it all. And he's never let up...he's just so damn effortless.
Art, if there is such a thing, is in the bathrooms; everybody knows that.
Art, if there is such a thing, is in the bathrooms; everybody knows that.
I would really like to think of myself as a poet, but I just can't because of all the slobs who are called poets.
I would really like to think of myself as a poet, but I just can't because of all the slobs who are called poets.
Genius? There's a real fine line between genius and insanity. Anybody will tell you that.
Genius? There's a real fine line between genius and insanity. Anybody will tell you that.
I don't break the rules, because I don't see any rules to break. As far as I'm concerned, there aren't any rules.
I don't break the rules, because I don't see any rules to break. As far as I'm concerned, there aren't any rules.
[on his songs today] I just come down the line too far to make any superfluous song. I mean, I'm sure I've made enough of them, or that I've got enough superfluous lines in a lot of songs. But I've kind of passed that point. I have to impress myself first, and unless I'm speaking in a certain language to my own self, I don't feel anything less than that will...
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[on his songs today] I just come down the line too far to make any superfluous song. I mean, I'm sure I've made enough of them, or that I've got enough superfluous lines in a lot of songs. But I've kind of passed that point. I have to impress myself first, and unless I'm speaking in a certain language to my own self, I don't feel anything less than that will do for the public, really.
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[following the death of Charlton Heston] Charlton gets a bad rap for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA, but truth to tell, he was a strong advocate for civil rights, many years before it became fashionable ... Never mind the fact that he's in a couple of our favorite movies, including Touch of Evil (1958), The Big Country (1958), P...
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[following the death of Charlton Heston] Charlton gets a bad rap for his strong conservative beliefs and involvement with the NRA, but truth to tell, he was a strong advocate for civil rights, many years before it became fashionable ... Never mind the fact that he's in a couple of our favorite movies, including Touch of Evil (1958), The Big Country (1958), Planet of the Apes (1968) and of course, Soylent Green (1973).
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[on Barack Obama] Right now, America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy there now who is redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to h...
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[on Barack Obama] Right now, America is in a state of upheaval. Poverty is demoralizing. You can't expect people to have the virtue of purity when they are poor. But we've got this guy there now who is redefining what a politician is, so we'll have to see how things play out. Am I hopeful? Yes, I'm hopeful that things might change. Some things are going to have to.
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[on Mark Knopfler] He does me better than anybody.
[on Mark Knopfler] He does me better than anybody.
I don't consider myself an educator or an explainer. You see what it is that I do, and that I've always done. But it is time now for great men to come forward. With small men, no great things can be accomplished at the moment.
I don't consider myself an educator or an explainer. You see what it is that I do, and that I've always done. But it is time now for great men to come forward. With small men, no great things can be accomplished at the moment.
Things will have to change. And one of these things that will have to change: People will have to change their internal world.
Things will have to change. And one of these things that will have to change: People will have to change their internal world.
[on Johnny Cash, in 2005] Johnny Cash was more like a religious figure to me. Just the fact that he'd sing one of my songs was unthinkable.
[on Johnny Cash, in 2005] Johnny Cash was more like a religious figure to me. Just the fact that he'd sing one of my songs was unthinkable.
[on Joni Mitchell] Joni and I go back a long ways. Not all the way back, but pretty far. I've been in a car with Joni. Joni was driving a Lincoln. Excellent driver. I felt safe.
[on Joni Mitchell] Joni and I go back a long ways. Not all the way back, but pretty far. I've been in a car with Joni. Joni was driving a Lincoln. Excellent driver. I felt safe.
A giraffe can go a long time without water. But he wants to see the menu right away.
A giraffe can go a long time without water. But he wants to see the menu right away.
Not all songs about crying are necessarily sad.
Not all songs about crying are necessarily sad.
Lipstick traces on cigarettes can get you in trouble or remind you of the wonders of the night before.
Lipstick traces on cigarettes can get you in trouble or remind you of the wonders of the night before.
I'm not ashamed to say that I lived my life to that code. Quite a man, that Gene Autry.
I'm not ashamed to say that I lived my life to that code. Quite a man, that Gene Autry.
The harmonica is the world's best-selling musical instrument. You're welcome.
The harmonica is the world's best-selling musical instrument. You're welcome.
I always liked songs with parentheses in the title.
I always liked songs with parentheses in the title.
I always thought I might want to be a doctor. Where else could you ask a woman to take off her clothes and send a bill to her husband?
I always thought I might want to be a doctor. Where else could you ask a woman to take off her clothes and send a bill to her husband?
[on Bob Seger] Some people think Bob is a poor man's Bruce Springsteen, but personally I always thought Bruce was the rich man's Bob Seger. Love 'em both, though.
[on Bob Seger] Some people think Bob is a poor man's Bruce Springsteen, but personally I always thought Bruce was the rich man's Bob Seger. Love 'em both, though.
My friend's wife is a really bad cook. I broke a tooth on her coffee.
My friend's wife is a really bad cook. I broke a tooth on her coffee.
The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the "Blonde on Blonde" album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. That's my particular sound. I haven't been able to succeed in getting it all the time. Mostly I've been driving at a combination of guitar, harmo...
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The closest I ever got to the sound I hear in my mind was on individual bands in the "Blonde on Blonde" album. It's that thin, that wild mercury sound. It's metallic and bright gold, with whatever that conjures up. That's my particular sound. I haven't been able to succeed in getting it all the time. Mostly I've been driving at a combination of guitar, harmonica and organ.
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When I first heard [Elvis Presley's] voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.
When I first heard [Elvis Presley's] voice I just knew that I wasn't going to work for anybody; and nobody was going to be my boss. Hearing him for the first time was like busting out of jail.
[on his hometown of Hibbing, MN] The town didn't have a rabbi, and it was time for me to be bar mitzvahed. Suddenly a rabbi showed up under strange circumstances for only a year. He and his wife got off the bus in the middle of winter. He showed up just in time for me to learn this stuff. He was an old man from Brooklyn who had a white beard and wore a black...
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[on his hometown of Hibbing, MN] The town didn't have a rabbi, and it was time for me to be bar mitzvahed. Suddenly a rabbi showed up under strange circumstances for only a year. He and his wife got off the bus in the middle of winter. He showed up just in time for me to learn this stuff. He was an old man from Brooklyn who had a white beard and wore a black hat and black clothes. They put him upstairs above the café, which was the local hangout. It was a rock and roll café where I used to hang out, too. I use to go up there every day to learn the stuff, either after school or after dinner. After studying with him an hour or so, I'd come down and boogie.
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People can learn everything about me through my songs, if they know where to look.
People can learn everything about me through my songs, if they know where to look.
My childhood is so far away . . . it's like I don't even remember being a child. I think it was someone else who was a child.
My childhood is so far away . . . it's like I don't even remember being a child. I think it was someone else who was a child.
Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but to inspire them?
Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire. What else can you do? What else can you do for anyone but to inspire them?
What the songwriter does is just connect the dots. The ends he sees and the ones given to him and he connects them.
What the songwriter does is just connect the dots. The ends he sees and the ones given to him and he connects them.
I think of myself as a song-and-dance man.
I think of myself as a song-and-dance man.
[1966] It's the thing to do, to tell all the teeny-boppers, "I dig The Beatles" and you sing a song like "Yesterday" or "Michelle". Hey, God knows, it's such a cop-out, man, both of those songs. If you go into the Library of Congress, you'll find stuff a lot better than that. There are millions of songs like "Michelle" or "Yesterday" written in Tin Pan Alley.
[1966] It's the thing to do, to tell all the teeny-boppers, "I dig The Beatles" and you sing a song like "Yesterday" or "Michelle". Hey, God knows, it's such a cop-out, man, both of those songs. If you go into the Library of Congress, you'll find stuff a lot better than that. There are millions of songs like "Michelle" or "Yesterday" written in Tin Pan Alley.
[about Woody Guthrie] His influence on me was never in inflection or in voice. What drew me to was that hearing his voice, I could tell he was very lonesome, very alone and very lost in his time. That's why I dug him.
[about Woody Guthrie] His influence on me was never in inflection or in voice. What drew me to was that hearing his voice, I could tell he was very lonesome, very alone and very lost in his time. That's why I dug him.
You don't necessarily have to write to be a poet. Some people work in gas stations and they're poets. I don't call myself a poet because I don't like the word. I'm a trapeze artist.
You don't necessarily have to write to be a poet. Some people work in gas stations and they're poets. I don't call myself a poet because I don't like the word. I'm a trapeze artist.
The bootleg records, those are outrageous. I mean, they have stuff you do in a phone booth. Like, nobody's around. If you're just sitting and strumming in a motel, you don't think anybody's there, you know . . . it's like the phone is tapped and then it appears on a bootleg record. With a cover that's got a picture of you taken from underneath your bed and i...
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The bootleg records, those are outrageous. I mean, they have stuff you do in a phone booth. Like, nobody's around. If you're just sitting and strumming in a motel, you don't think anybody's there, you know . . . it's like the phone is tapped and then it appears on a bootleg record. With a cover that's got a picture of you taken from underneath your bed and it's got a striptease-type title and it costs $30. Amazing. Then you wonder why most artists feel so paranoid.
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Those are songs from the Tree of Life. There's no love on the Tree of Life. Love is on the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Good and Evil. So we have a lot of songs in popular music about love. Who needs them? Not you, not me. You can use love in a lot of ways in which it will come back to hurt you. Love is a democratic principle. It's a Greek thing.
Those are songs from the Tree of Life. There's no love on the Tree of Life. Love is on the Tree of Knowledge, the Tree of Good and Evil. So we have a lot of songs in popular music about love. Who needs them? Not you, not me. You can use love in a lot of ways in which it will come back to hurt you. Love is a democratic principle. It's a Greek thing.
[on a visit to Israel in the early 1970s] There was no great significance to that visit, but I'm interested in the fact that Jews are Semites, like Babylonians, Hittites, Arabs, Syrians, Ethiopians. But a Jew is different because a lot of people hate Jews. There's something going on here that's hard to explain.
[on a visit to Israel in the early 1970s] There was no great significance to that visit, but I'm interested in the fact that Jews are Semites, like Babylonians, Hittites, Arabs, Syrians, Ethiopians. But a Jew is different because a lot of people hate Jews. There's something going on here that's hard to explain.
[on the legendary Woodstock Festival] I didn't want to be part of that thing. I liked the town. I felt they exploited the shit out of that, going up there and getting 15 million people all in the same spot. That don't excite me. The flower generation - is that what it was? I wasn't into that at all. I just thought it was a lot of kids out and around wearing ...
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[on the legendary Woodstock Festival] I didn't want to be part of that thing. I liked the town. I felt they exploited the shit out of that, going up there and getting 15 million people all in the same spot. That don't excite me. The flower generation - is that what it was? I wasn't into that at all. I just thought it was a lot of kids out and around wearing flowers in their hair taking a lot of acid.
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I can move, and fake. I know some of the tricks and it all applies artistically, not politically or philosophically.
I can move, and fake. I know some of the tricks and it all applies artistically, not politically or philosophically.
You can't be wise and in love at the same time.
You can't be wise and in love at the same time.
They'd like to use my tunes for different beer companies and perfumes and automobiles. I get approached on all that stuff. But, shit, I didn't write them for that reason. That's never been my scene.
They'd like to use my tunes for different beer companies and perfumes and automobiles. I get approached on all that stuff. But, shit, I didn't write them for that reason. That's never been my scene.
I know there are groups at the top of the charts that are hailed as the saviors of rock 'n' roll and all that, but they are amateurs. They don't know where the music comes from . . . I wouldn't even think about playing music if I was born in these times . . . I'd probably turn to something like mathematics. That would interest me. Architecture would interest...
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I know there are groups at the top of the charts that are hailed as the saviors of rock 'n' roll and all that, but they are amateurs. They don't know where the music comes from . . . I wouldn't even think about playing music if I was born in these times . . . I'd probably turn to something like mathematics. That would interest me. Architecture would interest me. Something like that.
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[from his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 1991] Well, my daddy, he didn't leave me much, you know he was a very simple man, but what he did tell me was this, he did say, "Son," he said, "you know it's possible to become so defiled in this world that your own father and mother will abandon you, and if that happens, God wil...
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[from his acceptance speech for a lifetime achievement award at the Grammys in 1991] Well, my daddy, he didn't leave me much, you know he was a very simple man, but what he did tell me was this, he did say, "Son," he said, "you know it's possible to become so defiled in this world that your own father and mother will abandon you, and if that happens, God will always believe in your ability to mend your ways.
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[when asked what his songs are "about"] Oh, some are about four minutes; some are about five, and some, believe it or not, are about 11 or 12.
[when asked what his songs are "about"] Oh, some are about four minutes; some are about five, and some, believe it or not, are about 11 or 12.
[on his song "Everything Is Broken"] Critics usually don't like a song like this coming out of me because it didn't seem to be autobiographical. Maybe not, but the stuff I write does come from an autobiographical place.
[on his song "Everything Is Broken"] Critics usually don't like a song like this coming out of me because it didn't seem to be autobiographical. Maybe not, but the stuff I write does come from an autobiographical place.
I wasn't a good husband . . . I don't even know what a good husband is.
I wasn't a good husband . . . I don't even know what a good husband is.
I've only written four songs in my whole life, but I've written those four songs a million times.
I've only written four songs in my whole life, but I've written those four songs a million times.
At times in my life the only place I have been happy is when I am on stage.
At times in my life the only place I have been happy is when I am on stage.
Basically you have to suppress your own ambitions in order to be who you need to be.
Basically you have to suppress your own ambitions in order to be who you need to be.
Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.
Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.
A mistake is to commit a misunderstanding.
A mistake is to commit a misunderstanding.
A lot of people can't stand touring, but to me it's like breathing. I do it because I'm driven to do it.
A lot of people can't stand touring, but to me it's like breathing. I do it because I'm driven to do it.
Being on tour is like being in limbo. It's like going from nowhere to nowhere.
Being on tour is like being in limbo. It's like going from nowhere to nowhere.
Chaos is a friend of mine.
Chaos is a friend of mine.
I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet.
I consider myself a poet first and a musician second. I live like a poet and I'll die like a poet.
All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die.
All this talk about equality. The only thing people really have in common is that they are all going to die.
All I can do is be me, whoever that is.
All I can do is be me, whoever that is.
A poem is a naked person . . . Some people say that I am a poet.
A poem is a naked person . . . Some people say that I am a poet.
I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me.
I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me.
Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.
Democracy don't rule the world, You'd better get that in your head; This world is ruled by violence, But I guess that's better left unsaid.
I don't think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking there's some kind of change.
I don't think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking there's some kind of change.
I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.
I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.
I like America, just as everybody else does. I love America, I gotta say that. But America will be judged.
I like America, just as everybody else does. I love America, I gotta say that. But America will be judged.
I say there're no depressed words, just depressed minds.
I say there're no depressed words, just depressed minds.
I think a poet is anybody who wouldn't call himself a poet.
I think a poet is anybody who wouldn't call himself a poet.
I've never written a political song. Songs can't save the world. I've gone through all that.
I've never written a political song. Songs can't save the world. I've gone through all that.
I'm speaking for all of us. I'm the spokesman for a generation.
I'm speaking for all of us. I'm the spokesman for a generation.
It rubs me the wrong way, a camera . . . It's a frightening thing . . . Cameras make ghosts out of people.
It rubs me the wrong way, a camera . . . It's a frightening thing . . . Cameras make ghosts out of people.
If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
Maybe in the '90s or possibly in the next century people will look upon the '80s as the age of masturbation, when it was taken to the limit; that might be all that's going on right now in a big way.
Maybe in the '90s or possibly in the next century people will look upon the '80s as the age of masturbation, when it was taken to the limit; that might be all that's going on right now in a big way.
Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.
Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.
Money doesn't talk, it swears.
Money doesn't talk, it swears.
People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.
People seldom do what they believe in. They do what is convenient, then repent.
People today are still living off the table scraps of the '60s. They are still being passed around - the music and the ideas.
People today are still living off the table scraps of the '60s. They are still being passed around - the music and the ideas.
Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them.
Take care of all your memories. For you cannot relive them.
What good are fans? You can't eat applause for breakfast. You can't sleep with it.
What good are fans? You can't eat applause for breakfast. You can't sleep with it.
The radio makes hideous sounds.
The radio makes hideous sounds.
When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it don't back down and don't give up - then you're going to mystify alot of folks.
When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it don't back down and don't give up - then you're going to mystify alot of folks.
What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.
What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.
I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.
I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.
Bob Dylan
Robert Allen Zimmerman was born 24 May 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota; his father Abe worked for the Standard Oil Co. Six years later the family moved to Hibbing, often the coldest place in the US, where he taught himself piano and guitar and formed several high school rock bands. In 1959 he entered the University of Minnesota and began performing as Bob Dylan at clubs in Minneapolis and St. Paul. The following year he went to New York, performed in Greenwich Village folk clubs, and spent much time in the hospital room of his hero Woody Guthrie. Late in 1961 Columbia signed him to a contract and the following year released his first album, containing two original songs. Next year "The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan" appeared, with all original songs including the 1960s anthem "Blowin' in the Wind." After several more important acoustic/folk albums, and tours with Joan Baez, he launched into a new electric/acoustic format with 1965's "Bringing It All Back Home" which, with The Byrds' cover of his "Mr Tambourine Man," launched folk-rock. The documentary Dont Look Back (1967) was filmed at this time; he broke off his relationship with Baez and by the end of the year had married Sara Dylan (born Sara Lowndes). Nearly killed in a motorcycle accident 29 July 1966, he withdrew for a time of introspection. After more hard rock performances, his next albums were mostly country. With his career wandering (and critics condemning the fact), Sam Peckinpah asked him to compose the score for, and appear in, his Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973) - more memorable as a soundtrack than a film. In 1974 he and The Band went on tour, releasing his first #1 album, "Planet Waves". It was followed a year later by another first-place album, "Blood on the Tracks". After several Rolling Thunder tours, the unsuccessful film Renaldo and Clara (1978) and a divorce, he stunned the music world again by his release of the fundamentalist Christrian album "Slow Train Coming," a cut from which won him his first Grammy. Many tours and albums later, on the eve of a European tour May 1997, he was stricken with histoplasmosis (a possibly fatal infection of the heart sac); he recovered and appeared in Bologna that September at the request of the Pope. In December he received the Kennedy Center Award for artistic excellence.
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