Bob Dylan has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.” He is the first songwriter ever to receive the literature prize and the first American to do so since Toni Morrison in 1993.
We could spend the next 500 words explaining why we believe Dylan is worthy of the prize, and it’s an easy case to make, but sometimes it’s better to get out of the way and let the writer speak for himself. Here, then, are selected lyrics from each of the 10 songs on Dylan’s 1975 album Blood on the Tracks, arguably his greatest work. While Dylan said the album was inspired by Chekhov’s short stories, his son Jakob said it is more personal than that: “The songs are my parents talking.”
Tangled Up in Blue: She lit a burner on the stove / And offered me a pipe / I thought you’d never say hello, she said / You look like the silent type / Then she opened up a book of poems / And handed it to me / Written by an Italian poet / From the thirteenth century / And every one of them words rang true / And glowed like burnin’ coal / Pourin’ off of every page / Like it was written in my soul / From me to you / Tangled up in blue.
Simple Twist of Fate: They walked along by the old canal / A little confused, I remember well / And stopped into a strange hotel / With a neon burnin’ bright / He felt the heat of the night / Hit him like a freight train / Moving with a simple twist of fate.
You’re a Big Girl Now: Love is so simple, to quote a phrase / You’ve known it all the time, I’m learnin’ it these days / Oh, I know where I can find you, oh, oh / In somebody’s room / It’s a price I have to pay / You’re a big girl all the way.
Idiot Wind: I noticed at the ceremony, your corrupt ways had finally made you blind / I can’t remember your face anymore, your mouth has changed, your eyes don’t look into mine / The priest wore black on the seventh day and sat stone-faced while the building burned / I waited for you on the running boards, near the cypress trees, while the springtime turned / Slowly into Autumn.
You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go: I’ll look for you in old Honolulu / San Francisco, Ashtabula / Yer gonna have to leave me now, I know / But I’ll see you in the sky above / In the tall grass, in the ones I love / Yer gonna make me lonesome when you go.
Meet Me in the Morning: The birds are flyin’ low babe, honey I feel so exposed / Well, the birds are flyin’ low babe, honey I feel so exposed / Well now, I ain’t got any matches / And the station doors are closed.
Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts: The next day was hangin’ day, the sky was overcast and black / Big Jim lay covered up, killed by a penknife in the back / And Rosemary on the gallows, she didn’t even blink / The hangin’ judge was sober, he hadn’t had a drink / The only person on the scene missin’ was the Jack of Hearts.
If You See Her, Say Hello: If you get close to her, kiss her once for me / I always have respected her for busting out and gettin’ free / Oh, whatever makes her happy, I won’t stand in the way / Though the bitter taste still lingers on from the night I tried to make her stay.
Shelter From the Storm: ‘Twas in another lifetime, one of toil and blood / When blackness was a virtue and the road was full of mud / I came in from the wilderness, a creature void of form / “Come in,” she said, “I’ll give you shelter from the storm.”
Buckets of Rain: I been meek / And hard like an oak / I seen pretty people disappear like smoke / Friends will arrive, friends will disappear / If you want me, honey baby / I’ll be here.
Dylan’s catalog is too rich to do it justice in this space. He is an artist deeply sensitive to war, racism and all forms of injustice, and the passage of time has not diminished the relevance of his words. We sincerely hope the Nobel Prize will help his voice carry anew over this turbulent world.