Monday, June 30, 2008

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, Don't Play A Song For Me

I've alluded to this before but I write for a couple of publications based in town here. I write about music and, for the most part, I write about local music. On Saturday night though, I revealed a secret to a friend of mine who happens to be a local musician. I try to keep this secret from everyone (until now, I suppose) but every once in awhile it slips out and honestly, I'm just sick of carrying it around with me, because it shouldn't have any impact on my credibility as a music critic/writer: I don't like Bob Dylan.

Oh, I know, "But, he's Minnesota's most famous musician!", "But, he's a genius!", "Jesus, you are an moron!" I've heard them all, but nothing can convince me. This isn't to say he's untalented, because he is. I have not and will not disparage his fans in any way--I get why people like him, I just don't. But he, like Led Zeppelin, is one of those artists that it seems you are required to like if you work within or around the music industry in any capacity. I don't like Zep much, either, by the way.

I know what you are thinking: that I am a stuck-up, elitist, hipster douchebag who only listens to bands that are not or never were hugely popular because it's "cool" to do so. That is mostly untrue. I have respect for Dylan and Zeppelin both. They influenced tons of bands that I like and listen to all the time. Dylan, in fact, largely influenced the friend that I had this little exchange with on Saturday and I like his music quite a bit, regardless of our friendship.

Why is this? Why if you identify yourself as a music writer are you then required to like certain bands? Dylan and Zeppelin are two. The Who is another (I do like them) and, for some reason, Elvis Costello is one as well (I like him quite a bit, also.) and The Beatles (duh.)

I'm not being ultra-elitist when I say I don't like Dylan. In fact, I do enjoy several of his songs every so often, but as a whole his work doesn't speak to me. I'm drawn to some of the music, however, sometimes I find the lyrics not revolutionary but just kind of insipid and ham-fisted, though I have never appreciated a lot of the '60s counterculture icons (Morrison, Grace Slick, etc.). I was born after "the revolution" happened and by the time I understood what "counterculture" meant, Dylan didn't seem like he could have been a poster boy for it at all. Maybe I just have a problem with baby boomers.

I know there are people that will want to string me up for this, but I can't help what I feel. I'm not trying to stir up trouble or be a jerk, I just don't like Bob Dylan, and I'm pretty sure that doesn't make me a bad person.

3 comments:

Unknown said...

THANK GOD THAT SOMEONE FINALLY SAID IT.

I hate Bob Dylan. Specifically: I hate Bob Dylan's voice. And now fucking Hold Steady is in to pick up the torch with "singer with the atrociously gross voice" and I hate them, too.

Yeah. I said it.

solace said...

ah yes, but if i recall Pat loves The Hold Steady?

dilemma!

;)

i won't bother getting into it re: Dylan w/ ya ever dude, not worth either of our time :)

but it does surprise me you're not a Zep fan.

Peter said...

Me. Also not a Dylan fan. Also, incidentally, not a Beatles fan. I can never be a music reviewer. I always find it interesting that, almost exclusively, the people who like the old classics (those you've mentioned, perhaps excluding Costello) and a few others... they seem mostly to be liked by people whose parents liked them. There are some few exceptions to this rule, but overall, the nostalgia factor is playing pretty heavily into it. Seems similar to the obsession with how great the old Star Wars movies were vs. the new ones. Yes, the new ones suck, but if you really paid attention to C3PO, you'd hate the old ones too.