Bob Dylan

I want to talk a little about what Bob Dylan has to say about his work as an artist. I find it hard to believe that his songs have no message. Even If Bob Dylan just writes what ever comes to mind, what he writes about and how he writes creates art and, in my opinion, art does not exist for art's sake. The albums we have studied epitomized what many of his peers were thinking and feeling, and even if his influence was unintentional, it was honest and as a result, unifying. Maybe Dylan realizes that he has created something bigger than himself and that is why he feels unqualified to comment on his art. Maybe he feels like he gave as much as he could by simply writing the songs, or resented the public for always wanting something more. Regardless, his songs do not lack meaning, they just lack Dylan's explanation of meaning.

I think it's interesting that the general public does care so much about what the artist thinks. Because Dylan refuses to comment on his work, we are left in this sort of limbo land of wanting validation for our interpretations. Even though Dylan explicitly says, "it means whatever you want it to mean." Somehow, that's just not satisfying. I think that there is a sense of condescension in the way Dylan refuses to acknowledge his own importance. Dylan does not give his audience the chance to judge his explanations because he gives no explanation at all. He always seems to be on a higher level, and we are left on our own to decode his lyrics. I think this bothers some because we want to be told we are right. When we come up with ideas on our own we risk being "wrong," even though in reality there isn't really a wrong interpretation if it can be textually supported.