Performed Literature: Words and Music by Bob DylanBob Dylan is not a poet. He is a singer-songwriter, a performing artist. The unit of his art, as collected and documented by his intended audience, is the live performance. Right now, no existing technological tool can give researchers ready access to his entire corpus of work. Revised from the author's Ph.D. dissertation (UC Berkeley, 1978) and again from its first edition (Indiana UP, 1982), Performed Literature develops a methodology for close analysis of verbal art that is heard, not seen, using as comparative examples 24 performances of 11 songs by Bob Dylan. The second edition adds a preface, two major appendices and one minor one, and a detailed index. |
From inside the book
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Page 15
Bryan Ferry ' s performance , I will show , accentuates the emotional variety of
these shifting scenes and images ... The narrator claims that he believes in his
visions and in the extremes of emotion they represent , but he too sinks
helplessly .
Bryan Ferry ' s performance , I will show , accentuates the emotional variety of
these shifting scenes and images ... The narrator claims that he believes in his
visions and in the extremes of emotion they represent , but he too sinks
helplessly .
Page 105
Now folklorist Tristram P . Coffin was being pretty radical , in the 1950s , when he
proposed that traditional ballads be regarded aesthetically as songs , not poems ,
and that a ballad ' s “ emotional core ” is what matters to singers ...
Now folklorist Tristram P . Coffin was being pretty radical , in the 1950s , when he
proposed that traditional ballads be regarded aesthetically as songs , not poems ,
and that a ballad ' s “ emotional core ” is what matters to singers ...
Page 153
By changing this verse to a more gentle and direct statement , one of regret ,
Dylan has chosen to sacrifice flashes of aphoristic cynicism to the song ' s overall
emotional development . But I have been saying all along that a song , unlike a ...
By changing this verse to a more gentle and direct statement , one of regret ,
Dylan has chosen to sacrifice flashes of aphoristic cynicism to the song ' s overall
emotional development . But I have been saying all along that a song , unlike a ...
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Common terms and phrases
aesthetic ain't album alliteration appear artistic audience Babe Baby Band beat becomes begins Blues Bob Dylan breaks chords closing comes concert continues contrast couplet create culture drums Dylan's voice effect emotional example express eyes fall feel female final follow four fourth give guitar hard harmonica Idiot Wind imagery instrumental Isis it's Italy John lady lead leave less listener live Lonely looking mark meaning measures Miss move narrator narrator's never notes opening oppositions organ outtake patterns performance phrase pitch plays poetic rain recorded refer refrain released repeated response rhyme rock Rolling Stone sad-eyed scene seems sense shift Side sings song song's sound stands stanza structure studio suggests sung tell third throughout tradition understand verse vocal voice Warner Bros woman words York
Bibliographic information
| Title | Performed Literature: Words and Music by Bob Dylan |
| Authors | Betsy Bowden, Bob Dylan |
| Edition | 2, illustrated |
| Publisher | University Press of America, 2001 |
| Original from | the University of Michigan |
| Digitized | 11 May 2010 |
| ISBN | 0761819479, 9780761819479 |
| Length | 263 pages |
| Subjects | › › Literary Criticism / General Music / Instruction & Study / Songwriting |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |