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 22
Many of his songs are proven flexible in performance across the two decades
covered in this book , a manageable unit of time for observing how the same
artistic work can shift its meaning in shifting social conditions . What did Chaucer
do so ...
Many of his songs are proven flexible in performance across the two decades
covered in this book , a manageable unit of time for observing how the same
artistic work can shift its meaning in shifting social conditions . What did Chaucer
do so ...
Page 59
This structure and positioning more precisely show why the described shift in
Dylan ' s vocal inflection on the word " girl ” can so shift the meaning of the song :
as pearl mediates between natural and cultural values , between crystal and
oyster ...
This structure and positioning more precisely show why the described shift in
Dylan ' s vocal inflection on the word " girl ” can so shift the meaning of the song :
as pearl mediates between natural and cultural values , between crystal and
oyster ...
Page 67
The long e of “ believe ” otherwise appears in the opening “ feels , ” in the shifting
senses of “ see , ” and in Baby ' s other ... a transition from the bridge - stanza “
your ” to the final refrain ' s decisive pronoun shift ) as a disrespectful yuh , and to
...
The long e of “ believe ” otherwise appears in the opening “ feels , ” in the shifting
senses of “ see , ” and in Baby ' s other ... a transition from the bridge - stanza “
your ” to the final refrain ' s decisive pronoun shift ) as a disrespectful yuh , and to
...
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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 |