The artist Tom Petty thought was better than Shakespeare: “Pales in comparison”
Any songwriter will say that the lyrics are just as important as every note that falls out of their mouth. Regardless of how many brilliant melodies come and go throughout pop history, having just the right turn of phrase to go along with that melody is half the reason why songs resonate with people years after they’ve been released. Although Tom Petty has a discography filled to the brim with great lyrics, he believed that Bob Dylan was good enough to go up against the great writers to ever touch a pen.
However, it’s not like Petty was exactly known for writing the most in-depth songs ever made. If you listen to a track like ‘Into the Great Wide Open’, what’s the story behind it? A kid who comes to Los Angeles in search of fame and then runs into trouble with the industry? Gee, haven’t heard that one before in a million other songs.
That said, it’s not even about the lyrical depth half the time. It’s about the delivery as well, and Petty recites this kind of story as if he is imparting some divine words of wisdom. That kind of beauty in simplicity is almost a relic of the past at this point, but Dylan knew how to do that within the span of a single verse.
Just listen to an album like Highway 61 Revisited to hear what he’s all about. There are songs that cut to the bone of what life is all about, like ‘Desolation Row’, but then there’s a song like ‘Ballad of A Thin Man’ where he’s seething with rage at people who dare to tell him what his songs are about. It can go from comedic to tragic within the span of one line most of the time, and it never feels disjointed once.
Compared to the greatest preserved writings ever made, Petty said that Dylan could have gone toe-to-toe with the great poets of decades past. When discussing his own influence, Petty thought no artist could come close to the freewheelin’ troubador, saying, “I’d love to be in the conversation, but I don’t see myself as Bob Dylan. I mean, Shakespeare pales in comparison to Bob Dylan in my book.”
Despite being known as one of Dylan’s contemporaries when working in the Traveling Wilburys, Petty never stopped being a fan of the way that he wrote, later telling Runnin’ Down a Dream, “Bob Dylan, I don’t think there’s anyone we admire more.” But perhaps the reason why Petty idolised Dylan was his need to keep evolving over the years.
While not necessarily on David Bowie’s level, Dylan never felt content staying in one spot, usually trying to mix things up on every album or going in the exact opposite direction when he believed that he was getting too popular than he thought he should be. When he did find his way back into the limelight, albums like Time Out of Mind were still bold takes on life from a poet who had spent years honing his craft.
And even if people still bash Petty for being overly sentimental or too cut and dry when it comes to his lyrics, just know it’s about knowing one’s strengths as a writer. Petty knew how to paint brilliant pictures with just a few lines of text, and that kind of power is something that only Dylan can teach every time one of his records comes on.
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