The one Bob Dylan song that inspired Townes Van Zandt to be a songwriter: “This is what I’m gonna do”
When an artist excels in one specific thing, we often struggle to separate them from it, no matter their range in other endeavours. Bob Dylan is a good example of this, as he is arguably one of the greatest lyricists and wordsmiths in the world, to the extent that when discussing his legacy as an artist, we often forget to mention the other aspects of his artistry, beyond the songwriting.
As well as being a great writer, Bob Dylan was also an outstanding musician. He didn’t use the most complicated chord structures in the world, but the melodies he managed to entwine with his songs are truly inspirational. He would take what looked like simple ideas and create complex songs that explored not just his life but society and all of human existence.
Solo artists were already an established concept before Bob Dylan, but the idea of a mainstream singer/songwriter wasn’t. There were very few artists who wrote their own songs and then performed them up and down the country; however, it was Dylan who made this concept popular. He managed to keep things fresh and entertaining by creating various personas and becoming an elusive figure—someone mysterious with “no direction home”, who went all over the world writing poetry and making music.
This elusiveness persists today. “I never got the chance to meet him. He’s super reclusive, yeah, he’s elusive,” said Timothee Chalamet when discussing playing Bob Dylan in the biopic A Complete Unknown. Despite playing the legendary artist, he never stopped by to greet Chalamet or pass on any notes on his performance. “I don’t know if he’ll ever see the movie.”
Interestingly, while the musician has worked hard to maintain this elusive image of someone who simply travels everywhere, homeless and longing, the songwriters he inspired actually lived this kind of life. Townes Van Zandt was one of those artists, an American singer/songwriter who spent his career hopping from bar to bar, writing music and trying to make a name for himself.
It looked like Van Zandt would wind up with a relatively ordinary life. He was doing well at school and making plans to go to college and law school, and would eventually settle down with a stable job, loving family, and a nice house. One day, a Bob Dylan song came on the radio and changed everything.
Everyone has a Bob Dylan song that initially got them into his oeuvre, and for Van Zandt, that was ‘The Times They Are a-Changing’, the ballad about life, the unavoidable nature of change, and the burden of nostalgia that has moved a great many people. He felt so drawn to the track that he decided to drop all aspirations for college and an apple-pie life to pursue the uncertain path to becoming a musician instead.
Van Zandt was always very open that it was Dylan who inspired him to make music for a living, admitting that the first time he heard ‘The Times They Are a-Changing’, he decided, “This is what I’m gonna do”. He was amazed at how he “was using regular guitar and regular words and putting them together and coming out with songs that meant something”. Regardless of what you remember an artist for, the basis of it is always going to be how they changed your life.
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