“An out-of-body experience”: the song Bob Dylan said anyone can make sound good
It was never entirely clear how Bob Dylan felt about The Beatles.
As both bands shared the limelight in the 1960s, it became increasingly clear how the Fab Four felt about him, and while they shot to commercial fame damn-near immediately, The Beatles looked at Dylan with artistic envy, as he managed to navigate the waters of mainstream fame with a strong sense of authenticity, writing music that was designed to reflect his sense of self as opposed to appeasing the masses.
So as the screams grew louder for The Beatles, the walls of expectation began closing in, and there was an underlying fear that their pursuit of originality may be squashed, and so, they began their sonic pivot, beginning with Rubber Soul, which the band had made no bones about revealing was Dylan-inspired.
Accepting that their music was following the guidance of the great folk hero, Lennon professed, “Listen, there’s nothing wrong with following examples. We can have figureheads and people we admire, but we don’t need leaders. ‘Don’t follow leaders, watch the parking meters.’”
Dylan took slight exception to the inspiration, remarking ‘Norwegian Wood’ in particular as something of a direct rip-off. But as time moved on and The Beatles left the rather rudimentary experimentalism of Rubber Soul in the dust, it became abundantly clear that the band were no longer in the plagiarism business and instead, operating solely on the fumes of their own genius.
The second half of The Beatles’ career caught the attention of Dylan, and suddenly, the playing fields had been levelled. Just as the band were admirers of him in the early stages of the ‘60s, Dylan became a starry-eyed fan of The Fab Four, marvelling at their ability to evolve songwriting norms and create something completely unique.
He mostly regarded their melody writing ability, as well as their harmony arrangements, as the key component of their genius. But there was an underlying essence of accessibility that he remarked as another component of their brilliance, outlining how their songs can exist in the grand settings of an orchestra, as well as in the humble origins of a pub singalong, and still sound equally as good.
“I think a great song has the sentiments of the people in mind,” Dylan began, before referencing The Beatles more directly. “When you hear it, you get a gut reaction, and an emotional one at the same time. A great song follows the logic of the heart and stays in your head long after you’ve heard it, like ‘Taxman,’ it can be played with a full orchestra score or by a strolling minstrel, and you don’t have to be a great singer to sing it. It’s bell, book, and candle. Otherworldly. It transports you, and you feel like you’re levitating. It’s close to an out-of-body experience.”
It’s somewhat fitting that Dylan picked ‘Taxman’ in particular, for that was a song written by his future Traveling Wilburys bandmate George Harrison, and through the quieter Beatles music and friendship, a mutual relationship of respect was formed between the two biggest icons of the 1960s.
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