The 9 songs Bob Dylan wishes he wrote: “Just outrageous”
One artist who seems to be the envy of all musicians unanimously is Bob Dylan.
The combined level of genius and freedom that he operated on from the very outset of his career, seemed to be the source of widespread jealousy. Starting out as the folk prodigy who abandoned the scene and went electric, afforded him the space to pretty much do whatever he wanted as a musician and so the rest of the world watched in awe, as he pushed both poetic and musical boundaries.
Knowing his own genius, he was a relatively gruff person from the get-go. Difficult to please and viewing the rest of the world through a scathing gaze, it was rare to find him publicly praising anyone in the musical orbit. So in the fleeting moments where he did, the world stopped, and absorbed whatever recommendation it was he was giving, as a means of understanding the world in perhaps the same way as him
Unsurprisingly, one band who garnered his praise were The Beatles. Despite some rocky moments in the public relationship between Dylan and the band, he was somewhat of an admirer and was willing to concede that the band were musical pioneers of some sort.
“They were doing things nobody was doing” Dylan once said. But not in reference to something groundbreaking from their later works but rather their earliest hit, ‘I Wanna Hold Your Hand’. He added, “Their chords were outrageous, just outrageous, and their harmonies made it all valid. I knew they were pointing the direction of where music had to go.”
A thread that follows through Dylan’s appreciation of The Beatles to the remaining artists is their use of chords. Dylan was on another level lyrically and so rarely viewed the prose of other artists as a source of envy, instead it was their construction of musical arrangements. But in the case of Leonard Cohen, there is simply no arguing that his lyrics were of a similar quality to Dylan’s.
But, for the songwriter, it was how the chords framed them, that he found most interesting. “When people talk about Leonard,” Dylan begain, “They fail to mention his melodies, which to me, along with his lyrics, are his greatest genius. Even the counterpoint lines—they give a celestial character and melodic lift to every one of his songs.”
He added, “As far as I know, no one else comes close to this in modern music,” he said. “Even the simplest song, like ‘The Law,’ which is structured on two fundamental chords, has counterpoint lines that are essential, and anybody who even thinks about doing this song and loves the lyrics would have to build around the counterpoint lines.”
While ‘The Law’ represents a song that means something personal to Dylan, there’s no ignoring the fact that with ‘Hallelujah’, Cohen wrote something that is truly transcendent. The words have rung out with poignancy for years and rivals the sort of social impact that Dylan achieved with his music. But once again, when asked about the song, it was the melody that Dylan felt connected to.
“It’s a beautifully constructed melody that steps up, evolves, and slips back, all in quick time. But this song has a connective chorus, which, when it comes in, has a power all of its own. The ‘secret chord’ and the point-blank I-know-you-better-than-you-know-yourself aspect of the song has plenty of resonance for me.”
Quite simply put, Dylan was just a bona fide fan of Cohen’s. He said, “I like all of Leonard’s songs, early or late, ‘Going Home,’ ‘Show Me the Place,’ ‘The Darkness.’ These are all great songs, deep and truthful as ever and multidimensional, surprisingly melodic, and they make you think and feel.”
While many other artists in the musical universe have experienced swift and fleeting moments of appreciation from Dylan, only one was publicly given the honour of having Dylan admit he wish he wrote their songs. Rather surprisingly, it was the band who owed their name to the songwriter, that wrote songs which were the source of his envy.
“Maybe ‘Angie’, ‘Ventilator Blues’ and what else, let me see. Oh yeah, ‘Wild Horses’” were named when Dylan asked what songs of their’s he would nab. While he was cornered into the admission by a question, the very fact that he labelled a total of three tracks is as good an admission of admiration than anything.
It’s rare to see the famed songwriter being so effusive about anything, let alone other artists. But in that sentiment lies the true impact of what he is saying. Not that The Beatles, Leonard Cohen or The Rolling Stones needed their legacies confirming, but the nod of approval from Dylan is as good as anything out there.
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