The musician Bob Dylan called the North Star: “You could guide your ship by him”
While many musicians burn bright and fast, there are a select few who have honed legacies as constant as the northern star. Bob Dylan is an example of the latter, an artist who has maintained his place in our cultural consciousness for well over half a century, whose compositions constantly find a place in best of all-time lists and whose influence can still be felt across songwriting today.
Securing himself as a folk legend in the early 1960s, Dylan gradually moved the genre into more rocking territory. The sonic shift drew him criticism from fans at first but has since won Dylan acclaim and influence in the genre, guiding others in the same direction. However, perhaps the most consistent and forward-thinking element of Dylan’s artistry was his lyricism.
Walking the line between protest song and poetry, Dylan honed one of the most affecting songwriting styles not only in the folk genre, but in music history. He turned observations and frustrations from the world around him into intricately-woven lyrical tapestries, brimming with beauty and meaning in equal measure.
His lyrics would guide the work of countless others, from the folk scene that surrounded him to the covers of Joan Baez to modern artists like Lana Del Rey, but Dylan had his own sonic north star: country icon Johnny Cash. When the singer passed away in 2003, Dylan took the time to honour him in a statement for Rolling Stone, in which he shared the impact Cash had on his own career.
“I was asked to give a statement on Johnny’s passing and thought about writing a piece instead called ‘Cash Is King,’” he began, “because that is the way I really feel.” Dylan went on to suggest that Cash “was and is the North Star; you could guide your ship by him – the greatest of the greats then and now.”
Dylan went on to remember the intense love affair he had with ‘I Walk the Line’ in the mid-1950s, the relationship he honed with Cash in the early 1960s, and the impact the country singer has on him to this day. Though he acknowledged that they hadn’t seen each other much later on in their careers, Dylan maintained that “in some kind of way, he was with me more than people I see every day.”
Over two decades on from his death, Cash is still present, a north star for Dylan and countless others. Like Dylan, the country star’s music still maintains cultural relevance even today. From the twangs of ‘I Walk the Line’ to his Trent Reznor-approved cover of ‘Hurt’, much of Cash’s output has stood the test of time, reaffirming his place in music history.
Meanwhile, Dylan has become a north star of his own, leading many others just as Cash did with him. Just as he did with Cash, many folk artists have guided their ship – or their sound – by him. He has earned his place alongside Cash as one of the greatest of the greats.
Between them, Dylan and Cash have given us some of the most poetic and affecting songs of all time, songs to guide musicians but also songs to guide emotions, to help people find their way through hard times.
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