Bob Dyl Tone Behind The Language

Bob Dylan’s works are part of Western culture in many ways. His songs not only have literary and musical value, but he also touched upon important political and social issues in lyrics written mainly in the 1960s. Doing so, he became embedded in American musical and literary culture and, by writing about events such as the Vietnam war or the African-American Civil Rights Movement, in American history as well. The Nobel Prize in Literature decision acknowledges him as a literary figure and accepts his works being worthy of scholarly discussion. In order to have a clearer view about Bob Dylan’s legacy, one has to be aware of definitions of culture, more specifically of popular culture and high culture and the questions of Dylan’s place in the

Janet Gezari in ‘Bob Dylan: Tone Behind the Language’ quotes Dylan who was asked if he would live elsewhere than in America. Dylan answered he would “but creatively, I couldn’t live anywhere but America, because I understand the tone behind the language there” (Gezari 482). Indeed, this understanding made him to be able to create works that can be the part of American culture, as he understands those linguistic characteristics that distinguish American English from other varieties of English. His song Highway 61 Revisited, for example, has the same title as the album on which the song was released. The title refers to the well-known American Route 61 where, according, to the song, every great problem can be solved. In almost all of Dylan’s lyrics, there are words the last consonant of which is occasionally omitted when it is followed by another word beginning with a consonant as well. For example, “Ol’ Howard” (13) instead of Old Howard in Highway 61 Revisited. This form is also a conventional American form of address. Besides the linguistic characteristics of his lyrics, some of his themes are also of typically American matter. Bob Dylan’s songs often describe social and historical issues with artistic devices giving importance both to the theme included and the how it is performed. The Lonesome Death of

Seemingly, it is a story of a sad occurrence but the language indicates deeper meaning. As Janet Gezari suggests in her writing, ‘Bob Dylan and the Tone Behind the Language’, “the whole other level” is a very important idiom used in the lyrics, because it is meant to express the racial and social differences between the two characters. The lines about the tasks Hattie Carroll or her children have to do (as the subject is not clearly expressed) are described by simple words, with no sophisticated meanings while the murder itself is written with “glamourous diction”, the language is “romantic and elevated”, highlighting the disparity between the two characters. (Gezari 491). The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll stands as an example for the complexity of Dylan’s works as it can serve as a document of a past event adapting a murder and its aftermath (with the last stanza about the trial) and it is also a piece of literature interspersing literary devices such as euphemisms and internal rhymes into the text. The lyrics resemble an elegy, a lamentation upon the dead, although only the closing lines depict actual crying when the whole story is told: “Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace and criticize all fears / Bury the rag deep in your face / For now’s the time for your tears” (35-37). Dylan has touched upon important issues of his own country with