/lit/ - Literature

Dylan was superb pre-Highway 61, from then on he wrote vapid non-sequiters posing under the guise of 'stream-of-consciousness', which was a contemporary trend while Freud was still in vogue on '60s college campuses. 'Desolation Row' may contain one of my all-time most-loathed lyrics.

>>3745766
“The kerosene is brought down from the castles/ By insurance men who go/ Check to see that nobody is escaping/ To Desolation Row”

>>3745753
IS THIS LITERATURE? WELL WHOOPSIE FUCK THE RULES OUT THE WINDOW!

THE DEBATE IS MEANINGLESS ANYWAY, OCHS FARTED OUT BETTER SONGS THAN EITHER OF THESE TWO FAGGOTS.

>>3745774
Lyrics can most certainly be studied as literature

I suspect Cohen's more technically accomplished as a poet, but Dylan is (as you say) more diverse and I think he gets more feels going on.

>>3745782
Yeah to each his own. A lot of it is colored by my own experiences. I think of "Sisters of Mercy", "One of us Cannot Be Wrong", "Avalanche". Though I had a huge obsession with Dylan's music from 15-18 and I still think he's brilliant. Dylan's delivery feels distant and deadpan to me at times, whereas Cohen always feels like he's about to come apart.

Did you mean to post this on /mu/?

>>3745782

His books of poetry are fantastic

>>3745790
This is lit related.
>>3745791
who, Leonard or Dylan?

>>3745791
"The moon is outside.
I saw the great uncomplicated thing
when I went to take a leak just now.
I should have looked at it longer.
I am a poor lover of the moon.
I see it all at once and that's it
for me and the moon."

>>3745793

Cohen

Book of Longing and Let Us Compare Mythologies are both wonderful collection.

>>3745797
I picked up book of longing not too long ago. Wish I picked up book of mercy to go with it though. Im only half way through it, but I really like it so far. Never realized Cohen had the sense of humour that he has.

(in greece, a little old lady
a worker lady
looks at me
rubs her chin
an' by sign language asks
how come i'm so unshaven
"the sea is very beautiful here"

i reply
pointin' t' my chin.
an' she believes me
needs no other answer
i strum the guitar
she dances
laughs
her bandana flies
i too realize that
she will die here
one the side of this sea
her death is certain here
my death is unknown
an' i come t' think that
i love her)

>>3745773
I'm not that into Dylanology to give you a valid or accepted interpretation, but I seem to have no problems creating coherence here. If the preceding lines talk about the exploitation of workers, it's easy to imagine oil refineries, tired men, and accidents at work which an insurance company might not cover by attributing it to the mental state of the employee (he did it to himself). The song talks about how desolation row can be a place with its own perspective on things - hence the imagery - and its own potential energies for resistance (escaping).

>>3745803
Why the sage?

>>3745803
Yeah I've always enjoyed Dylan's imagery a great deal.

They were both good for different reasons.

Threads like this are literally just opinion polls.

>>3745824
Debate and strong opinions are what make art in general exciting to me. There's a limit to how much you can truly appreciate something without discussion. It's facile to just say "both were good for different reasons.../thread"

/lit/ or not, neither Dylan's nor Cohen's penis is yours to measure. Listen to what the fuck you enjoy and stop shitposting.