Exposing Bob Dylan
Behind the legend

Legacy


Contributions to Music

Dylan is considered a seminal influence on several musical genres, especially folk rock, country rock and Christian rock. As Edna Gundersen stated in USA Today: "Dylan's musical DNA has informed nearly every simple twist of pop since 1962." Punk musician Joe Strummer praised Dylan for having "laid down the template for lyric, tune, seriousness, spirituality, depth of rock music." Other major musicians who acknowledged Dylan's importance include Johnny Cash, John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Pete Townshend, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Nick Cave, Patti Smith, Syd Barrett, Joni Mitchell, and Tom Waits. David Bowie, in his tribute, "Song for Bob Dylan", described Dylan's singing as "a voice like sand and glue".


Influence on Watchmen

Dylan is referenced 3 separate times during the novel. At the end of chapter 1, a line from Dylan’s song “Desolation Row” are used. At the end of chapter ten, Dylan’s song “All along the Watchtower” is referenced. At the end of chapter eleven, The song title of “The Times they are a’changing” is referenced in a promotional piece inside the novel. The use of Dylan's lyrics contributes to the idea of doomsday.


Subterranean Homesick Blues

Listed by Rolling Stone magazine as the 332nd "Greatest Song of All Time", "Subterranean Homesick Blues" has had a wide influence, resulting in iconic references by artists and non-artists alike. Most famously, its lyric "you don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" was the inspiration for the name of the American radical left group the Weathermen, a breakaway from the Students for a Democratic Society. In a 2007 study of legal opinions and briefs that found Bob Dylan was quoted by judges and lawyers more than any other songwriter, "you don't need a weatherman..." was distinguished as the line most often cited.John Lennon was reported to find the song so captivating that he did not know how he would be able to write a song that could compete with it.