On the street side of the "wall" is a replica of the Nobel Prize. On the front side are lines from his catalog of 600+ songs In front of that sits a chair where one is obliged to sit and to imagine. What was going through Robert Zimmerman's mind as he sat in school there during his teen years? If you sit here, you can try to imagine how this swirl of words drifted through his mind and flowed out from his pen.
I don't really know how the lyrics were selected, nor do I know how many people were tapped to share their thoughts or make those decisions, but it was a privilege for me to be privately invited to contribute, and later to help whittle down the lengthy list of suggestions.
That experience came to mind this week when I ran across the Word document I believe I'd submitted initially. I prefaced my seven-page submission with an acknowledgment that I knew some were unsuitable due to length, "but in sifting through the Dylan catalog I was once more reminded of how astonishing he is as a writer. The first page here is my 'top of the mountain' list. Feel free to select from the rest which are all exceptionally good."
I won't share all. We'll just call this an appetizer.
“There must be some way out of here,” said the Joker to the Thief.
--All Along the Watchtower
Anything I can sing, I call a song. Anything I can't sing, I call a poem.
--liner notes, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan
Art is the perpetual motion of illusion. The highest purpose of art is to inspire.
--Rolling Stone interview, 1978
You want to write songs that are bigger than life.
--Chronicles, Vol. 1
If someone had ever told me that I had the slightest chance of winning the Nobel Prize, I would have to think that I'd have about the same odds as standing on the moon.
--Nobel Lecture
How many roads must a man walk down before they call him a man?
--Blowing in the Wind
I’ll know my song well before I start singing.
It’s a hard rain’s a-gonna fall.
--Hard Rain
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail,
The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder.
--Chimes of Freedom
But for the sky there are no fences facin’
--Mr. Tambourine Man
He not busy being born is busy dying
--It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
--Visions of Johanna
In the fury of the moment I can see the Master’s hand
In every leaf that trembles, in every grain of sand
--Every Grain of Sand
You don’t need a weatherman
To know which way the wind blows
--Subterranean Homesick Blues
My love she laughs like the flowers
Valentines can’t buy her
--Love Minus Zero/No Limit
I’m ready to go anywhere, I’m ready for to fade
Into my own parade, cast your dancing spell my way
I promise to go under it
--Mr. Tambourine Man
The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
--Visions of Johanna
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end
To be stuck inside of Mobile
With the Memphis blues again
--Stuck Inside of Mobile with the Memphis Blues Again
Dear landlord
Please don’t put a price on my soul
My burden is heavy
My dreams are beyond control
--Dear Landlord
I pity the poor immigrant
Who wishes he would’ve stayed home
--I Pity the Poor Immigrant
To see him obviously framed
Couldn’t help but make me feel ashamed to live in a land
Where justice is a game
--Hurricane
Señor, señor, do you know where we’re headin’?
Lincoln County Road or Armageddon?
Seems like I been down this way before
Is there any truth in that, señor?
--Señor (Tales of Yankee Power)
Precious angel, under the sun
How was I to know you’d be the one
To show me I was blinded, to show me I was gone
How weak was the foundation I was standing upon?
--Precious Angel
The enemy is subtle, how be it we are so deceived
When the truth’s in our hearts and we still don’t believe?
--Precious Angel
Now he worships at an altar of a stagnant pool
And when he sees his reflection, he’s fulfilled
--License To Kill
What good am I if I’m like all the rest
If I just turn away, when I see how you’re dressed
If I shut myself off so I can’t hear you cry
What good am I?
--What Good Am I?
Well, my sense of humanity has gone down the drain
Behind every beautiful thing there’s been some kind of pain
--Not Dark Yet
I got my back to the sun ’cause the light is too intense
I can see what everybody in the world is up against
--Sugar Baby
Lot of things can get in the way when you’re tryin’ to do what’s right
--Honest With Me
As I walked out tonight in the mystic garden
The wounded flowers were dangling from the vines
--Ain’t Talkin’
In Scarlet Town where I was born
There’s ivy leaf and silver thorn
--Scarlet Town
Another day that don't end
Another ship goin' out
Another day of anger, bitterness, and doubt
I know how it happened
I saw it begin
I opened my heart to the world and the world came in
--False Prophet
Live music by Gene Lafond & Amy Grillo
outside of Bob Dylan’s boyhood home
2425 7th Avenue East, Hibbing
10:30 AM-11:30 AM | Free
HERE
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