by Michele Johanson

Created on: April 14, 2010

Bob Dylan is a mystic and a poet, who wrote some pretty powerful songs back in the day and writes some pretty powerful songs to this day.  To label such a man as a "folk singer" is trite, to say the least. 

It is true that Dylan's early career embraced the folk movement and that his songs "Blowin' in the Wind" and "A Hard Rain's Gonna Fall" shot him to the top of the genre back in the 60s, along with several other fine "protest" songs, backed by an acoustic guitar.  But perhaps it would be more fair to say that the folk music afficianados embraced him and called him their own, rather than the other way around.  It was a time of protest, turbulence and change and no-one changed more than Dylan himself.

It wasn't long before Dylan traded his acoustic guitar for an electric guitar, hired the solid talents of The Band and, to cries of "traitor" and "Judas", re-emerged as the darling of the rock world. But was it rock music?  Did he not combine elements of blues and country and ragtime?  Name it, it was there in some of the best music of the latter half of the 20th century and the lyrics were as thoughtful and thought-provoking as ever.  An intensely private man, he laid his emotions bare for the world to make of what they would.  And the world took him up on the offer, dissecting his lyrics, searching for answers that he never claimed to provide, attaching their own meanings, looking for a musical Messiah.  Dylan's riposte was that he was "a song and dance man".

Five decades later, the man is still at the top of his game, mellower perhaps, but the edge is still there.  His songs have been covered by everybody, in every discipline of music, in every generatiion.  You can find classical covers, punk covers, hip-hop covers.  Jimi Hendrix covered Dylan; even Elvis covered Dylan.  Whatever you want to take from Dylan, it is there for the asking.

It is strange that, given Dylan's output over the years, the label of folk singer still sticks.  I saw him in Sydney in 2003 and was surprised at the audience who turned out to see him - hardly anyone over the age of 30 was there but, speaking to some of the kids after the show, found that they were disappointed that he had been showcasing songs from his latest album.  What they wanted was "Blowin' in the Wind", even after 40 years.

Dylan transcends labels.  All you need to do is recognise him for what he is, a genius with a lousy voice.

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