The Philosophy Of Modern Song
Bob Dylan SIMON AND SCHUSTER
Dylan’s engaging singular observations of a selection of other people’s songs.
Of all the many, many delights that have come from late-period Bob Dylan, his sideline as an up-andcoming author is up there with the best. 2004’s Chronicles Volume One (don’t even think about asking where volume two has got to) was a mischief-drenched autobiography that managed to say both everything and nothing. Some of it might have even been true.
Ten years in the writing, the heroically bonkers is a collection of beautifully illustrated miniessays, loosely (or tightly; it’s difficult to predict) bound to 60 songs of varying provenance by other people. Because he’s Bob Dylan, he can do precisely what he pleases. Because he’s Bob Dylan, there’s no point quibbling with any of his selections, from Uncle Dave Macon’s 1924 bluegrass tickler (“this song contains multitudes”) to (“The Clash were always the group they imagined themselves to be”). Because he’s Bob Dylan, there’s no order, no chronology
