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View Poll Results: Is the Dylan Theory valid? | |
I cannot sing to save my life and I like Dylan
|     | 4 | 30.77% | |
I cannot sing but I still can't stand him
|    | 1 | 7.69% | |
I have been blessed with the voice of a cherub and can't tolerate listening to him
|    | 3 | 23.08% | |
I can sing well, but I like Dylan nonetheless
|    | 5 | 38.46% |
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07-10-2005, 01:10 PM
|  | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
Posts: 16,983
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Thanks to Lynn and her Greatest Song of All Time thread I have 3 slots in my car's CD player loaded with Bob Dylan CDs.
Two nights ago, I had a friend in my car who heard Dylan (ever-so-softly) emanating from the speakers and went on a tirade about how much she despises him.
She went on and on about how a person would have to be insane to offer him a recording contract. What would make someone think that people would actually want to hear that voice, let alone pay for the priviledge?
I argued about the music, the lyrics, the influence of his work.
She couldn't get off the voice. She felt that no matter how much writing talent he has he should never have recorded a single one of his compositions. He should have been satisfied with publishing his work for other people to perform.
While I would never argue that the man has the voice of an angel, I always thoroughly enjoy listening to his songs, performed by him or someone covering him.
Yesterday morning, a matter of hours after this argument, I had a different friend in the same car. The moment she stepped in the car and heard the music playing she became extremely animated and started singing right along.
In fact, we spent several hours together on the road and the two of us belted out Dylan tune after Dylan tune for the entire time we were in the car (all the time threatening to call the Dylan detractor and make her listen to us  ).
Affter a long wonderful day of singing (with the windows up  ) I dropped Friend B off and road the additional hour and a half home by myself thinking about how enjoyable the day was. Then a thought hit me and the "Dylan Theory" began formulating in my head.
I cannot carry a tune in a wheelbarrow. Neither can Friend B. To us, Dylan gives us an opportunity to sing without fear of judgment. It's about the song not the singer.
Friend A has the voice of an angel. And, thinking about her musical tastes, she very much gravitates to vocal technicians. She's interested much more in the form and not the substance of the music.
So, I began wondering if Dylan's appeal is more widespread among those of us who have not been blessed with vocal talents of our own. Are there songbirds out there who appreciate his vocal, um, stylings?
Help me test the theory. Where do you fall in the Dylan/Angel spectrum?
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07-10-2005, 01:59 PM
|  | Hot Lips | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: I'm not sure
Posts: 7,888
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Ok--I checked the first one--I can sing, but not well , to me I cannot sing. But I have been told that I can. But I LOVE Bob Dylan. So, I categorize myself as not singing, because to me I can't!! (Does this make sense?)
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07-10-2005, 02:01 PM
|  | Epinions Members | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: The Nutmeg State
Posts: 13,551
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Ok I categorize myself as a singing fool who cannot stand bob dylan.
Now don't get me wrong. Dylan is great. He just shouldn't sing his own songs. He should leave that to Hendrix and Garcia and other dead people who redid his songs and made them better.
Sorry. |
07-10-2005, 02:25 PM
| | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
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Quote: magenta321 said
 Sorry. |
Why should you be? You're validating my theory. 
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07-10-2005, 02:54 PM
|  | I'm Sparkly in Real Life | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: It's not heaven, it's Iowa
Posts: 23,993
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I like Dylan. Lots. And y'all know that I consider myself blessed with the voice of an angel. 
But here's one of the reasons I love Dylan....I like to, and can be pretty good at, imitating other singers. It's fun to sing with Dylan, as Dylan. Believe it or not, it takes some talent to sing bad on purpose.
Sorry...I'm the one blowing your theory.
Lynn
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07-10-2005, 03:20 PM
| | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
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Quote: lynnzop said
Believe it or not, it takes some talent to sing bad on purpose.
Lynn |
You mean I really might have a gift?
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07-10-2005, 05:39 PM
|  | In Spanish, I'm Marijuana | | Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Lawn-Guy-Land, NY
Posts: 28,781
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I can't stand listening to Dylan. But Lynn's right, it's great to make fun of his loopy drone and nasal treble.
(I have also been known to sing Stevie Nicks in a way that people fully and clearly hear the features of her voice that made a critic once say she sounded like "a nanny goat with a head cold.")
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07-10-2005, 09:06 PM
|  | Usagi Yojimbo | | Join Date: Jul 2000 Location: The Birthplace of American Democracy
Posts: 16,716
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I'v been told my voice is OK and I used to be in chorus in school.
And I think Dylan is nifty. We listen to him now and again at work. |
07-10-2005, 09:44 PM
|  | Rockin The Suburbs | | Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chantilly, VA
Posts: 8,759
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You were missing my choice:
I think Bob Dylan is an important musical influence whose music I don't happen to care for very much.  |
07-10-2005, 10:15 PM
|  | Premium Member | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: Michigan
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I can sing pretty well and I also enjoy Dylan very much.
Sandy |
07-10-2005, 11:54 PM
| | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
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Okay, so there goes my theory.
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07-10-2005, 11:55 PM
| | Mistress of Mayhem | | Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: New York
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Quote: Joubert said
You were missing my choice:
I think Bob Dylan is an important musical influence whose music I don't happen to care for very much. |
Okay, but can you sing?
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07-11-2005, 03:14 AM
|  | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
Posts: 17,321
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I also have a hard time with Tom Waits.
Then again, I don't like PERFECT vocalists all the time either. I'm a big Hole fan. But Bob Dylan is like nails on a chalkboard to me. And Neil Young is right there with him. |
07-11-2005, 07:08 AM
|  | Registered Member | | Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 5,885
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See, I like Dylan. I like Dylan, and I can sing better than he can. I can sing quite well, actually, better if I'm in a choral situ, but I can handle solo.
Neil Young, on the other hand, makes me want to bang (his or) my head against a wall. Of course, it might just be that Neil Young is a bad singer, and WHINEY, too boot. Rush and Led Zepplin are on the same list as Young... the ever increasing list of things that make my right eyelid twitch.
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07-11-2005, 09:15 AM
| | I'm Sparkly in Real Life | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: It's not heaven, it's Iowa
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Dissing Neil Young?  HERESY.
Lynn
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07-11-2005, 09:47 PM
| | Rockin The Suburbs | | Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: Chantilly, VA
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Quote: taurusmoon said
Okay, but can you sing? | Quite well in a very limited range. About as much range as Bob's. |
07-11-2005, 10:00 PM
| | Registered Member | | Join Date: Jul 2003
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Quote: lynnzop said
Dissing Neil Young? HERESY.
Lynn | Whining about me calling Neil Young whiny? Now, that's a true fan.
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07-11-2005, 11:54 PM
| | thread-killa | | Join Date: Dec 2000
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I'm sorry. Neil Young, Bob Dylan... ugh. I could sound like that with, say, nose plugs and a pack of unfiltered Camels... |
07-12-2005, 09:19 AM
| | I'm Sparkly in Real Life | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: It's not heaven, it's Iowa
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Quote: pippadaisy said
I'm sorry. Neil Young, Bob Dylan... ugh. I could sound like that with, say, nose plugs and a pack of unfiltered Camels... | But wouldn't it be a boring world if we all warbled like The Praying Mantis?
Back to the (sort of) subject matter at hand....Sara, I think you've started a national trend. I've heard Lay, Lady Lay (not one I particularly like much) on the radio twice in the past 24 hours...more than I've probably heard it in the past 2 years.
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07-12-2005, 09:20 AM
| | I'm Sparkly in Real Life | | Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: It's not heaven, it's Iowa
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Quote: eris esoteric said
Whining about me calling Neil Young whiny? Now, that's a true fan. | Hurmph. I wasn't whining. I was stating fact.
Now I have Comes a Time stuck in my head. At least it's a good earworm.
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