Expecting Rain

Any opinions? Seems like a good topic for this discussion forum.

Like the hydra, these threads...

Nothing wrong with his voice. If you're a sea cucumber.

awesome post. thank you for your creativity.

ever get the feeling of de ja vu?

maybe you should go on X-factor, you an simon cowell would get on just fine

A VOICE WITHOUT RESTRAINT !............

The condition of the voice embodies all the issues worth discussing regarding Dylan, so it's not surprising that his singing is constantly under examination and discussion. There are other topics, certainly, but most areas of his art and career have been examined enough that they have yielded critical consensus or a reliable/predictable range of views. Most informed people would have to acknowledge his historical and cultural importance, regardless of their personal opinion of his music. Some people gain little or nothing from experiencing his art; some ascribe to it every possible human virtue and truth. Both extremes are unlikely measures of his worth except for the one taking measure. However, the fact that music can be taken on personal taste alone does not preclude more finely gauged assessments. People who are determined to like whatever they hear ought to be satisfied with the experience of their own ears, without expecting that their taste represents a critical perspective. If they wish to present a critical perspective, they ought to be willing to do the work constructing one out of more than mere bias. People who are alarmed at the obvious loss of singing ability might move past the alarm--the intuitive repulsion at ugly sounds--to examine the possibility that there might be other rewards in the presentation of the songs.

Of course, here as everywhere on the internet, the impulsive tends to drown out the reflective, and too many adults become rhetorical children. I can't imagine any artist being satisfied that their work becomes a vehicle for uncritical hero worship, infantile insult, or knee-jerk negativity, but no artist is responsible for the limitations of an audience.

The death of a hero is a difficult spectacle, but that is what we are all witnessing in the case of Bob Dylan--the slow, agonizing death on stage of a great artist. That is the sound gurgling from his throat, more feeble with every tour and album and passing year. My personal experience of this sound is one of extreme distaste--I think he sounds as bad as a human can possibly sound in public on stage, a sad decline well past self-parody. My critical experience is that the moment deserves a certain amount of respect, that there is a rare generosity in the act of dying in public, and that there may be available a truth--difficult, painful, even ugly in its trappings--no one else can provide.

A considered and thoughtful post in a modern voice thread. Deserves some kind of medal.



I do wonder if that's part of the point. Perhaps we're all at Woody's bedside. If that's the intention--he ain't quitting until the end of it all.

(And, of course, it's only the death of a hero for those who have put him on that pedestal.) Great post, HA.

Only if you plan on sticking him with the pin when you put it on him......

Let's see, I think we are coming up on 50 years of people telling Dylan he could not sing.... good thing he (and so many others of us) don't believe 'em.....

True. But this much conversation? I don't know. Maybe you're right.



Yes. There are other rewards. I do think many people find those "gurgling" sounds beautiful, though. People who are not blinded by hero worship.

I think that once one is posting on a Bob Dylan message board, one shouldn't protest "hero worship" too strongly.

I hope it's the songs I love and not the singer. But good point.

I think it's worth pointing out that Dylan finds value in accentuating the rough aspects of his voice that Albert and others find so displeasing. He can and has sung in a more mainstream way, but aims to shove the torn-up qualities of it in your face. That's been his philosophy for much of his career -- in the 60's, he preferred the "howling dog caught in a trap" voice to the "Nashville Skyline" voice, which tapes have shown us he could've done all along. He had a cold during the recording of New Morning and could've waited like, a week, but decided that rough aesthetic added something. Hell, we forget how WEIRD his live '66 voice was -- so much so that peeeeeeeeople stiiiiiillllll maaaaaaake fuuuuuuuun ooooooof iiiiiiiit. And 1974 -- I'm sorry, Nineteen Seventy-FOOOO-HO-HO-OOOWEEEER!

Clearly, Dylan often finds value in singing styles that repel much of the general public.

That was true in the 70s, but as of today he now longer has a choice in how his voice sounds.

this is for warren:

what about seeing bob's cucumber?

Er, isn't that more your territory?



Ahem...



He obviously does have a choice, and chooses to do that, even today. Does he not underline the gruffness of his vocals at every turn via the shouting and whatnot? Of course that is not the only way he can sing. I was just pointing out the long history he's had of making it tough on people who think he should perform in a smoother way.

yes, but I wrote the question just for you... not that you want to see it, but I posed the question just for you....hoping you would post that lovely photo again... but you failed me
tisk tisk

If you want someone who posts the same jokes over and over again, talk to Benny or Long Johnny!

you kill you ..... lol

I love Bob Dylan's voice

I too love Dylan's voice - but not really post 2000. So, Mr Peace you REALLY think Bob choooooooses to sing like he does today? Hmmm - Interesting!!

The bottom line these days is that the songs would be more enjoyable if Dylan wasn't singing. Thats the sad truth.

I think I have a great voice.