Bob Dylan's claim to greatness: history
The deeply historical nature of Dylan’s output has, until now, received little attention.
Most pop music inhabits a permanent present; by its nature, the medium is disposable and transitory. One of Bob Dylan’s claims to greatness – made not by him but by many others – is that his enormous output of songs and recordings has a permanence and achievement far superior to those of other ‘popular’ artists. Its literary qualities have been scrutinized and lauded by eminent academics such as Christopher Ricks. But the deeply historical nature of Dylan’s output has, until now, received little attention.
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