New glimpse into Bob Dylan book see artist riff on songwriting

NEW YORK

Bob Dylan fans on Oct. 13 got a glimpse into the Nobel laureate and folk-rock legend’s new book, “The Philosophy of Modern Song,” set for publication next month.

The collection of essays is his first book of new writing since 2004, when he released “Chronicles, Volume One.”

The book exploring songwriting’s power is set for release on Nov. 8 with the publisher Simon and Schuster.

Excerpts published in The New York Times offer musings from the beloved American poet and musician on Frank Sinatra’s “Strangers in the Night” and The Who’s anthem “My Generation.”

Many of the essays include “riffs” that see Dylan expand on his words with a shorter, looser piece where the artist waxes poetic on the track in question.

“Something in your vital spirit, your pulse, something that runs in the blood, tells you that you must have this tender feeling of love now and forever, this essence of devoted love held tightly in your grip, that it’s essential and necessary for staying alive and cheating death,” Dylan riffs on Sinatra.

The book is also set to include musings on artists including Hank Williams and Nina Simone.

Dylan says “My Generation,” the 1960s smash that’s one of The Who’s most recognizable songs, “does no favors for anyone, and casts doubt on everything.”

He says “fear,” of getting old, namely, “is perhaps the most honest thing about the song.”

“We all rail at the previous generation but somehow know it’s only a matter of time until we will become them ourselves.” Dylan, who burst onto the folk scene in New York in the early 1960s, has sold more than 125 million records around the world.

The 81-year-old has maintained a rigorous touring schedule, and is currently on a global itinerary set to continue into 2024.
He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2016 “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”