Blog #5

Bob

Dylan’s influence on my song writing

Throughout my teenage years, my understanding of signwriting came from mostly songwriters born after 1960. A group of uber-successful musicians who had written some of the best pop and rock songs of all time. However, despite this wealth of success that I had chosen to engage myself with, there were certain things that this collection struggled to teach me. See, it has long been understood that all successful people in this world are essentially standing on the shoulders of greats who came before them. Each time a remarkable human being comes along, they test the boundaries of their profession and actively move that boundary further into the beyond. During my early years as a songwriter, I had forgotten the importance of learning about the great songwriter of the past. This meant that a lot of my musical understanding was up to date, but lacked in contextual understanding.

This all changed when I was 14. Whilst writing an essay on the great Bob Dylan, I began to familiarize myself with the music, and as a result, almost immediately became obsessed with his work. I quickly recognised its similarities to some of today’s music, and instantly understood why this man was considered by many to be the greatest songwriter of all time. As I read on, I discovered the true extend of his abilities as a wordsmith, and how he managed to change and shape the way in which many people thought about life and society as a whole. It brought me to a complete understanding that a song really can change a nation and bring people to fight for a cause. Bob Dylan’s music shined a spotlight on what it really takes to be an icon and, as a result, made me a better writer. It also opened the door to a whole host of other musicians whose music continues to help people to this day.

George Capon (Guitar Player and Teacher)