Customer Reviews

Lyrics:1962-2001

5 star:		(21)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I'm not a native English speaker (moved to the US 20+ years ago) and one of the annoying things of Bob Dylan albums is that, for whatever reason, they don't come with the lyrics to the songs. I'm a big Dylan fan, and as much as I enjoy listening to the albums, I've always wanted to better understand the lyrics. Well, consider that problem solved with this book.

"Lyrics 1962-2001" is the solution to my problem, a 600 page (hard cover) book, containing the lyrics to all Bob Dylan's songs. The book is arranged album-by-album, and song-by-song within those albums, and contains in addition the words to other songs that were not originally on any album.

Bob Dylan towers over the music scene like few others, and his word-crafting has no equal. This book is essential, not just for Bob Dylan fans, but for any serious music lover. I bought this book from Amazon.com, for a mere $27 (S/H included), 40% off the cover price, one of the best bargains ever. "Strongly recommended" doesn't do justice, this is simply essential.

Some reviewer's low ratings divert others from an important collection of the greatest poet of our times.

Some reviewers say it doesn't shed light on the inspiration of his lyrics. This is a book *OF* lyrics, and nothing else. One should look elsewhere for related information. One suggestion is the new book by Dylan himself, Chronicles Vol 1.

"Lyrics" is one of the most important books released this year. There's the music CDs by the artist, now this volume gives the opportunity to see the amazing writing of this prolific poet, that can be appreciated in a different way than the music.

Future generations will wish they'd been able to live in the time of Dylan, to see and experience him live as a performing artist.

I became a Dylan fan in the early 60's. While In Junior College and working for the student newspaper, I was assigned the task of interviewing him - without an appointment - when he came to perform in the town where that JC was. I grabbed a tape recorder, sat with some friends to create a short list of questions we thought would be fun for him to respond to - and on the assigned evening, I set out to interview him.

I made it to the security gate where I was summarily turned away. Thinking myself clever, I argued, joked and tried to talk my way in - and failed. So, I sat outside (I had no ticket to the show itself) until it was over - then, some three hours after I first arrived, I recognized Dylan, surrounded by a small army of devotees and sycophants, coming out of the stage door. Bravely, I approached him - tape recorder turned on and microphone in hand - trying to remember just one of the many clever questions my friends and I had concocted. All I could get to come out was, "Hi! I'm from the local J.C. Would you please say something about yourself?" He actually stopped, looked at me (I think) through VERY dark glasses and said, clear as a bell, "I'm a poet - not a singer." I believe this volume demonstrates that rather nicely.

On first hearing me play a Dylan album, my dad, who had never - so far as I know - spent one day on a farm, said "That sounds like a lamb with his gonads caught in a barbed wire fence." Maybe he was right. The beauty of this volume is that it is unfettered with music - either written or sung. Just as the title says, it is "Lyrics".... words .... poems..... stories told in certain rhythm and meter. As such, they read purely - without the attempt to convey them as 'song' or himself as a 'singer.' I read the book from cover to cover and actually use it as a lyric book to create my own versions of the lyrical tales he told that are recorded here.

Some are simple: some complex: some perhaps deliberately confusing, inconsistent and mind-twisting. Others are basic - a few even 'sweet' and naively young. Some angry, some narrative, more than a few visionary. But whatever else they are or are not, they are poems - each and every one of them - and, as such, I believe they stand on their own ... without the music he gave them - mostly, as I understand it, after the fact.

Read this way, as a poetic autobiography, I think those interested - or even enamored- with Bob Dylan and his work, will find this volume to be a real treasure trove of pure expressiveness. It has already achieved a special place - in my library, in front of me while I have a guitar in hand - or simply in my lap, as I read and try to appreciate the purist Dylan we have to remember the times, and perhaps ourselves, with.

I just received this pretty good-looking book of Bob Dylan's lyrics, a volume which I had been waiting for for many years, ever since I became a Dylan fan in 1998 when I was just 16 years old. After the excitement of receiving the book and giving it a few quick but careful glimpses in the past couple of days, I felt it was appropiate to review the book for the fellow customers.

Some good things to say about this book:

First, the book is beautifully presented in a high quality hardcover. It is not a cheap-looking book by any means. Lyrics are sorted chronologically by LP (contemporary non-album tracks from each LP's timeframe are put as if they were "bonus tracks", at the end of the respective albums), respecting the running order of the albums, rather than putting the songs in the order they were written. That's a plus when you're reading the lyrics book while playing the respective record, especially if you are one of those -like myself- who usually have a hard time trying to decipher what Mr. D is singing. Another reviewer complains that this volume is not presenting the songs individually instead of album-by-album, but to me that is definitely not a problem.

Second, this is a lyrics collection, not a description of them or anything like that. If you're looking for any kind of analysis or lyrics dissection, look elsewhere. This is "just" a lyrics book, and I'm pretty happy for that. Some people have argued that this book is not necessary, because anybody can download the lyrics from the internet. That statement is as reasonable as saying that there's no need to buy Bob's albums because you can download the albums in mp3 format for free. Absurd.

Third, the lyrics are many times different from the lyrics you hear on the records. That's pretty logical, considering Dylan has rewritten his songs many times throughout his career, even before they appear on the record. That's why they appear here as they were published, and not necessarily as they were recorded. If one version was to be chosen, many of us would go for the songs "as recorded", but maybe Bob thought otherwise. It's not a problem, in my opinion, as the differences are -in most cases- not substantial at all.

Now, I'll point out a few flaws I found in this set:

First, the book is very big sized, so it's hard to transport it without damaging the paper that wraps up the hard covers. Even if you take out that wrap, the book is not one you could bring to the bus to read while you are listening to Dylan on your stereo. It's not a big deal after all, since I couldn't think of any alternative solution to this that satisfied me.

Second, the albums are supposedly put chronologically by recording date. But the album "Basement Tapes", which was recorded between "Blonde On Blonde" (1966) and "John Wesley Harding" (1967) and released between "Blood On The Tracks" (1975) and "Desire" (1976), is included -unexplainedly- between the albums "New Morning" (1970) and "Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid" (1973). I don't have a clue for this decision. I think this was simply a mistake.

But, the biggest flaw I saw was that this Lyrics book is criminally incomplete. While it has most of the songs Bob put his name on as a songwriter -alone or with others-, the omissions are unforgivable. To name a few:
--"Got My Mind Made Up", from Bob's album "Knocked Out Loaded", had music from Tom Petty and lyrics written by Dylan and Petty. This song is nowhere to be found on this book.
--"I Don't Want To Do It", written by Bob and given to George Harrison, was released on the "Porky's Revenge" film soundtrack, as well as on the A-side of a single by Harrison in 1985. However, it was omitted.
--"Jammin' Me", was written by Tom Petty, Bob Dylan and Mike Campbell, and it was released on Petty's 1987 album "Let Me Up (I've Had Enough)". It was a hit single, by the way. But it's not here.
--"Walk Out In The Rain", was written by Bob Dylan and Helena Springs, and released on Eric Clapton's "Backless". Where is it? Not on this book.
While these omissions might not seem relevant, I was looking for a COMPLETE BOB DYLAN LYRICS book. That's what I paid for, but many songs were simply omitted, for no particular reason. I could go on with at least half a dozen Dylan-signed compositions with lyrics that are not included. Sad, especially when you can find non-Dylan compositions included on the book, like "Corrina, Corrina". Why would anybody include a Traditional folk song like "Corrina..." in this book? Oh, because it was ARRANGED BY DYLAN. If that made this song eligible for this book, why all the traditional folk songs arranged by Bob from "Good As I Been To You" and "World Gone Wrong" were omitted? Simply because Bob didn't write them. I think that "Corrina, Corrina" was included by mistake, just as all those other Dylan compositions listed above (as well as others) were omitted.

My veredict: While this release takes many steps forward to become the ultimate edition of this book, by largely updating the 1985 edition, I find it sad to say that this is far from its goal of being the definitive edition of the complete Dylan lyrics, and mainly that's because of a negligent (or lazy) compiler. If you really need to have (almost) all of Bob's written songs printed in one place, elengantly presented, then you will be glad to purchase this. But, when you find that a certain Bob Dylan song you know is missing, remember I warned you about this.

A compendium (I like that word) of most of the great mans songs in chronological order. No more, no less. That is it. Just the songs, so if anybody buys it looking for an insight into the thought behind it, then they really should have bought Chronicles or any of the many books which teach of such things. As for the 26 year old guy who was looking for the inspiration to Dylan's lyrics. Read the other books, then look around you. His inspiration is everywhere. Fantastic book, does exactly what it says on the tin... well, cover.

I had the first edition, which covered up to '85. I recall the book was quite an event at the time, and yes, pricey, but this was pre-web days and, for all the inaccuracies, it was still impressive
to read through. Dylan's words, more than most songwriters, work on a number of levels as prose/poetry as well as lyric (there's a real difference, as any good lyricist/songwriter can tell you). I can understand the reviewer who wonders how the cost can be justified now when more complete versions are available online for free. I can only suggest that, for the majority of Dylan fans who came of age in those murky pre-internet years (not to mention Amazon's accountants), there's still a strong attraction to words on paper and the romance of books.

great book- a must for any dylan fan. i spent so much time looking up lyrics online, and then i discovered this book- all of dylan's lyrics at my fingertips. organized by album, which is nice when you have an album playing and can follow in the book without searching for the page with that song on it.

Wow, it's hard to believe that Weberman guy is still around, and still has nothing better to do than harrass Dylan (even when he's not looking). I imagine some old, burnt out hippie in a dark cellar shouting out obscenities and such like... burning Dylan records in the fireplace...

Anyway, as to the book, I admire it for what it is, a collection of musical poetry. It's as good as it gets... I find that its nice at time to take a look at an artist for his art. This is a lot like the recent "Complete Calvin and Hobbes" or other similar compendiums... you get to take a look at the art, the way it was produced and released to the public in its final form. No frills, just the workmanship. Whatever's left, you've got to put in yourself.

If one's looking for the life behind the art, Chronicles, Volume One is the most well-regarded, easy and interesting way to start (as it is the approved version of Bob Dylan's life, written by himself, in the way he wanted to tell it). Another interesting book is Dylan on Dylan, a set of essential Dylan interviews. This one's a little more difficult to stay with, but it has a good selection of Dylan interviews spanning the important periods of his career.

This book on the complete lyrics of Bob Dylan is far worth every penny you will pay for it. It is so beautifully bound, and so easy to read these fantastic lyrics that Dylan has written through his life. However, all of Bob Dylan's songs with the Traveling Wilburys are not included here, but just take a look at what is here, and you will probably forget what is missing.

A wonderfully organized book documenting the lyrics of Bob Dylan over the first 40 years of his career. I can't wait for the sequal. A priceless collection.