Bob Dylan: A friend of Bangladesh

Armed with a harmonica and an acoustic guitar, Dylan confronted social injustice, war and racism, quickly becoming a prominent civil rights campaigner

Breaking the tradition the Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to a songwriter and singer. The committee made a stunning announcement regarding the awarding of the Prize for the year 2016. They have bestowed this prestigious award on Bob Dylan, an American rock legend of 75 years old “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”. The balladeer, artist and actor is the first American to win this award since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993. Bob Dylan’s poetic lyrics have influenced generations of fans and he took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas .Dylan is arguably the most iconic poet-musician of his generation. Songs such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A-Changin’” became anthems for the US anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s.Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Dylan had been chosen because he was “a great poet in the English speaking tradition”. “For 54 years now he’s been at it reinventing himself, constantly creating a new identity. Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion praised Dylan’s lyrics, saying his songs “work as poems”. Sara Danius said while Dylan performs his poetry in the form of songs, that’s no different from the ancient Greeks, whose works were often performed to music.

Dylan was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in a Jewish middle-class family. By his early 20s, he had taken the folk music world by storm. From that time on, he would constantly reinvent himself. His career was such a complicated pastiche of elusive, ever-changing styles that it took six actors to portray him in the 2007 movie based on his life, “I’m Not There. “Although generally described as a rock musician, Dylan has been influenced by numerous musical styles, including country, gospel, blues, folk, pop, and rhythm and blues. Pursuing them all, sometimes separately and other times simultaneously, he remains a towering influence over music and popular culture. 
Dylan won an Academy Award in 2001 for the song “Things Have Changed” and received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1991. In 2008, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to music and American culture. 
Dylan, who gave the world "Like a Rolling Stone," ''Blowin' in the Wind" and dozens of other standards, now finds himself on a list that includes Samuel Beckett, Toni Morrison and T.S. Eliot, whom Dylan referred to in his epic song "Desolation Row. “Many fans already quote Dylan as if he were Shakespeare, there are entire college courses and scholarly volumes devoted to his songs, and judges work Dylan quotations into their legal opinions all the time. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison said in a statement that she was pleased and that Dylan was "an impressive choice." Great choice." Perennial Nobel candidate Joyce Carol Oates tweeted that "his haunting music & lyrics have always seemed, in the deepest sense, literary. “Dylan’s award also was welcomed by a venerable literary organization, the Academy of American Poets. “Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize in literature acknowledges the importance of literature's oral tradition, and the fact that literature and poetry exists in culture in multiple modes," executive director Jennifer Benka said in a statement. He is the most influential songwriter of his time, who brought a new depth, range and complexity to rock lyrics and freed Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and countless other artists to break out from the once-narrow boundaries of love and dance songs.
Armed with a harmonica and an acoustic guitar, Dylan confronted social injustice, war and racism, quickly becoming a prominent civil rights campaigner – and recording an astonishing 300 songs in his first three years. The following albums, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, won rave reviews, but Dylan's career was interrupted in 1966 when he was badly injured in a motorcycle accident and his recording output slowed in the 1970s.By the early 1980s his music reflected the performer's born-again Christianity, although this was tempered in successive albums, with many fans seeing a resurgence of his explosive early-career talent in the 1990s.
Literature reflects human life, follies and vices of human civilization and the current society with a view to changing the society for the betterment of humanity. The same thing was done by Bod Dylan through his music which proves parallel to the themes of literature. The permanent secretary of Nobel Committee has tried to justify these points through her explanation which we also agree. We have a special support for Dylan as he made the world know the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani army in our country in 1971 through his music ‘concert for Bangladesh’ when he was a young man of only 30. 
He became successful to make the world know the struggle and movement of the toiling mass of Bangladesh. Now we have emerged as an independent nation in the global map. Salute to Bob Dylan who advocated and moved for our cause even though the then American government took the side of Pakistan. Long live Dylan.

The writer is an educationist Email: [email protected]

Bob Dylan: A friend of Bangladesh

Armed with a harmonica and an acoustic guitar, Dylan confronted social injustice, war and racism, quickly becoming a prominent civil rights campaigner

Breaking the tradition the Nobel Committee has awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature to a songwriter and singer. The committee made a stunning announcement regarding the awarding of the Prize for the year 2016. They have bestowed this prestigious award on Bob Dylan, an American rock legend of 75 years old for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition. The balladeer, artist and actor is the first American to win this award since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993. Bob Dylans poetic lyrics have influenced generations of fans and he took his stage name from the poet Dylan Thomas .Dylan is arguably the most iconic poet-musician of his generation. Songs such as Blowin in the Wind and The Times They Are A-Changin became anthems for the US anti-war and civil rights movements of the 1960s.Sara Danius, permanent secretary of the Swedish Academy, said Dylan had been chosen because he was a great poet in the English speaking tradition. For 54 years now hes been at it reinventing himself, constantly creating a new identity. Former Poet Laureate Sir Andrew Motion praised Dylans lyrics, saying his songs work as poems. Sara Danius said while Dylan performs his poetry in the form of songs, thats no different from the ancient Greeks, whose works were often performed to music. Dylan was born on May 24, 1941, in Duluth, Minnesota and grew up in a Jewish middle-class family. By his early 20s, he had taken the folk music world by storm. From that time on, he would constantly reinvent himself. His career was such a complicated pastiche of elusive, ever-changing styles that it took six actors to portray him in the 2007 movie based on his life, Im Not There. Although generally described as a rock musician, Dylan has been influenced by numerous musical styles, including country, gospel, blues, folk, pop, and rhythm and blues. Pursuing them all, sometimes separately and other times simultaneously, he remains a towering influence over music and popular culture. Dylan won an Academy Award in 2001 for the song Things Have Changed and received a lifetime achievement award from the Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences in 1991. In 2008, he was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for his contributions to music and American culture. Dylan, who gave the world Like a Rolling Stone, Blowin in the Wind and dozens of other standards, now finds himself on a list that includes Samuel Beckett, Toni Morrison and T.S. Eliot, whom Dylan referred to in his epic song Desolation Row. Many fans already quote Dylan as if he were Shakespeare, there are entire college courses and scholarly volumes devoted to his songs, and judges work Dylan quotations into their legal opinions all the time. Nobel laureate Toni Morrison said in a statement that she was pleased and that Dylan was an impressive choice. Great choice. Perennial Nobel candidate Joyce Carol Oates tweeted that his haunting music lyrics have always seemed, in the deepest sense, literary. Dylans award also was welcomed by a venerable literary organization, the Academy of American Poets. Bob Dylan receiving the Nobel Prize in literature acknowledges the importance of literatures oral tradition, and the fact that literature and poetry exists in culture in multiple modes, executive director Jennifer Benka said in a statement. He is the most influential songwriter of his time, who brought a new depth, range and complexity to rock lyrics and freed Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and countless other artists to break out from the once-narrow boundaries of love and dance songs. Armed with a harmonica and an acoustic guitar, Dylan confronted social injustice, war and racism, quickly becoming a prominent civil rights campaigner and recording an astonishing 300 songs in his first three years. The following albums, Highway 61 Revisited and Blonde on Blonde, won rave reviews, but Dylans career was interrupted in 1966 when he was badly injured in a motorcycle accident and his recording output slowed in the 1970s.By the early 1980s his music reflected the performers born-again Christianity, although this was tempered in successive albums, with many fans seeing a resurgence of his explosive early-career talent in the 1990s. Literature reflects human life, follies and vices of human civilization and the current society with a view to changing the society for the betterment of humanity. The same thing was done by Bod Dylan through his music which proves parallel to the themes of literature. The permanent secretary of Nobel Committee has tried to justify these points through her explanation which we also agree. We have a special support for Dylan as he made the world know the genocide perpetrated by the Pakistani army in our country in 1971 through his music concert for Bangladeshwhen he was a young man of only 30. He became successful to make the world know the struggle and movement of the toiling mass of Bangladesh. Now we have emerged as an independent nation in the global map. Salute to Bob Dylan who advocated and moved for our cause even though the then American government took the side of Pakistan. Long live Dylan. The writer is an educationistEmail: [email protected]