Notes About The Poem
Bob Dylan was born Robert Zimmerman.
He adopted the name Bob Dylan in the late 1950s–early 1960s.
Dylan has repeatedly denied that he changed his name because of Dylan Thomas.
He has said he liked the way 'Dillon' or 'Dylan' sounded.
However, he also acknowledged being aware of Dylan Thomas early on and admiring his poetry.
Dylan’s denials are consistent with his lifelong resistance to being pinned down.
Whether or not the name is a tribute, Dylan’s early lyrical style shows strong resonance with Dylan Thomas:
=> Musical language driven by sound as much as meaning
=> Surreal imagery and incantatory rhythms
=>A voice that feels spoken, sung, and chanted at once
=> Emotional intensity bordering on the prophetic
Dylan Thomas famously said: “I read for the sound, for the rhythm.”
Listen to poem:
Two Dylan's - Bard and Songster
Once Bob took a name that felt just right,
rolling easily on the tongue,
borrowed from a poet’s night-time beat,
before new songs were penned and sung.
No footnote was locked in a chest,
no shrine was planned, nor built—
This Bob just needed a better name that swung,
with the rhythm of hope, yet to be fulfilled.
Two Dylan's just loved the sound of words,
before their sense and meaning took shape,
that let language strut and bruise the air,
and rattle the bars of reason’s cage.
Before the listener's brains cottoned on
to what the Dylan's were thinking,
or to what the listeners made up themselves,
from the play and sound of the words.
Fans asked the Dylan's where their words came from.
Who slipped them the hidden locket key,
They shrugged, and said the words were born on the run.
They don’t belong to him, to you, to me.
For these Dylan's never bowed at any poets' feet,
nor knelt at any musician's door preempt—
They came, stood where songs and poetry meet,
and let language and rhythms become what fans adore.
So sleep on, dear folk, in your hushed-down towns,
let your secrets rock and roll on lilting tidal seas.
Let every dream of words tell you something,
even when it’s whispered to self, alone in your bed.
So Yeah! Sleep on, till the first light breaks through,
till the night rattles loose what it holds—
releasing the stories and songs waiting to unfold
from two bold Dylan's - Bard and Songster.
Let the words run free tonight.
Yeah, let those words run free.
It’s the sound before the sense, that's right!
No waiting for the consequences to be!
Oh, I love the sound of words.
Words that hum for you and me.
Yeah, words that hum for you and me.
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