Bob Dylan - am I the the only one that can't get past his singing?

Cafe Society
1

I have a very wide range of music in my collection. I try to keep an open mind and listen to albums several times. I often learn to appreciate the album.

There’s something about Bob Dylan. His singing sounds like someone stepped on a cats tail.

I feel so guilty. Bob’s an icon. The inspiration of a entire generation. He helped inspire an anti-war movement. Yet, that cat screeching gets to me.

I have been listening to Bob’s most revered work. Highway 61 Revisted. The bluesy music is good, I like most of the lyrics. Why can’t I appreciate his singing?

Am I alone in not seeing the brilliance of Bob Dylan? It would help if I understood why he chooses to sing like that. That’s not his natural voice.

2

Bob’s best known and loved song.
I prefer it over the other songs on Highway 61 Revisited.

3

Like Willie, he’s an acquired taste.
IMO.

4

I’m reasonably sure he’s a good songwriter, but I have always utterly hated what he calls a singing voice.

5

I understand the lack of love for his singing voice, but he’s a lot better than me, and I have no trouble enjoying it.

6

There’s a raw quality to Dylan’s voice that either strikes you as authentic or unlistenable. You hear the same thing in old-timey authentic country, folk, and blues singers.

IMHO when tried to sound like a singer (e.g., Lay, Lady, Lay and Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door to name two) he didn’t sound that great, either. So best to just take him how he came.

7

I also understand a lack of love for his singing voice, but do not share it. To me, Dylan’s phrasing when he sings is genius— he can inject sarcasm, humor, world-weariness, or all three into a sung lyric. There are certain singers whose timber or tone might be off-putting to some, but they sing with an expressiveness that sets them apart. Neil Young is another one that come to mind.

8

I don’t claim to be at all a decent singer myself. Difference here is that I don’t try to make a career out of singing, and I haven’t somehow attracted devout worshipful fans who consider me a musical deity.

9

No, you are not.

Lump in Van Morrison while you’re at it.

10

To be fair, he won the Nobel for his songwriting. :wink:
However, here’s a couple of songs that I think are more effective with his voice.

11

I kinda like…no, love…Tangled up in blue

12

Nobody’s Child is good. Bob’s singing is much better.

He sings better in Duets. He has to when his partner is Emmylou Harris.

13

No, you’re not the only one.

But, some of Dylan’s singing is more easily appreciated than others. I suspect his work with the Traveling Wilburys (as recommended by @running_coach) is Dylan at his most accessible.

14

Until recently, I thought Lay Lady Lay was sung by Mac Davis.

15

I think that’s it. Same with Leonard Cohen. I hear Dylan or Cohen and feel them emoting through their music and that’s what resonates with me. My wife listens to Cohen and just hears gravelly voice noises. She’s better about Dylan though.

16

I much prefer Dylan covers to the originals. Brilliant lyricist, musically uninteresting, yucky singer.

17

Burpo, you kill me. :wink:

18

Dylan sounds real. The way Springsteen sounds real. I was listening to Paul Simon not too long ago, when it struck me, his performances are just about perfect, and that is what is wrong with them. His lyrics and music are brilliant, but he just sounds too damn clean. It is not quite bloodless, but the perfection takes it down a notch.

That is what people like about Dylan. He sounds like a busker.

19

Something about every aspect of Dylan’s music screams “Narcissistic Asshole!” to me. But I adore Leonard Cohen.

My sneaking suspicion about Dylan has always been that he has an underlying misogyny/disrespect for women that somehow I’m picking up on, but I have no solid evidence for that other than the fact that, IIRC, he hasn’t had a stable, longterm, monogamous loving relationship to his credit.

But now that I think about it, Leonard Cohen didn’t either, yet I lurve his voice and his music.

So I think my taste and preference is just that, and as much as I’d like to read something deeper into it, I shouldn’t.

20

I have a weakness for really good lyrics, but also for singers who can carry a tune, so I have problems listening to Dylan and Cohen. Oddly, I just love Neil Young, although compared to those two, he sings like an angel.

When I think about it, I do enjoy Dylan’s version of certain songs, but I really have trouble listening to a whole album. For Cohen, well, I just sought out the best cover versions I could find.