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[[File:Bob Dylan WM.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Bob Dylan]]

[[File:Bob Dylan WM.jpg|right|300px|thumb|Bob Dylan]]

'''Bob Dylan''' (born '''Robert Allen Zimmerman''') (b. May 24, 1941) is considered the greatest songwriter ever,<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/#bob-dylan</ref> and as a singer is known for his nasal vocals and harmonica playing. He is one of the towering figures of 20th-century popular music. He was also an influential figure in 1960's [[counter-culture]].<ref>http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19789/m1/</ref>  He is by far the most-cited songwriter in American judicial opinions, as in his lyric "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."<ref>from "Subterranean Homesick Blues", on ''Bringing it All Back Home'' (Columbia 1965), this lyric is cited by courts as a guide when an expert is not required in litigation.  ''See, e.g.'', ''Ball v. Posey'', 176 Cal. App. 3d 1209, 1215, 222 Cal. Rptr. 746, 749 (1986).  At the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] level, Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] once copied a line of Bob Dylan's lyrics without attributing credit to him.</ref>

'''Bob Dylan''' (born '''Robert Allen Zimmerman''') (b. May 24, 1941) is considered the greatest songwriter ever,<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/interactive/lists-100-greatest-songwriters/#bob-dylan</ref> and as a singer is known for his nasal vocals and harmonica playing. He was influential in the 1960's [[counter-culture]],<ref>http://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc19789/m1/</ref> and continues to perform in his tours at age 84 in 2025. He is by far the most-cited songwriter in American judicial opinions, as in his lyric "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows."<ref>from "Subterranean Homesick Blues", on ''Bringing it All Back Home'' (Columbia 1965), this lyric is cited by courts as a guide when an expert is not required in litigation.  ''See, e.g.'', ''Ball v. Posey'', 176 Cal. App. 3d 1209, 1215, 222 Cal. Rptr. 746, 749 (1986).  At the [[U.S. Supreme Court]] level, Justice [[Antonin Scalia]] once copied a line of Bob Dylan's lyrics without attributing credit to him.</ref>

Dylan, a convert to [[Christianity]], has affected music and culture for five decades.  He won the [[Nobel Prize]] in literature in 2016, and ''Rolling Stones'' greatest songwriter poll by a landslide.<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/rolling-stone-readers-pick-the-top-10-songwriters-of-all-time-11059/10-elton-john-bernie-taupin-14838/</ref>

Dylan, a convert to [[Christianity]], won the [[Nobel Prize]] in literature in 2016. He was chosen the greatest songwriter by a landslide in a ''Rolling Stones'' poll.<ref>https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/rolling-stone-readers-pick-the-top-10-songwriters-of-all-time-11059/10-elton-john-bernie-taupin-14838/</ref>

From an interview by ''Rolling Stone'':<ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-recovering-christian-19840621</ref>

From an interview by ''Rolling Stone'':<ref>http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/bob-dylan-recovering-christian-19840621</ref>

==Early life==

==Early life==

Born Robert Zimmerman in [[Duluth]], [[Minnesota]], Dylan grew up in Hibbing, where by chance he was discovered to have musical abilities at a very early age.  When later in life he wanted to acknowledge his musical influences, he made a point to mention Christmas music while he was growing up.

Born Robert Zimmerman in [[Duluth]], [[Minnesota]], Dylan grew up in Hibbing, where by chance he was discovered to have musical abilities at a very early age.  When later in life he wanted to acknowledge his musical influences, he made a point to mention [[Christmas]] music while he was growing up.

Dylan also found an emotional connection with the music of the rock and roll performers of that era.  [[Buddy Holly]] was the first broadly successful rock-and-roll singer whose public image wasn't managed to seem like a movie star, which gave Dylan and the Beatles likewise hope of success in forming their own bands.  While in high school he formed a series of rock-and-roll bands that would break up each time when the lead singer would be recruited away to a musical act of their own.  During that time he attended a [[Buddy Holly]] concert where the singer's attention was drawn for a moment to the young man watching and learning from him near the stage.  Before leaving for college, Dylan had befriended a black disk jockey who shared his interest in rock and roll and from whom he was given access to the radio station's records.

Dylan also found an emotional connection with the music of the rock and roll performers of that era.  [[Buddy Holly]] was the first broadly successful rock-and-roll singer whose public image wasn't managed to seem like a movie star, which gave Dylan and the Beatles likewise hope of success in forming their own bands.  While in high school he formed a series of rock-and-roll bands that would break up each time when the lead singer would be recruited away to a musical act of their own.  During that time he attended a [[Buddy Holly]] concert where the singer's attention was drawn for a moment to the young man watching and learning from him near the stage.  Before leaving for college, Dylan had befriended a black disk jockey who shared his interest in rock and roll and from whom he was given access to the radio station's records.

== Christian Faith ==

== Christian Faith ==

In 1979, Bob Dylan surprised many by announcing he had accepted [[Jesus Christ]] as his personal savior.  Biblical references had never been missing from Dylan's lyrics.  His third album featured such lyrics as "and the first one now will later be last" as well as "and like Pharaoh's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide, and like Goliath they'll be conquered."  The album ''John Wesley Harding'' is suffused with Christian imagery, and religious conversion is implied in several songs from ''Street Legal'', the album released in 1978.   

In 1979, Bob Dylan surprised many by announcing he had accepted [[Jesus Christ]] as his personal savior.  [[Bible|Biblical]] references had never been missing from Dylan's lyrics.  His third album featured such lyrics as "and the first one now will later be last" as well as "and like Pharaoh's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide, and like Goliath they'll be conquered."  The album ''John Wesley Harding'' is suffused with Christian imagery, and religious conversion is implied in several songs from ''Street Legal'', the album released in 1978.   

It was not until 1979, however, that Dylan made his conversion official by releasing an album of [[Gospel music]], ''Slow Train Coming''.  "Gotta Serve Somebody" became a hit single, and Dylan embarked on a tour in which many of his older, secular fans booed him while he attracted a new generation of Christian fans.  His next two albums, ''Saved'' (1980) and ''Shot of Love'' (1981) were also Gospel albums.   

It was not until 1979, however, that Dylan made his conversion official by releasing an album of [[Gospel music]], ''Slow Train Coming''.  "Gotta Serve Somebody" became a hit single, and Dylan embarked on a tour in which many of his older, secular fans booed him while he attracted a new generation of Christian fans.  His next two albums, ''Saved'' (1980) and ''Shot of Love'' (1981) were also Gospel albums.   

{{cquote|No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.<ref>https://www.azquotes.com/author/4273-Bob_Dylan</ref>}}

{{cquote|No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky.<ref>https://www.azquotes.com/author/4273-Bob_Dylan</ref>}}

{{cquote|The purpose of art is to stop time.}}

{{cquote|The purpose of art is to stop time.}}

==Lyrics about government==

==Lyrics about government==

[[Category:Songwriters]]

[[Category:Songwriters]]

[[Category:Nobel Laureates in Literature]]

[[Category:Nobel Laureates in Literature]]