I recently had an argument with a friend about a cover song that I thought was better than the original. He disagreed. I'll let you decide.
And for the record, I don't get Bob Dylan. Just because he played Woodstock doesn't mean he's a legend...it just means he's old.
Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Bob Dylan
Knockin' on Heaven's Door - Guns n Roses
10 comments:
No Contest.
C'mon...Slash on guitar? That rock'n'roll voice? Guns 'N Roses without a doubt.
Bob Dylan.......Legend? Yes. First singer/songwriter considered a poet.
I'll give Guns-N-Roses credit though. It was a great cover song.
Well... having come from the Bob Dylan era, I love his version. Don't forget that the recording quality plays a big part in the sound too. I liked Guns 'N Roses version.. mostly.. I like Dylan's voice better.. lol.. so I guess I'm saying I like Dylan... but I also know that the more mellow Dylan's music (which I like the best) the more loaded Dylan was!... so hmmm... lol .. based on that information you would probably think I wouldn't like him better... Go figure!
Matt - oh, please! The first considered a poet? They've had bards for hundreds (if not thousands of years). All lyrics, since there have been lyrics, have been considered storytelling/poetry.
And the only people I know who consider him to be a true poet were mostly high when they listened to him and his music that he wrote and sang while he was high.
Sorry to get expansive. I do not like Dylan. I do not understand other's appreciation/fascination with Dylan. It probably stems from having Mr. Rush who was high the whole time during English class - and who I despised as a man and especially a teacher - who placed Dylan above many other legitimate and praiseworthy poets and prosians.
Nicole-Don't tell me your naive enough to believe that Axel, Slash and the rest of them weren't high when they wrote and performed?!!
Was he high? Was he not? Who cares?!!
It seems to me everyone wants to knock a guy that's been around for over 50 years and made great music because he was high .....Oh and need I mention he won Grammy's in the 90's. Did Guns-N-Roses? Didn't think so. They were to high and decided to break up!!!
And he is the first "American" singer/songwriter to be considered a poet. Just to clarify.
Another thing.....when was the last time we heard a good Guns-N-Roses cover song? Probably never because even though they were inspired to remake a Dylan song, nobody has been inspired to remake one of theirs.
Who has really stood the test of time?
Just a tid bit of info on the great Bob Dylan in case anyone was interested......
Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman; May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, musician, poet and painter who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades.[2] Much of his most celebrated work dates from the 1960s when he was, at first, an informal chronicler and then an apparently reluctant figurehead of social unrest. A number of his songs, such as "Blowin' in the Wind" and "The Times They Are a-Changin'," became anthems for both the civil rights[3] and the anti-war[4] movements. Dylan's early lyrics incorporated political, social and philosophical as well as literary influences. They defied existing pop music conventions and appealed hugely to the then burgeoning counterculture. While expanding and personalizing genres, he has explored many traditions of American song, from folk, blues and country to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly to English, Scottish and Irish folk music, and even jazz and swing.[5]
Dylan performs with guitar, piano and harmonica. Backed by a changing line-up of musicians, he has toured steadily since the late 1980s on what has been dubbed the Never Ending Tour. His accomplishments as a recording artist and performer have been central to his career, but his greatest contribution is generally considered to be his songwriting.[2]
He has received numerous awards over the years including Grammy, Golden Globe and Academy Awards; he has been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame and Songwriters Hall of Fame. In 2008 a Bob Dylan Pathway was opened in the singer's honor in his birthplace of Duluth, Minnesota.[6] The Pulitzer Prize jury in 2008 awarded him a special citation for what they called his profound impact on popular music and American culture, "marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power."[7]
Like him or not.....no one can discredit what he's done and what he's influenced.
From the civil rights and anti-war movements to Grammy's, Oscar's and special awards for outstanding poetry....all over an almost 60 year career!
The man is an amazing talent....
I can argue against his talent not his success or influence. Most REAL poets would laugh at his trite and ridiculous lyrics. The reason he's considered THE poet songwriter is because his songs don't have to live up to the same standards as real poems and short stories. otherwise Dylan "poetry" just becomes laughable.
Anyone can roll shit on a canvas, hang it on the wall and call it art. People may even like it and support it as unique and revolutionary. They may even associate the painting with frustration at current government policies. It may even start a whole generation of Shit Art and spawn many more shit artists. It doesn't mean I have to like it or even appreciate it's contribution to future artists.
Bob Dylan: Ballad of a Thin Man
"Now you see this one-eyed midget shouting the word 'now'
And you say, for what reason? And he says, 'how?'
And you say, what does this mean? And he screams back, 'you're a cow'
Give me some milk or else go home."
That's top quality work right there...
Maya Angelou: Weekend Glory
"Some clichty folks
don't know the facts,
posin' and preenin'
and puttin' on acts,
stretchin' their backs.
They move into condos
up over the ranks,
pawn their souls
to the local banks.
Buying big cars
they can't afford,
ridin' around town
actin' bored.
If they want to learn how to live life right
they ought to study me on Saturday night."
Everyone is capable of crap.....
TJ....You don't have to like it or appreciate it. But let's be real. In this day and age how many recording "artists" actually play their own instruments? How many write their own songs? How many last for 60 years? Very few.....
Dylan did all three. He influenced all different types of genre's of music. And he toured with some of America's "iconic" figures and it's probably safe to say he influenced some of them as well....
If you don't like Dylan because his style just doesn't suit you.....that's fine. But being "loaded", as Mom put it, is a sole defining factor in liking him or not.......then there's no reason to like such bands and artists as Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Nirvana, Metallica, Johnny Cash, Aerosmith and lest we forget America's favorites.....Elvis Presley and the Beatles.
Oh and my personal favorite: Bob Marley!!!
Got to have Kaya now.....Got to have Kaya now!!! hahahaha
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