I think Dylan can write good lyrics but alot of times people interrupt his nonsensical rhymes for some super deep meanings, and alot of fans overhype certain songs lyrics like tambourine man or when I paint my masterpiece and talk about the lyrical brilliance of those while you have songs like Idiot Wind that are way better, or songs like Blind Willie McTell that are just way more hard hitting.
I think Conors lyrics are more poetic but Dylans are more powerful, and I think Conor was a better lyricist at a younger age (and lyrically I think hes already passed his prime, but thats another debate). While Dylan was writing stuff like this
Quote:
If you're travelling in the north country fair
where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
remember me to one who lives there
she once was a true love of mine
if you go when the snowflakes storm
when the rivers freeze and summer ends
please see she has a coat so warm
to keep her from the howling winds
please see if her hair hangs long
if it rolls and flows all down her breast
please see for me if her hair is hanging long
that's the way i remember her best
i'm a-wondering if she remembers me at all
many times i've hoped and prayed
in the darkness of my night
in the brightness of my day
so if you're travelling in the north country fair
where the winds hit heavy on the borderline
remember me to one who lives there
she once was a true love of mine
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Conor (at 17) was writing stuff like this
Quote:
I spent a week drinking the sunlight of Winnetka, California
Where they understand the weight of human hearts
You see, sorrow gets too heavy and joy it tends to hold you
With the fear that it eventually departs
And the truth is I’ve been dreaming of some tired tranquil place
Where the weather won’t get trapped inside my bones
And if all the years of searching find one sympathetic face
Then it's there I will plant these seeds and make my home
I spent a day dreaming of dying in Mesa, Arizona
Where all the green of life had turned to ash
And I felt I was on fire, with the things I could have told you
I guess I just assumed that you eventually would ask
And I wouldn’t have to bring up my so badly broken heart
And all those months I just wanted to sleep
And though spring, it did come slowly, I guess it did it's part
My heart has thawed and continues to beat
I visited my brother on the outskirts of Olympia
Where the forest and the water become one
And we talked about our childhood, like a dream we were convinced of
That perfect peaceful street where we came from
And I know he heard me strumming all those sad and simple chords
As I sat inside my room so long ago
And it hurts that he’s still shaking from those secrets that were told
By a car closed up airtight and a heart turned cold
And I went to San Diego, the birthplace of the summer
And watched the ocean dance under the moon
And there was a girl I knew there, one more potential lover
I guess that something’s got to happen soon
Because I know I can’t keep living in this dead or dying dream
And as I watched along the beach and drank with her
I thought about my true love, the one I really need
With eyes that burn so bright, they make me pure
They make me pure
They make me pure
I long to be with yo
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While alot of Conors earlier stuff held typical teenage topics he addressed it in a more poetic manner. I mean he wrote stuff like "To cling to memories you'll never get back again / And to sort through old photographs / Of a summer long ago or a friend that you used to know / And there below his frozen face / You wrote the name and that ancient date, that ancient date / And you can't believe that he's really gone / When all that's left is a fu
cking song" sometime between the age of fifteen and seventeen.
The hype Dylan gets as a songwriter is often placed in the wrong songs and typically given way too much when theres plenty of other lyricists who are just as good if not better. You have like Nick Drake, and Vashti Bunyan and stuff who were earlier and way more innovative folk musicians but they don't get anywhere near the amount of attention dylan gets. I don't think Dylan brought as much to the table as alot of folk musicians have, I think he brought lyrics. This was probably way repetitive and a headache to read since it was alot of rambling, its late ha. Hes a good songwriter and all, but I think you have fantastic songwriters like Conor who get alot of crap for being too "whiny" when no one really looks at the lyrics and they could easily stand their own against Dylan. But no one will dare believe tolerate that because Dylan is a "classic."
I like him alot in case this comes across as negative..Also you should stick around you're one of the best new posters i've seen in awhile.