The somewhat reclusive singer\/songwriter skipped the Nobel Prize banquet last December, but was still required to give a lecture<\/b>
\nBob Dylan has finally delivered the lecture for his Nobel Prize for literature.
The somewhat reclusive singer\/songwriter skipped the Nobel Prize banquet last December, but was still required to give a lecture by June 10 or he would lose the $900,000 in prize money.
His 27-minute taped lecture, framed by a soft bluesy piano and his iconic raspy voice, is just as unconventional as Dylan is. The lecture was recorded on Sunday, June 4, in Los Angeles and was released by the Nobel Committee on YouTube Monday morning.
Here are four things we learned during Dylan\u2019s poetic lecture:
1. It all started with Buddy Holly. He played the music that Dylan loved \u2013 country western, rock \u2018n\u2019 roll and r&b. Dylan only saw him live once and travelled 100 miles for the show, just a few days before Holly died in a plane crash.
\u201cHe filled me with conviction, \u201d Dylan said.
2. During elementary school, Dylan read \u201cMoby Dick, \u201d \u201cAll Quiet on the Western Front\u201d and \u201cThe Odyssey\u201d \u2013 all of which informed his view of the world and permeated his music. He quoted Homer at the end of his lecture: \u201cSing in me, oh Muse, and through me tell the story, \u201d he said.
3. Even Dylan doesn\u2019 t quite understand what a Nobel Prize in Literature has to do with his music.
\u201cSongs are unlike literature. They\u2019 re meant to be sung, not read, \u201d he said.
4. Dylan said he has \u201cwritten all sorts of things\u201d into his music and he\u2019s beyond worrying about meaning.
\u201cIf a song moves you, that\u2019s all that\u2019s important, \u201d he said.
Regardless, Dylan wants listeners to hear his lyrics how they were intended: \u201cIn concert or on record or however people are listening to songs these days.\u201d<\/p>\n

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