QUESTION: Cohen vs. Dylan

Leonard Cohen's "Hey, That's No Way to Say Goodbye" (1967)

or

Bob Dylan's "Don't Think Twice, It's Alright" (1963)?

(no substitutions, no both)

A jolly Friday morning, all

LET IT BLEED VELVET PURPLE IN MY DREAMS.

In grad school, I engaged in debate with a professor over the current state of music. Somewhere amidst a discussion of Ionian scales, 12-bar blues, LeBron James, and 3-chord progressions, he stated something like:

"Rock and roll isn't doing anything now that Keith Richards and the Rolling Stones didn't already do 40 years ago."

Something of the sort. I jumped all over the ridiculous statement, and then wished I hadn't, as it turned out, from a theoretical standpoint, he was correct. Meaning I was not.

"Everything else, it's just Style on top of the same fundamental structure," he said. "Variations of the same thing."

I am not a Rolling Stones fan*, and still think they've made a total of one decent album in their Methuselah-ian lives. But I've been intrigued ever since by the dual ideas of What Comes First versus What is Perfected Later.

Basic idea:

Somebody creates something new.

Somebody else takes that original idea and makes it better.

Is the original ever The Best? Aside from issues of loyalty, sentiment, etc., is there a reason to historically elevate the status of something merely because it came along first? More of a rhetorical, ongoing question than one that can ever be answered. If you're going to look back at what the Rolling Stones "started," then you have to keep looking back, further back, back to Howlin' Wolf and Muddy Waters and even Chuck Berry.

Sometimes, there is something though, that is so good, so timeless, so drop-deadingly gorgeous that it is unsurpassable.

Roy Orbison invented such a thing in 1963 when he came out with "In Dreams," a haunting, enchanted exploration that is solo island amidst a sea of genres and sub-genres. Its tale of a "candy colored sandman" who puts him to sleep is sad, sweet, troubling, and keeps adding layers of strings and vocals and meaning until exploding into a beautiful neo-Wagernesque finale.

Relevant in any era, any time. David Lynch figured this out. Perfection. One song that can never, ever be improved on. The dual crown of being First AND Best.

Honkey-tonk on that, Mick.

Roy Orbison
In Dreams
In Dreams
1963

*Give me The Kinks any day.

BOB DYLAN AND THE FLUID DYNAMICS OF RELATIONAL HIERARCHIES AND THE COMPLEX NATURE OF THEIR EVOLUTION AS PROTEGES BECOME PEERS.

The Fluid Dynamics of Relational Hierarchies and the Complex Nature of Their Evolution as Protégés Become Peers // March 10, 2013

VISIONS OF JOHANNES.

Daddy, what is this music? I don't like it.

- WHAT! It's Neil Young. What do you not like about it?

I want to listen to Bob Dylan.

- Okay okay, I'll put on a Bob song.

I SNEAK ON DAVID BOWIE'S 'Changes.'
- Do you like this Bob Dylan song?

Uhh! Is this Bob Dylan? Is this not Bob Dylan?

- Okay, fine. I was trying to trick you. Here's some Bob.

I PUT ON SIMON & GARFUNKEL'S 'The Boxer.'
- What do you think of this Bob Dylan song, Johannes?

Is this Bob Dylan?
(huge grin)
Or John Lennon?

- Johannes! Good guess! But no, it's not John Lennon. It's Simon & Garfunkel.

Oh. Can we listen to Bob Dylan now?

- Okay. What do you like about Bob Dylan?

His Bob Dylan voice.

- You like his voice?

Yeah. I like his Bob Dylan voice.

I STICK ON 'BLOWIN' IN THE WIND.' WE LISTEN INTENTLY, DRIVING.
Is he saying 'blowing in the wind?'

- Yep. That's what he's singing about. Do you like this song?

Yeah. I like the blowing in the wind song.

THE SUN LOWERS ITSELF. SONG ENDS.
Can we listen to another Bob Dylan song?

- Yeah. Which one?

Umm...another Bob Dylan song.

- Okay. Here goes.

WE GO WITH 'DON'T THINK TWICE, IT'S ALRIGHT.'
The sun and moon prepare to trade places for a while, and I squeeze my hand back for a squeeze and remember what a wonderful world it is once in a while everyday.

Especially when Bob is soundtracking things.

Bob Dylan
Blowin' in the Wind / Don't Think Twice, It's Alright
The Freewheelin' Bob Dylan
1963

WHOOPS, HERBIE HANCOCK.

I know I am supposed to be strong and help them be healthy and get their proper sleep and all that jazz. But when I peek around the corner and hear him asking her what music is playing and she says Herbie Hancock, and she just happens to be correct, and then they plod their way around the corner in pajamas and he looks up with two-year old innocence and old man wisdom and says (likely assisted by his five-year old Life Coach):

Daddy, can we please watch some cinema?

Then I think we're just gonna have to plop on the couch and stick some Dick Van Dyke on. Bedtime be blasted. And I will forever think of jazzpianoman Mr. Hancock's "Succotash" with songful nostalgia, and be reminded of its rightful stature as one of the greatest songs ever. Probably at the top.

Herbie Hancock

Succotash

Inventions & Dimensions

1963