Download Instrumental    Yep… Bob Dylan has won the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature.  My first reaction was, “You’ve GOT to be kidding!”  That makes as much sense as Obama getting the Peace Prize twenty minutes after he took office.  The Nobel people said they had a reason though – it was for “having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition”.  Oh, okay – that explains it.

However, after pouring over lyrics of some of his lesser known songs… well, they actually are pretty good literature.  I don’t know that they’re on par with the likes of Saul Bellow or Steinbeck or Hemingway, but  Dylan did write some pretty heady stuff.  His song “Hurricane”, for example, gave us the true story of the false imprisonment of Reuben Carter.  The song achieved such popularity that it led to the retrial of “Hurricane” Carter (after spending 20 years in prison) and the subsequent release and judgement that Carter hadn’t received a fair trial – though I think Dylan might have been more in line for a Pulitzer for that one.

“Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door” was one of the few Bob Dylan compositions I actually liked – though not by him.  I much preferred Eric Clapton’s reggae feel for the tune and that’s what I’m giving you here.   I guess I like the whole idea of being able to knock on heaven’s door – hoping beyond hope that it opens and I can stroll on in to a reggae beat.  I’m pretty sure there’s music in heaven…

So congratulations, Mr. Dylan… I guess.

[Backup tracks on Pop/Rock List]