Talk:Bob Dylan

Latest comment: 13 years ago by XZYOE in topic Unsourced

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Bob Dylan page.


unsourced quotes edit

Why has no one listed any sources for these quotations? This is a quick and easy way to get on the fast road to misquotation and (worse) misattribution. This page already has some notable examples, such as the one about a day 'above ground' being a 'good day'. Dylan may have said this, but who hasn't? This is pure cliche and doesn't belong here.

—This unsigned comment is by 194.72.110.12 (talkcontribs) . (11:21, 12 May 2005)

Future & Past "Attributed Quote" edit

If I'm not mistaken, the quote "Well, the future for me is already a thing of the past." is nearly verbatim from a lyric of Dylan's, I think from Love and Theft. So I'm placing it in the lyrics section.

—This unsigned comment is by 66.213.21.15 (talkcontribs) .

The Times They Are A-Changin' edit

I'm not very comfortable with the Times quote. My view is that quotations from verse should be limited to short, memorable passages of one or two lines, consisting of original material, exclusive of allusions to other text, and which have entered the popular consciousness in greater or lesser degree. I would argue that the one line from Times that fits that description is the title line itself. It's a great song, but there's not a single verse that stands out from the others in such a way that it ought to be privileged here. Furthermore, the Biblical lines about the first being last disqualify this excerpt from inclusion, in my opinion. Thoughts?

—This unsigned comment is by 194.72.110.12 (talkcontribs) .

Is it possible for anyone to edit this thing? Can I just say doodododododododo?

—This unsigned comment is by 12.76.129.20 (talkcontribs) .

Yes....yes you can...

that's the concept of a wiki

—This unsigned comment is by 151.213.253.145 (talkcontribs) .

That seems nuts, anyone can just come along and ruin the whole damn thing.

—This unsigned comment is by 12.76.152.139 (talkcontribs) .
The damage that can be done is usually very limited in duration and extent, as reverting vandalism is usually even easier than doing it. As Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects have proven, substantial progress in many ways can be made on the assumption that the majority of people, who are not inclined to be extremely obnoxious vandals, can usually keep in check the few who are. ~ Kalki 10:55, 28 December 2005 (UTC)Reply

Cleanup edit

I've added a cleanup tag to this article because it contains a slew of lyrics quotes that aren't formatted and without proper source lines per Wikiquote:Templates/People. Specifically, the quotes should be removed, the song titles should be on a separate line, and (for lyrics) the album titles and release years should be mentioned. Linking to existing Wikipedia articles on the song and/or album titles would be helpful, too. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 06:08, 16 November 2006 (UTC)Reply

I'm removing the cleanup tag because we have done everything that Jeff asked. I still think the article could use some work, and some reorganzation, but we don't need the tag to spur us on for that. --Ubiquity 12:10, 15 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

There are still songs that don't have links and there good quotes that missed in here (For example I can say that "It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)" Still have a lot of great quotes) I linked the songs till Blonde on Blonde but didn't do this for others so someone must do it (I may do it in future) and added some quotes and I think that some of the quotes should not be here but I won't delete anything from here Sorry for my English! - KiBattosai 19:38, 06 June 2010

Use of {{wsongatt}} edit

Be careful when using the {{wsongatt}} template. "{{wsongatt|song|album|year}}" is a convenient shorthand for:

** "[[w:song|song]]", ' '[[w:album|album]]' ', year

but it doesn't guarantee that the links are correct! Especially with song titles it's easy to link to something that's not what you wanted, or to create redlinks. So, don't use 'wsongatt unless:

  • a wikipedia article on the song already exists whose title is exactly the same as the name of the song, and
  • a wikipedia article on the album already exists whose title is exactly the same as the name of the album.

Thanks. --Ubiquity 12:22, 15 December 2006 (UTC)Reply

In the article's current format, there is no need to use this template at all.

Quotation marks edit

I've removed the quotation marks around the song titles because they weren't necessary and looked messy.

Someone's put the quote marks back in. Well, if you want it to look shit and amateurish then fine.

Oddly enough, opinions vary. I think song titles without quotation marks look amateurish. I do agree it looks cleaner without them, and I've seen it done both ways here. If you hadn't been an anonymous user, I would have discussed it with you before reverting. Does anyone else have an opinion? The Wikiquote style guide doesn't say, but they do point to the Chicago Manual of Style for matters not covered, and the CMS would go for the quotation marks. --01:49, 3 February 2007 (UTC)
We've been leaving out/removing quotation marks for the past year or two. Unfortunately, Wikiquote:Manual of style lags Wikiquote:Templates and its subpages, which tend to show the latest style practices. We really must synchronize these critters. ~ Jeff Q (talk) 20:23, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Lyric Question edit

Was Bob Dylan the first to come up with that "How many roads must a man walk" line? I'm quite certain I've heard that elsewhere (perhaps from Dolly Parton?). Is the line original to Dylan?

The song is original. I'm sure other people have asked that question, both before and after Dylan. But Dolly Parton was only 16 when Dylan first sang the song, so he didn't get it from her. There is some information about (unfounded) plagiarism claims at Blowin' in the Wind. --Ubiquity 14:51, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Also, when and why did he change his name to Bob Dylan? 68.54.145.90 03:05, 14 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

You can find out the answer to this and a lot of other questions about Dylan by reading the Wikipedia article on Dylan. --Ubiquity 14:51, 15 May 2007 (UTC)Reply

Unsourced edit

  • All I can do is be me, whoever that is.
Interviewed by Paul J Robbins, November 8, 1965. http://www.interferenza.com/bcs/interw/65-nov08.htm XZYOE 22:16, 11 November 2010 (UTC)Reply
  • High? Me? Never.
  • Basically you have to suppress your own ambitions in order to be who you need to be.
  • Being noticed can be a burden. Jesus got himself crucified because he got himself noticed. So I disappear a lot.
  • Folk music is a word I can't use. Folk music is a bunch of fat people.
  • I told you I'm not commenting on whether it is weedpunk.
  • I accept chaos, I'm not sure whether it accepts me.
  • I define nothing. Not beauty, not patriotism. I take each thing as it is, without prior rules about what it should be.
  • I don't think the human mind can comprehend the past and the future. They are both just illusions that can manipulate you into thinking theres some kind of change.
  • I think of myself more as a song and dance man, you know.
Press conference in San Francisco on December 3rd, 1965. as a answer to the question: "Do you think of yourself primarely as a singer or as a poet?"
  • I say there're no depressed words just depressed minds.
  • I've never written a political song. Songs can't save the world. I've gone through all that.
  • If I wasn't Bob Dylan, I'd probably think that Bob Dylan has a lot of answers myself.
  • I started smoking at 11 years old an' only stopped once to catch my breath.
  • Just because you like my stuff doesn't mean I owe you anything.
  • The moment when you reload your rifle.
    • A definition of peace.

--> Interview with Kurt Loder, Rolling Stone, June 21, 1984: "You can reload your rifle, and that moment you're reloading it, that's peace. (Jonathan Cott: Bob Dylan - The Essential Interviews, p. 291.)

  • What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do.
  • When you feel in your gut what you are and then dynamically pursue it— don't back down and don't give up— then you're going to mystify a lot of folks. (Interview with Ron Rosenbaum, Playboy, March 1978; reproduced in "Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews," Jonathan Cott, ed., 2006)
  • Backstage at LiveAid, it was a total sausage fest, I was scared for my life...I wont say who impressed me most that night but his wife is a lucky woman (Interview by NME in 2008)
  • What good are fans? You can't eat applause for breakfast. You can't sleep with it.
  • Interviewer: They say Dylan never talks.
    Dylan: Well, what the hell is there to say?
  • Nostalgia is death.
  • I'm not disconnected from anything because of a force, just habit, it's just the way I am. I don't know, I have an idea that it's easier to be disconnected than to be connected. I've got a huge hallelujah for all the people who are connected, that's great, but I can't do that. I've been connected so many times. Things haven't worked out right, so rather than break myself up, I just don't get connected
  • Politics is entertainment. It's a sport. It's for the well groomed and well heeled. The impeccably dressed. Party animals. Politicians are interchangeable.
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