Robert Allen Zimmerman, also know as Bob Dylan, is a musician whose poetic lyrics and powerful songs influenced a generation during the tumultuous 1960s. Dylan’s litany of songs, such as “Blowin’ in the Wind” and “The Times They Are A Changin'”, became popular anthems for the Civil Rights Movement and the anti-war movement as they gave voice to the generation of Baby Boomers who wanted equal rights for African-Americans and who were against the Vietnam War. Dylan recently won the Nobel Prize for Literature for his prolific song-writing career. According to the Nobel Prize’s website (www.nobelprize.org), Dylan earned the award “for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition.”

Named for Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, the Nobel Prize is a set of annual international awards given to individuals who have made outstanding contributions in one of a number of categories, including chemistry, literature, peace, physics, and physiology or medicine. The fact that Dylan won the prize this year has caused a bit of controversy among critics and the general public as the Nobel Prize for Literature is often reserved for novelists, poets, and non-fiction authors. However, the Nobel Committee gave the award to Dylan because they want the award to encompass more than just poets and writers, but musicians who have made a significant cultural impact through their lyrics. It can be argued that songs can influence people just as much as poems or books.

Mr. Ginnety, a sixth and seventh-grade English teacher at The Benjamin School and a musician and songwriter himself, agreed with the Nobel committee’s decision. “Well, I have read interesting arguments [for and against Dylan’s award] and one of [the articles that] said he shouldn’t get the award is that without the musical component, his words sort of remain inert,” said Ginnetty. “But I’m of the opposite opinion. I think that if you just read his lyrics as pieces of poetry, even without the dynamic edition of the musical piece of the instrumentation, they are still impressive. I think [people] would be hard pressed to find other lyrics that have influenced many other people across musical genres.”

On the other hand, Will Dimaio, a seventh-grade student, disagrees. “I think that this award should only be given to writers because it’s called the Nobel Prize for Literature, and singers should win Grammys.”

Still, the music teachers at The Benjamin School feel that Dylan deserves this award because of his body of work. “[Dylan] is well known for being a great poet with his lyrics that he writes and has written a huge amount of material and many albums,” said strings teacher and assistant band director Mr. Andrew Winters. “So, yeah definitely [he deserves it]. It’s the first time a musician has been awarded the Nobel prize for Literature.”

Ginnetty argues that Dylan’s influence reaches beyond the 1960s. “I think Bob Dylan’s influence is not strictly relegated to the Civil Rights Movement,” he said. “I think it would be hard for us to find another musician who has had such a drastic impact on several historical events in American history and on music in general. I mean how many folk singers today say that Bob Dylan is their main inspiration?”

Clearly this is a big honor to receive, but Dylan acted in an unusual way by not acknowledging the award. For weeks after it was announced, Dylan said nothing. In fact, in an article by Yohana Desta in Vanity Fair, it was noted that the Swedish Academy, the organization that hands out the prizes, “reached out to the famous singer multiple times, but never heard a response, and weren’t sure if Dylan would even attend the ceremony.” Dylan did not make one remark about it, and this once-in-a-lifetime accomplishment was not even posted on his website. Was this because he felt that he had accomplished so much that this was a trivial award to him? Or was he simply being humble?

“Well I have my suspicions,” said Ginnetty. “I mean, his personality throughout his career has been standoffish – a little bit aloof, so maybe he is trying to perpetuate that. The other thing is, does a Nobel Prize really mean anything to him? And it’s a shame because it is such an awesome honor. And I kind of think it is funny that they can’t get him on the phone.”
Some students interpreted his failure to recognize the award as a blunt insult. “I feel Bob Dylan is being rude to the people who gave him this award, and I think the people who gave it to him are thinking they made a mistake,” said seventh grader Joey Palomba.

“I think Bob Dylan needs to accept this award immediately because then people will look down on him and be disappointed in him,” said sixth grader Darren Dharia.
However, as this article was going to press, Bob Dylan finally acknowledged the award, saying it felt “amazing, incredible. Whoever dreams about something like that?” He will indeed attend the Nobel prize event this December to accept the prestigious honor. It will be interesting to see if he explains at that point what took him so long to acknowledge its receipt. Perhaps the answer is “Blowin’ in the Wind.”