About this episode

Laura and Rebecca discuss Bob Dylan's use of pronouns in his songwriting and its impact on listeners.

This week on the Bob Dylan Hotline Laura and Rebecca are talking about Bob Dylan's pronouns! In 1978, Bob Dylan told Craig McGregor, "Tangled Up In Blue [was] the first [song] I ever wrote that I felt free enough to change all the... what is it, the tenses around, is that what it is? [...] The he and the she and the I and the you, and the we and the us–I figured it was all the same anyway – I could throw them all in where they floated right – and it works on that level." How does this changing around of pronouns affect how we hear the song? And why does Dylan favour writing in the second person rather than the first? Joni Mitchell has something to say about that.

People in this episode

Host: Laura Tenschert

Guest: Rebecca

Topics covered

• Bob Dylan
• pronouns
• songwriting
• music analysis
• lyric interpretation

Keywords

• Bob Dylan
• pronouns
• Tangled Up In Blue
• songwriting
• music commentary

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