| 30th September 2006 12:38 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
Bob Dylan: Paying tribute or plagiarizing poetry?
Dylan's newest album draws criticism by mirroring poetry of Civil War poet Henry Timrod
Amy Selby
9/28/06 Section: Arts & Entertainment
Stoud Courier
Bob Dylan stated: "I would not want to be Bach, Mozart, Tolstoy, Joe Hill, Gertrude Stein or James Dean?they are all dead. The great books have been written; the great sayings have been said."
Now, more than 40 years later, Dylan has been accused of "borrowing" lines from the long forgotten poetry of Henry Timrod, an obscure southern civil war writer.
Dylan's latest album, "Modern Times," released on August 29th 2006, contains numerous similarities to Timrod's poetry.
Compare Timrod's poem 'Two Portraits' with Dylan's 'Workingman's Blues #2.'
Timrod writes: "Which, ere they feel a lover's breath. Lie in a temporary death."
Dylan sings: "In the dark I hear the night birds call.
I can hear a lover's breath.
I sleep in the kitchen with my feet in the hall.
Sleep is like temporary death."
Dr. Charles Warner, an East Stroudsburg University professor of Communication Studies states: "What we may be dealing with is simply a versioning of the Civil War poet's verse--not an uncommon practice in transmission of folk culture narrative. As a commercial-age folksinger, Dylan is no stranger to this practice."
Henry Timrod, a teacher and journalist from South Carolina, suffered from illness most of his adult life.
Unable to fight in the Civil War due to his illness, Timrod made the war the primary focus of his poetic works. He died of Tuberculosis in 1867 at the age of 39.
"Plagiarism is stealing when one tries to make a profit off of someone else's work," said Dr. Leigh Smith, an East Stroudsburg University English professor.
"But Dylan is not stealing. He is simply appropriating ideas in a way of expression."
As both a fan and a scholar, Smith feels that Dylan's use of Timrod's work should not be taken too seriously.
"From the comparisons that I have seen, he is not using the material in the same context as Timrod," Smith said.
Legally, no charges can or will be filed against Mr. Dylan because Timrod's work has fallen out of copyright, although the questions of ethics still remains among his fans and the music industry.
Despite this controversy, Dylan's album remains among the top ten best selling pop albums according to the Billboard Music Chart and his fans continue to support him. During a heated discussion on a myspace fan site, one zealous fan stated: "Bob may be digging in gospels for inspiration or in obscure American Literature, or banging 'some young lazy slut' for endorphins but it's the combination, the final work that either inspires us, or fades away like a bad Paul McCartney album. I'm hanging with Bob."
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| 30th September 2006 12:56 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
Dylan owes me. |
| 30th September 2006 12:56 PM |
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| Taptrick |
There is nothing new under the sun.
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| 30th September 2006 01:04 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
Taptrick wrote:
There is nothing new under the sun.
For sure. And if you don't believe that just check out Sir Stonesalot's "Theme #1 @ My Space" Thread. Sure, beautiful women are always the same but never boring.
[Edited by Ten Thousand Motels] |
| 30th September 2006 01:42 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
Sure, beautiful women are always the same but never boring.
YOU SHALL NOT BE GREETED |
| 30th September 2006 01:46 PM |
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| Taptrick |
Screw you Bono. I swa you smoking in the bathroom at the LA club. All sneaky like you didn't want anyone to know you smoke. Pussy !
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| 30th September 2006 01:49 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Taptrick wrote:
Screw you Bono. I swa you smoking in the bathroom at the LA club. All sneaky like you didn't want anyone to know you smoke. Pussy !
YOU MAKE BONO cry |
| 30th September 2006 02:10 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
BONOISLOVE wrote:
YOU SHALL NOT BE GREETED
LOL. Who gives a flying fuck?
At my house I do the tying up. The rest can't be trusted. |
| 30th September 2006 02:11 PM |
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| Mel Belli |
Dylan pulled that again, eh? Remember the obscure Japanese novelist he pilfered from on "Love and Theft"? "My old man, he's like a feudal lord" was one of the lines, if I remember.
I don't see a problem with it, really. I just wish Dylan would be a bit more open about it. But then, Dylan's not open about much. |
| 30th September 2006 02:16 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
At my house I do the tying up.
Ooh, "kinky". |
| 30th September 2006 02:17 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Mel Belli wrote:
a bit more open about it.
There's nothing wrong in being ghey, ya know. |
| 30th September 2006 02:20 PM |
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| Ten Thousand Motels |
quote:
BONOISLOVE wrote:
Ooh, "kinky".
No, not kinky at all. I just don't trust her. Sure with I trust her with minor stuff like the checkbook and the kids education, but no major decisions. |
| 30th September 2006 02:27 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Ten Thousand Motels wrote:
No, not kinky at all. I just don't trust her. Sure with I trust her with minor stuff like the checkbook and the kids education, but no major decisions.
I live in Europe, so, according to the constitution, marriage is defined as between a human and another human. I support it, but it can't be done in Texas. Legally, anyway... |
| 30th September 2006 05:55 PM |
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| Mel Belli |
quote:
BONOISLOVE wrote:
I live in Europe, so, according to the constitution, marriage is defined as between a human and another human. I support it, but it can't be done in Texas. Legally, anyway...
Enlighten me: What is the "European constitution," and how many countries have ratified it? |
| 30th September 2006 06:00 PM |
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| Mel Belli |
Do you mean this thing? 'Cause, as of now, it's the law of no land:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_constitution |
| 30th September 2006 06:44 PM |
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| BONOISLOVE |
quote:
Mel Belli wrote:
Do you mean this thing? 'Cause, as of now, it's the law of no land:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/EU_constitution
That's the one. (In Macaulay Culkin move: I rule!)
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