Bob Dylan's "The Philosophy of Modern Song" (Simon & Schuster, 2022)

ISBN: 978-1-4516-4870-6

It’s nice that in the 21st century that there are still mysteries out there, such as Bob Dylan. 66 Chapters on 66 songs in his book The Philosophy of Modern Song. There are 66 books of the bible and Route 66, where one can get their kicks. 66 is also the number of balance and harmony. The Angel 66 tells one that you are on the right path. Bob Dylan is taking us on a road trip of the mind, and as Jean-Luc Godard had said, there is always a beginning, a middle, and an end, but not necessarily in that order.

My first impression of this book is that it is much like Kenneth Anger’s Hollywood Babylon. Anger’s book on Hollywood film culture is very much a personal work, and how he interacts with history makes it his narrative. Dylan or his designer makes The Philosophy of Modern Song very much in the same manner as the Anger book. Both deal with the mythology of the arts, and Dylan even goes into Hollywood movie history in a book about music. And like Anger, Dylan has his way of telling the tale, which may or may not be accurate, but the title of this book is wrong. It should have been called Bob Dylan’s Philosophy of Modern Song. People have commented that Anger’s book does not have a precisely detailed or truthful history, but they are missing the point in plain hide sight; the book is Kenneth Anger’s …., and therefore it is his story. The Dylan book is very much a work of opinion but a stance to present his story as he sees and hears it.

Dylan’s choices of songs to write about are surprising to some degree and evident at the same time. For someone who started as a ‘folksinger,’ a few classic folk songs are listed here. Mostly early Rn’B, some blues, and many songs from the great American songbook. Which I’m sure was very much on Dylan’s mind because he had at least recorded five albums of pre-rock pop tunes. On top of that, one can presume that these are Dylan’s favorite songs, but I wouldn’t fall into that trap. More likely, they are works that he wanted to riff on, and not necessarily all of his fave tunes.

Some years ago, the British publication Record Collector published Dylan’s introduction to songs played on his radio show Theme Time Radio Hour, which was a fantastic read. They were witty, informative, and super interesting, and none of it made it into this book. I could be wrong because Dylan did 100 episodes of his show, but this book is very different from the introductions he made on his radio show.

The book does have amazing photographs of old music stores, and I can feel the age of the consumer industry with great fondness. Still, again, Dylan uses the past or nostalgia for something else. It’s a new reality for him, and although he sounds like an 80-year-old man coming to terms with the modern world, he insists that these old songs in his book represent the modern song. To me, what is modern can mean something different in the mind of Bob Dylan. To dwell in his world is a pleasure, but this is not Dylan’s best book, and the design work is busy for no reason. Still, it is essential to the Dylan obsessive, but those who love Anger’s Babylon and works by Greil Marcus will find it a fascinating adventure.

Buy the book at your favorite independent bookstore.