Did you know just one generation ago, it was socially and culturally accepted to live our lives on other people’s terms? If Mike was still alive (remember, this blog is dedicated to him), I would have called him on my way home from work the day I found out Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature. Dylan is one of those greats in music I will always cherish, but to know he’s continuing to redefine boundaries at 75 – we would have talked for at least an hour about his worthiness of this award.
The first musician to receive the literary world’s highest honor, Dylan was recognized by the Swedish Academy for the true poet he is – who absolutely wrote folk classics and sprinkled literary allusions into his poetry.
And when I say poetry, I mean song lyrics. Do not fight me on this.
So what’s my favorite song of Dylan’s? 1969’s “Lay Lady Lay,” of course, a classic tale of a man trying to get a women into bed:
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Whatever colors you have in your mind
I’ll show them to you and you’ll see them shine
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Until the break of day, let me see you make him smile
His clothes are dirty but his hands are clean
And you’re the best thing that he’s ever seen
Stay, lady, stay, stay with your man awhile
Why wait any longer for the world to begin
You can have your cake and eat it too
Why wait any longer for the one you love
When he’s standing in front of you
Lay, lady, lay, lay across my big brass bed
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
I long to see you in the morning light
I long to reach for you in the night
Stay, lady, stay, stay while the night is still ahead
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