One of my classes this semester is English 179, Literature And Linguistics. Today we examined the work of Bob Dylan and the linguistic pattern choices he makes in his lyrics.
In “Blowin’ In The Wind”, his rhymes are often not perfect rhymes; he includes a [d] sound at the end of some lines and not others:
How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
“Man”, “sand”, and “banned” don’t really rhyme. They have the same [ae] sound but the endings are quite different. Dylan definitely knew this; why did he sometimes include the extra [d], sometimes emphasizing it (“banned”) and sometimes dropping it (“san(d)”)?
My professor seems to be suggesting that emphasizing or dropping the sounds makes certain words stand out more in Dylan’s message. I could go into lots more detail, but do you think the theory is reasonable? Or are we just reading too much into it?
Update: Wednesday 9/10: Professor Hanson dithered around a bit more about “The Times They Are A-Changin'”, but right when we were about to get to the really exciting point where she reveals what the heck the purpose behind imperfect rhymes are, she decided to tell us on Friday. This is just like watching a TV drama where they keep luring you back with “Next week, on The Hills…”
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September 12, 2008 at 11:24 am
Alex
First of all, I think that it is so cool that you are learning about Dylan in your English class!
I am insanely jealous.
And yes I do agree with your professors theory. I have read quite a bit about Dylan and nothing he did was by mistake, he was very detailed in his work.
Love your blog!
September 12, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Katherine
Why, thank you, Alex! I’m new to blogging, so I love getting comments and compliments. If you have a blog, I’d really like to take a look at it. :)
I’m going to English 179 this afternoon. When my professor finally does reveal Dylan’s intentions behind imperfect rhyming, I will be sure to post an update.
September 14, 2008 at 1:00 am
Bob Dylan, The Poet: Mystery Revealed « exploring berkeley
[…] If you haven’t already read my first post about my Literature and Linguistics class studying Bob Dylan’s imperfect rhymes, this post will make no sense to you. I know that Alex from Michigan, at least, is reading. […]