Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews

A comparison between Bob Dylan and Dave Matthews would not be exceptionally original, most notably because of the obvious level of musical talent of both men, their movement from acoustic to electric, and the ability to blend several social influences into a cohesive song. Dylan went from the folk and acoustic sound overnight, while the Dave Matthews Band took their time while never actually abandoning the sound. The most interesting comparison is not their similarities, but the striking difference between Bob Dylan's musical genius and Dave Matthews' lyrical gifts.

Bob Dylan's genius is unmatched and unchallenged in the rock world. Although some would argue that he reached his apex with Highway 61 Revisited and Blond on Blond, he can still produce albums of exceptional culture value such as 2007's Modern Times. While reviewing 2007's “Bob Dylan: The Essential Interviews” by Jonathan Cott, Louis Menand made an important distinction between Dylan's talent for the music and Dylan's ability to communicate. Menand goes on to describe interviewers that expect Dylan to be an expert on subjects he sings about, only to walk away from the interview disappointed. Dylan never leaves an interviewer disappointed when the discussion is about the music, the sound of the lyrics meshing with the music, and the overall tone of a piece.

As a complete virtuoso of the ability to match the sound of the words with the musical content of a song, Dylan has been very creative, some would say too creative, with how to get specific words into the rhythm he is looking to fill. Dylan wrote All Along The Watchtower to be read backwards line by line, he wrote Tangled Up In Blue, dedicated or inspired by Jack Kerouac, as a “Cubist” experiment with music. To read Tangled Up In Blue is to quickly understand that the song is a story, but it cannot possibly be a linear story within any historical context. You cannot possibly drive an automobile and live within the time frame of legal slave trading in New Orleans. Clearly the wording itself is secondary to the music, but this is really slicing a thin hair when you consider the confidence and creativeness necessary to invent the musical style of “Cubism” in music just to write a song with the lyrics you need. Much has been made of Dylan's own commentary of the wording in his songs, and they were not kind words, but it is obvious to most critics that the wording and music did fit. The fans of his songs, or the Jimi Hendrix song by Dylan, not only forgive using words the way he does which make simple interpretation just about impossible, they adore him for just this reason.

It is easy to contrast Dylan's style with the style and gifts of Dave Matthews, who has played his entire career surrounded by a versatile, creative and incomparably talented core of musicians in the Dave Matthews Band, and also Tim Reynolds as a frequent side project. However, the one bit of control Dave Matthews has made clear in interviews that he is greedy about are the lyrics he writes. He, David J. Matthews, writes them. Matthews has written songs with layered meanings beautifully worded to express disillusionment and beauty, often with religious overtones. Matthews obviously takes delight in writing songs infused with religious arguments between Catholics and Protestant Fundamentalists, such as Grace is Gone and Bartender. In the medium of rock and roll, which is often ashamed of or hostile to religion, there is a consistent expression of spirituality and an understanding of religious concepts unmatched in current mainstream music. Religious devotion and nationalistic pride dominate the song Joyride, although not in a good way, which appeared on the “extra” CD available with Stand Up.

And herein lies the difference between Dylan and Matthews. Matthews never invented a new medium such as Cubism to contain his lyrics because he never had to. His talent was the lyrics, much more so than the music even though he is still one of the most gifted musicians in the business. It is no mistake that Matthews has kept The Dave Matthews Band intact over the past 15 plus years because he does rely on their talents to compliment his own. Dylan does not have this type of loyalty to a band throughout his career.

The Late Bloomers article in the New Yorker and the book Outliers, both by Malcolm Gladwell, were insightful and challenging observations about talent and the work to attain lifelong achievements. Although Mr. Dylan has shown himself to be extremely adept at producing insightful glimpses into the human condition even late into his career, we do not yet know if Dave Matthews has that same longevity. Hopefully, longevity will be a trait Matthews shares with Dylan.