Friday, January 30, 2009

Lennon's Dylan Period

Lennon acknowledged that he went through what he called "a Dylan period" in 1965, when his words and music were inspired by Bob Dylan. Although Lennon's band the Quarrymen started off playing folksongs, Lennon later said that he wasn't much of a fan of folk music. After listening to Dylan's album Freewheelin', however, Lennon obviously had a change of heart. "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" exhibits the most obvious influence. "Yes It Is" is also strongly influenced by Dylan, although the influence is harder to detect unless one listens to the Anthology version, on which Lennon slurs the lyrics a bit while playing acoustic guitar. The most peculiar Beatles fact here is that Lennon said that "Norwegian Wood" was also part of his Dylan period. The song (about an affair Lennon was having) is more associated with eastern influence because of the addition of George's sitar to the track, but if one listens closely to the lyrics and acoustic work (especially on the Anthology version), one can hear strains of Dylan.

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