When I need to bask in the genius of Bob Dylan I listen to a record; I don’t read his lyrics like a book of poetry. This is why his winning the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature doesn’t validate a damn thing. To reduce his lyrics to text is to miss the most important aspect: their delivery. Along with Jimi Hendrix’s guitar and Miles Davis’ trumpet, Dylan’s voice is one of the most immersive, soulful, and psychologically complex instruments in the history of American music. And much like Frank Sinatra, he’s shrewdly turned the wear and tear that comes with time into an advantage. When the culture-wrecking roar ‘n’ whine of the 1960s and ’70s became a physical impossibility, he reinvented himself as an ancient ghost with a deliciously sandpapered groan that can flip between ageless truth and sneering insolence at the drop of a hat. While you’ll certainly encounter a handful of classics, my playlist isn’t a greatest hits mix. Rather, I’ve pulled together a bunch of songs — some recorded live, many deep cuts, all personal faves — that I feel show off Dylan’s power, range, and utter eccentricity as a vocalist.
