Part 1 — War and Rumors of War
The Roots of “The Philosophy of Modern Song”
“For in human Art we are not merely dealing with playthings, however pleasant or useful they may be, but… with a revelation of truth.” ~ The Philosophy of Fine Art, Hegel
On March 8, publishing house Simon & Schuster announced Bob Dylan’s “The Philosophy of Modern Song” would be released in November 2022. Dylan’s first book since 2004’s “Chronicles, Volume One,” the press release describes “Philosophy” as “a master class on the art and craft of songwriting” containing over 60 essays on songs by artists ranging from Stephen Foster (“Nelly was a Lady”) to Elvis Costello (“Pump It Up”), and Hank Williams “Your Cheatin’ Heart”) to Nina Simone (“Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood”).
According to the press release, Dylan began working on “Philosophy” in 2010, which would be the year after the last episode of his radio show, “Theme Time Radio Hour” aired. I think the germ of the idea behind “Philosophy” began life as a never-released book by Dylan with the working title of the “Theme Time Radio Hour Compendium.”
I know something of the background of the Compendium, as I was recruited some 14 years ago by the TTRH team to work on the project. One of the show’s producers, “Ben Rollins,”…
