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Who’s This Guy Dylan Who’s Borrowing Lines From...

Aug 18, 2011
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Who’s This Guy Dylan Who’s Borrowing Lines From Henry Timrod? Love the reactions in this piece. “No doubt about it, there has been some borrowing going on,” said Walter Brian Cisco, who wrote a 2004 biography of Timrod, when shown Mr. Dylan’s lyrics. Mr. Cisco said he could find at least six other phrases from Timrod’s poetry that appeared in Mr. Dylan’s songs. But Mr. Cisco didn’t seem particularly bothered by that. “I’m glad Timrod is getting some recognition,” he said. And: To Mr. Warmuth, who found 10 phrases echoing Timrod’s poetry on “Modern Times,” Mr. Dylan’s work is still original. “You could give the collected works of Henry Timrod to a bunch of people, but none of them are going to come up with Bob Dylan songs… And just because it’s legal, that doesn’t stop “fans” from being outraged: Because Timrod is long dead and his work has fallen out of copyright — you can find his collected poems on the Internet — there is no legal claim that could be made against Mr. Dylan. But some fans are bothered by the ethics of Mr. Dylan’s borrowing ways. “Bob really is a thieving little swine,” wrote one poster on Dylan Pool, a chat room where Mr. Warmuth posted his findings. “If it was anyone else we’d be stringing them up by their neck, but no, it’s Bobby Dee, and ‘the folk process.’ Including Joni Mitchell: Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception. (Here’s a response for Joni.)

Who’s This Guy Dylan Who’s Borrowing Lines From Henry Timrod?

Love the reactions in this piece.

“No doubt about it, there has been some borrowing going on,” said Walter Brian Cisco, who wrote a 2004 biography of Timrod, when shown Mr. Dylan’s lyrics. Mr. Cisco said he could find at least six other phrases from Timrod’s poetry that appeared in Mr. Dylan’s songs. But Mr. Cisco didn’t seem particularly bothered by that. “I’m glad Timrod is getting some recognition,” he said.

And:

To Mr. Warmuth, who found 10 phrases echoing Timrod’s poetry on “Modern Times,” Mr. Dylan’s work is still original. “You could give the collected works of Henry Timrod to a bunch of people, but none of them are going to come up with Bob Dylan songs…

And just because it’s legal, that doesn’t stop “fans” from being outraged:

Because Timrod is long dead and his work has fallen out of copyright — you can find his collected poems on the Internet — there is no legal claim that could be made against Mr. Dylan. But some fans are bothered by the ethics of Mr. Dylan’s borrowing ways. “Bob really is a thieving little swine,” wrote one poster on Dylan Pool, a chat room where Mr. Warmuth posted his findings. “If it was anyone else we’d be stringing them up by their neck, but no, it’s Bobby Dee, and ‘the folk process.’

Including Joni Mitchell:

Bob is not authentic at all. He’s a plagiarist, and his name and voice are fake. Everything about Bob is a deception.

(Here’s a response for Joni.)

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  1. abrahammx reblogged this from micaeyes
  2. poetrymidwest reblogged this from austinkleon and added:
    Remember: Everything is a Remix!
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  5. sarahameera reblogged this from austinkleon and added:
    And then again, nothing is new. Someone please tell me what’s originality.
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