Are You a Swifty?

I used to have a couple of Abba 8-tracks.  In certain respects my tastes were rather eclectic back then, and in certain respects they still are.

Sad that a thread regarding the most insipid, milquetoast, uncontroversial, apolitical celebrity somehow inspires troglodyte political blather.

And yet here you are, Trog, adding your $0.02; how sad.

@arizonabob some people have lost mega system's worth of money on their Truth Social "investment".  It's a sensitive subject.

That's hilarious.

You mean to tell me she’s a singer? I’ve never heard her sing anything and Candice Owen’s says she’s a psychopath.

What is amusing about that is: Candace Owens does not even know the definition of the term. Since a picture is worth one thousand words, Candace should look in the mirror if she wants to understand psycopathy.

unless you include her ability to brainwash weak minded humans and fish.

@jmalen123  , that kind of sums up Fat Donnie, doesn't it?

Thank you, @tylermunns (aka Trog), for contributing two more cents and further enhancing your own troll status. You certainly know how to type a lot of words and say nothing.

@tylermunns , you are a legend in your own mind. Now go type another five thousand or so meaningless words that say nothing and that nobody cares about.

He does a great cover of Folsom Prison Blues--I saw it/heard it on youtube not too long ago.

What is Truth Social investment? Am I the only one who doesn't know?

It's a losing stock that some suckers bought.

Her latest album is a blatant rip off of Lana Del Rey’s sound and style. So much so that it’s downright pathetic.

Lana Del Rey probably takes it as a compliment.

No one ever accused Dylan of being able to sin

That is not true.  What is true is that Bob Dylan is not for everybody and many have found found him to be a taste that it took time to aquire; however, a large percentage of the people who make that statement about Bod Dylan's inability to sing have never gave him any serious listening time.

Bro, her new album sucks...it's full of filler crap. The critics aren't wrong here...

The poetic lass has run out of talent, it appears!!

@deep_333  , did the critics always love all of the albums you put out?

Ok Swifty.

Not really.  I think I've only listened to a couple of her songs.  One was a quite long one, a ballad of sorts that she performed on SNL, and the other one I remember hearing on a public radio station I used to listen to when I was driving, I kind of liked it, but all I remember of it was it was about a park in Jersey, or something like that?  As I typed, that one is at least a few years old.

All I was getting at is:  is everyone (and there are a bunch) who is compared to someone else (such as Bob Dylan, as an an example) pathetic?

I've been listening to Dylan for decades and decades and I've seen him in concert a few times and I still stand by the fact that he really does not know how to sing.

@simao  , then why have you been listening to him for that long?  I ask that question without intending to be confrontational or sarcastic.

There are tons of great artists that lack technical proficiency, either vocally or instrumentally.

Staying with a nonsarcastic and nonconfrontational tone: does this put you in the camp of those that maintain that Bob Dylan could not/can not sing?

And in the same tone: if someone cannot paint, can his or her paintings really be art?

I nominate Mary Fahl.

I had to do a Google to find out who she is.  I've heard of The October Project but I don't think I am familiar with anything they have done.  Her Reimagining The Dark Side Of The Moon sounds interesting.

But what are you nominating her for?

@roxy54  , what CD would you recommend for someone to start out with her?

Thanks, @roxy54  .

@immatthewj I guess because his Melodies and his lyrics are so engaging. They’re good enough I can Overlook his voice.

@simao , okay. As an aside, and not that it relates or applies to Taylor Swift, but I remember (it must have been around the end of ’86) I read No Direction Home, and I believe it was there that I read that Bob Dylan (and perhaps this was before he started calling himself Bob Dylan) was trying to imitate Woody Guthrie and that was when his style of singing developed and how (I guess one might say) the sound of his voice developed. (I am not going to search through the book right now to try to confirm that, but maybe I will later.)

However, as far as Bob Dylan’s vocals, I love them. I kind of lost touch with what he did after Street Legal (I have listened to a lot of his stuff post-Street Legal, but none of it was really grabbing me anymore), but I think the entire Blood On The Tracks is actually a testimony to how well he can sing. I love his voice on Desolation Row. His voice seems perfect (to me) for Visions Of Johanna. The same for Dignity.

As I typed previously, Bob Dylan’s voice is not for everyone and it may be an acquired taste that some never acquire, but I am one of the ones who does enjoy the sound of his voice and usually prefers the sound of him singing his stuff to that of the countless who cover him.

With all that typed, I also enjoy the vocals of (to name just a few) Bruce Springsteen, Van Morrison, Boz Skaggs, Mark Knoffler, Jim Croce, Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle and Leonard Cohen; I suspect that not everybody thinks that those guys are, or were, great singers either. I really like the sound of Lucinda Williams voice and I used to get a lot of pushback about that also.

A good (or great) singer is, for me, one who can  move me positively  with the way he or she sings. Which Bob Dylan did (and possibly still does, although I haven’t listened to anything by him that is at all recent). I remember on the LP "Dylan" he covered Lily Of The West and Mr. Bojangles and Spanish Is The Loving Tongue and all three of those covers blow me away (particularly lily Of The West). On the other hand, one of my favorite female voices is that of Linda Ronstadt, and I really like her cover of Just Like Tom Thumb’s Blues, but if I could only listen to one version , I much prefer the sound of Bob Dylan’s recording.

I feel that arguing about whether Bob Dylan is a good singer is kind of like arguing about whether Scotch whiskey tastes good or not. I didn’t always enjoy the sound of Bob Dylan’s vocal work and it used to be that I’d rather siphon gasoline than drink Scotch; now-a-days I find Scotch to be delicious and Blood On The Tracks is magic to my ears.

Sorry, OP--I realize that none of this has anything at all to do with Taylor Swift.

.

+1 , @rick847  . 

I think Dylan chooses to sing as he does. His Nashville Skyline album proves he doesn’t have to.

@bdp24 , going back to a few posts that I made ago, I remember once reading that Bob Dylan’s style of vocal work came from trying to imitate Woody Guthrie. +1 on Nashville Skyline, and I personally feel that applies even more to Blood On The Tracks, as that LP  proves that Bob Dylan could sing.