I Am Not A Bob Dylan Fan. And I’m Sorry.

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I am not a Bob Dylan fan. Never have been and probably never will be. And I really don’t know why. No particular reason, I’m just not a fan. I get that he is an icon. And yes, his lyrics are considered “genius” and “pure poetry”… and I get that too. I do like some of his songs. Especially if others are covering them. (I love Hendrix’s version of All Along the Watchtower and Joan Osbourne’s album ‘Songs of Bob Dylan’.) But listening to him just doesn’t do it for me. If he pops up, on the radio or whatever playlist I may be listening to, I usually turn to something else. No hate. Just indifference. And I feel bad about it. Especially considering how I pride myself on my impeccable taste in, and (self-appointed) vast knowledge of music.

Maybe it’s his voice. But I can’t fully say that is it. I’m certainly not a ‘singer snob’ (I love Tom Petty, who, some say, sounds a bit like Dylan.) And I’m certainly no ‘bucking the mainstream’ kind of guy or, “Well, because everyone else likes Bob Dylan…” I mean, I love Bruce Springsteen. I guess, it’s just a personal thing.

This is the beauty of music

Music is subjective. We like what we like, and we don’t like what we don’t like. And that’s okay. That’s actually good! I love that about music and I respect that about music. (Well… unless you diss Norah Jones in any way.) We all have our ‘things’, the songs that make us happy or the songs that make us cry. Mostly those songs are attached to a memory, of a person or an event or an important time in our lives. But we also have songs or artists that just make us feel good or that we connect with. We find identity in the music we grew up with. And we rely on music to express ourselves when we can’t find the words. We have guilty pleasures—I’ve been known to belt out show tunes while occasionally listening to the Broadway channel on SiriusXM—and we have dislikes that can make us cringe. No one should ever tell anyone what they ‘should’ listen to or how they use music.

I don’t particularly care for hard core rap—but some I like and I can certainly appreciate the artistry—or contemporary country music, unless it’s Brothers Osborne or Casey Musgraves. And I’m open to just about anything. I love getting turned on to new music, old music, discovering music I don’t know or music that is not necessarily in my wheelhouse. I love getting turned on to music that educates me about other cultures or people or history or justice. I love music! I’ve spent my life listening to and playing music, and as a music therapist I use music as a tool to help people who are hurting or struggling or need something to empower them. I will listen to just about anything. I have quite an eclectic vinyl collection including Megadeath, the Broadway cast album of ‘Pal Joy’, Jaco Pastorius, Mahler’s 9^th, and Laverne & Shirley singing 50s tunes. And I will even occasionally listen to Bob Dylan.

I always want to know what you are listening to, what music speaks to you or what music you are passionate about. I want to know what you suggest I try. I love listening to music with others and I love listening to music alone. Music is community and music is self identity. I love music! To me… music is life. I’m just not a Bob Dylan fan. And I’m sorry.

Here are some of my favorite Bob Dylan covers:

So, who is it that you are not a fan of that everyone else is? Hit me up in the comments below…

The healing power of music…

Raymond Leone, MMT, MT-BC is a board-certified music therapist and the director of Medical Music Therapy at A Place To Be in Northern Virginia