BALLAD OF A THIN MAN

Bob Dylan Pens 60 Essays for First Book Since 2004

“The Philosophy of Modern Song” will be “a master class on the art and craft of songwriting” by other musicians, including Elvis Costello, Hank Williams, and Nina Simone.

Ah, but he was so much older then; he’s younger than that now. A new book by legendary singer-songwriter Bob Dylan, titled The Philosophy of Modern Song, is set to be published in November, according to a Tuesday announcement by Simon & Schuster. The tome, which Dylan began working on in 2010, will contain more than 60 essays on the craft of songwriting, looking at music by artists like Elvis Costello, Hank Williams, and Nina Simone. In the book, Dylan “analyzes what he calls the trap of easy rhymes, breaks down how the addition of a single syllable can diminish a song, and even explains how bluegrass relates to heavy metal,” according to a press release. The Pulitzer Prize winner and Nobel Prize laureate last released new prose in 2004, with Chronicles: Volume One. Dylan, 80, put out his 39th studio album, Rough and Ready Ways, in 2020. His new illustrated compendium of “mysterious and mercurial, poignant and profound” writings will hit shelves in November.