Validating the Songwriter

In my writing, I have been known to allude to folk and country songs in the same way I might allude to works of what would traditionally be called literature. I do this because I believe there is literary merit in the work of many songwriters, and I consider it important to treat their work with the same respect and legitimacy as one might treat the work of established poets and novelists.

Based on recent events, I now see that my sentiment is part of the zeitgeist. When the Nobel committee announced Bob Dylan the recipient of the 2016 Nobel Prize in Literature, I considered this not only a legitimization of songwriters but a validation of my position on alluding to their work. On the local front, Willie Nelson became a member of the Texas Institute of Letters last week. The Texas Institute of Letters, in its press release, noted that "[t]his marks the first year the TIL has recognized a songwriter based on literary accomplishments." I must say that I am extremely pleased to see the literary establishment's widening its definition of literature to include the work of songwriters.

Here is Dallas' own Edie Brickell and the New Bohemians covering Bob Dylan's "A Hard Rain's a-Gonna Fall."