A beginning look at music as storytelling with Bob Dylan, Jason Isbell, Adele, Billy Joel and Garth Brooks

A little while ago, we offered a suggestion on our Twitter and Facebook accounts in support of the Matt Lynn Digital blog about the concept of song that tells stories. In that June 22nd offering, Bob Dylan and Jason Isbell were raised as potential subjects of story to be considered.

(Bob Dylan is a well known singer songwriter known for telling stories in his music).

Today, we devote this explicit entry in renewing the call for requests of songs that you would like to see us take a deeper dive into overtime in this blog. We are interested not only in offering content that interests us from the our own experience. Our aim is to branch into areas that you suggest as well.

(Jason Isbell also is known for telling story through his music. The song Live Oak was offered in feedback to this blog.)

As a closing offering to you in the specific, let’s look at a song that some will not recognize as having been written by Bob Dylan. Make you feel my love might be a declaration of romantic love. The song could be interpreted as a declaration of unconditional love for a child from a parent. Still a third interpretation suggests the song as an offering of forgiveness in love from Jesus Christ for sinners seeking the contrition of redemption. Three plausible interpretations for sure, with the freedom of meaning being open to you. Feel free to enjoy remakes of this song by Adele here, Billy Joel here, and Garth Brooks here.

Matt – Saturday, November 14, 2020