Dylan and Cohen - by David Boucher (Paperback)

About the Book

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are widely acknowledged as the great pop poets of the 1960s, transforming the popular song into a medium for questioning the personal, social, and political norms of their times. They emerged at a time when the music industry was transforming the revolutionary sound of black music into something bland, homogenous, and fit for mass consumption. For many members of their generation, Dylan and Cohen were able to articulate what they were feeling and could not express: anti-establishment anger, angst, and despondency.

Book Synopsis

Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen are widely acknowledged as the great pop poets of the 1960s, transforming the popular song into a medium for questionng the personal, social, and political norms of their times. They emerged at a time when the music industry was transforming the revolutionary sound of black music into something bland, homogenous, and fit for mass consumption. For many members of their generation, Dylan and Cohen were able to articulate what they were feeling and could not express: anti-establishement anger, angst, and despondency.

Dylan and Cohen is a fascinating political, psychological and artistic profile of these two iconic writers and performers. With reference to both biographical details and lyrics. David Boucher explores their similarities and differences, tracing the development of religious political, and social themes in their work and the ways in which those ideas engaged a new audience.

A must-read for all serious fans of either Dylan or Cohen, this book will also engage anyone interested in the North America of the 1960s, or more generally in the relationship between music, identity and politics.

Review Quotes

"Reviewed in Record Collector (UK) February 2005 issue by Patrick Humphries" --Patrick Humphries

""...the dearth of Cohen interpretations makes this book valuable. Recommended." -Choice, November 2004" --Choice

About the Author

David Boucher is Professor of Political Theory and Head of the School of European Studies at Cardiff University, UK and Deputy Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Staffing and Diversity.. He is the Chairman of the Trustees of the Collingwood Society and Director of the Collingwood and British Idealism Centre at Cardiff