The Lyrics: 1961-2012

I would say that this collection is ok, but frankly I expected something more than just ok. Sure, most of the lyrics are here but Jonah Lerner said he wrote a lot more than this and I'm a big fan of Jonah Lerner. Isn't it time to step up and take the credit for Harper Valley PTA and so many other classics and not hide behind these few classics?

The reason for his Nobel prize in Literature.Right here . This gorgeous book has all the words/ lyrics that you have been rocking to , pondering and singing along to all your life. The soundtrack of our generation . Wisedom beyond his years. Glad I preordered it,it's a heavy weight book with a great cover and inside over 600 pages with full poetic verses each divided into his phases of life. A must have.

Purchased this book to add to my collection, it is very beautifully put together. I am a bit bumped out that they didn't add some of my favorite songs, but I still love the way they added some of the drafts to some of his songs. Bob Dylan is ONE of the BEST songwriters that ever walk this earth.

The old edition had Dylan's own artwork, and I wish this one had kept that and added more. I guess the trade off is 11 years worth of more lyrics. For the price, you'd have thought we could keep those nice touches.

I like the book. I just wish it also had lyrics for some of his covers such as on World Gone Wrong and Good As I've Been To You. I really enjoy Bob's edits to some songs such as Gonna Change My Way Of Thinking (alternate version) which are great.

This is NOT the same lyrics book that was published two years ago which included variant lyrics.

This has lyrics arranged by album, with lyrics to some out-takes included. It does not haver the 4 variants of Tangled Up In Blue, nor the variants for Idiot Wind or Mississippi.

The product description should make this fact clear.

The book is very beautiful, wonderfully designed and easy to read.
But I notice problems with various lyrics who do not match with the version studios,
I think it's due to the work of revision or the lack of it.
For example: in the lyrics of "Moonlight" from "Love and theft", the line "Would you, meet me out in the moonlight alone?" turned out to "Meet me in the moonlight alone". I think that was an important change of meaning. And there are examples of changes more significant.
Another problem: there are no lyrics from "Good as I been to you" and "World gone wrong" whose songs are all public domain.
Some people told me that the lyrics published in this book are the ultimate version of the songs revised by Dylan himself and this is the explanation for the deviation between the lyrics published and the versions recorded. Okay, let it be. We all know that mr. Dylan changes the lyrics of his songs constantly and it is one of the reasons we love him. But this isn't written anywhere in the book, so I have the right to doubt of this. Anyway, if this is true, the book itself turns useless to who, as me, intend to purchase a work who enables me to sing along with the studio versions.
Because of this I was really disappointed with this particular purchase of mine.

This is the best of the Dylan lyric books available. The use of black, red, and white in the overall design of the book looks striking & sharp, keeping the " chapters" (in this case, album entries) organized and well-defined. I've seen the other lyric books, but this one, released in late 2016, places all of Dylan's original material in proper sequence, and the aesthetics are the icing on the cake. This version is also more realistically priced.

And thank you, the store, for sending this item so promptly and safely packaged!

This is a hard bound book of ALL of Dylan's work. It is totally up to date and well worth the money.
Dylan has done and won it all in his 75 years. They will be talking about Dylan's writings forever.

While there are some issues with song selection for the first album (I'm GUESSING copyright issues), the rest of the book is fantastic. Page after page of all of the lyrics, I think accurately transcribed, from all? of the albums. Although the book's thickness makes it hard to lay flat when playing guitar and reading/singing the lyrics, it is easy enough to xerox specific pages and work with the flat piece of paper. This book is on the library shelf, when not being used, next to the various bibles, the I Ching, and the other books I consider to fall into whatever category that might be called. Interestingly (well, mildly anyway) this is the only book of lyrics or lyrics/music that is NOT with all of the others. It belongs more with the I Ching and the Dictionary of Jewish Literacy than with my most valued Clapton set of three books, my historic Greatful Dead songbook (with the calligraphy notes and calligraphy lyrics), and the rest of my music. I also have my poetry on the shelves where the Dylan rests between uses.

I would like the same book in perhaps two volumes, with ring binding so it could lay flat on any page. A Kindle version would work well also because of the mechanics of lyrics and a thick book.

Bought this for the hubs for Christmas and gave it to him early ! He absolutely loves it. As his favorite artist, going through some of his older album lyrics, made him leak a little. ;) So happy I came across this while browsing.

A book of “poetry” for the Baby Boomer generation – Simple layout allows you to read it easily
In the world of book publishing, title announcements and seasonal catalogs need a long lead time. So I’m sure the folks at Simon & Schuster were just as surprised as many music fans when the Nobel Prize Committee announced just a month or so ago that the 2016 Nobel Prize for Literature would go to Bob Dylan – since this book was already announced many months ago! But it’s perfect timing.

This new hardcover volume – with 688 pages, and weighing in at almost five pounds! – contains all the lyrics to Dylan “songs” from 1961 to 2012. Unlike some other “fancy books”, the designers decided to keep the graphic design simple, and nearly all the songs are printed in easy to read typeface on a plain white background. Even the fly leafs have virtually no print. Where there are a few illustrations – or photos (and there are probably less than a dozen) they are not fancy. And this works to the benefit of the reader.

Without the music – though it’ll be hard to read iconic songs like “Blowin’ in The Wind” or “Forever Young” without hearing the melody in your head, you can concentrate on the lyrics and get at what Dylan was saying. Yes, some are as cryptical as you always thought, but others are clearer, especially those written during his “electric” period.

I admit that I probably have very few books of poetry on my bookshelf but this one will be there to revisit from time to time. You can read them in chronological order – and watch Dylan mature or move towards his “country” period or his newly found religion after his motorcycle accident. Or you can go directly to a song, for which you know the words but wanted to put them in context.

There is no Introduction or Foreword. Just the lyrics – with a 4 page “Index of Publishers and Copyright Dates” at the back.
The book – just released this week – is already a “best seller” on the store. And, having read through it, I certainly understand why.

I hope you found this review both informative and helpful.

Steve Ramm
“Anything Phonographic”