Bob Dylan Tackles His Critics In MusicCares Award Speech

Although Dylan didn’t perform at the event, there were performances of his iconic songs by the likes of Bruce Springsteen and Jack White. Dylan did, however, give an impressive speech. Lasting over 30 minutes, it tackled subjects such as critics, his beginnings in the industry, and people who were pivotal to his success.

The full transcript has been published over at Rolling Stone, but we’ve picked out a few of the best parts.

On the man who ‘discovered’ him:

“I know I should mention John Hammond, the great talent scout, who way back when brought me to Columbia Records. He signed me to that label when I was nobody. It took a lot of faith to do that, and he took a lot of ridicule, but he was his own man and he was courageous. And for that, I’m eternally grateful. The last person he discovered before me was Aretha Franklin.”

On his singing style:

“Sam Cooke said this when told he had a beautiful voice: He said, ‘Well that’s very kind of you, but voices ought not to be measured by how pretty they are. Instead they matter only if they convince you that they are telling the truth.’ Think about that the next time you are listening to a singer.”

On Peter, Paul and Mary:

“I also have to mention some of the early artists who recorded my songs very, very early, without having to be asked … I’ve got to say thank you to Peter, Paul and Mary, who I knew all separately before they ever became a group. I didn’t even think of myself as writing songs for others to sing but it was starting to happen and it couldn’t have happened to, or with, a better group. They took a song of mine that had been recorded before that was buried on one of my records and turned it into a hit song … They definitely started something for me.”

On Johnny Cash:

“Johnny was an intense character. And he saw that people were putting me down playing electric music, and he posted letters to magazines scolding people, telling them to shut up and let him sing. I’m always going to thank him for that … Johnny Cash was a giant of a man; the Man in Black. And I’ll always cherish the friendship we had until the day there is no more days.”

On his critics:

“People in the critical world too. Critics have always been on my tail since day one. Seems like they’ve always given me special treatment. Some of the music critics say I can’t sing. I croak. Sound like a frog. Why don’t these same critics say similar things about Tom Waits? They say my voice is shot. That I have no voice. Why don’t they say those things about Leonard Cohen? Why do I get special treatment? Critics say I can’t carry a tune and I talk my way through a song. Really? I’ve never heard that said about Lou Reed. Why does he get to go scot-free? What have I done to deserve this special treatment? Why me, Lord?”