Wmagazine
Wmagazine
  • Fashion
  • Beauty
  • Culture
  • Video
SubscribeSubscribe
Eye Candy

What Bob Dylan’s Drawings of His Greatest Hits Look Like

With 110 million records sold worldwide and a Nobel Prize under his belt, Bob Dylan has moved on to his next achievement: an exhibition of his artwork, now on view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through the end of November 2018. Dylan’s 4,000-word Nobel acceptance speech made the case that songs are “meant to be sung, not read,” but, to quote the man himself, the times appear to have been a-changing, as a good portion of the works that make up his new collection, “Mondo Scripto,” are, in fact, handwritten, somewhat altered transcripts of the lyrics from a selection of his songs, stretching up until 2006. Most notable, though, are the pencil drawings that accompany each of the lyrics, plenty of which were, of course, written in a completely different era—the 1960s, dating from even before he made the leap from folk to rock—making them all the more interesting for a now 77-year-old Dylan to reflect on. In most cases, he opted to do so extremely literally; his depiction of “Ballad of a Thin Man,” for one, features the sword-swallower referenced in its lyrics, and “Knockin’ On Heaven’s Door” and “Maggie’s Farm” look exactly like what their titles describe. See Dylan’s interpretations of classics including “Mr. Tambourine Man” and “Like a Rolling Stone,” and which scene he chose from the many packed into the 11 minutes and 20 seconds that make up “Desolation Row,” here.
Stephanie Eckardt
October 13, 2018 11:00 am
Facebook
Twitter
Email
WhatsApp
Drawing by Bob Dylan.
facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
1/19

Bob Dylan, All I Really Want to Do, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
2/19

Bob Dylan, Lay, Lady, Lay, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
3/19

Bob Dylan, A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
4/19

Bob Dylan, All Along the Watchtower, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
5/19

Bob Dylan, Hurricane, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
6/19

Bob Dylan, Ballad of a Thin Man, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
7/19

Bob Dylan, Forever Young, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
8/19

Bob Dylan, When I Paint My Masterpiece, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
9/19

Bob Dylan, Blowin’ in the Wind, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
10/19

Bob Dylan, Desolation Row, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
11/19

Bob Dylan, Masters of War, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
12/19

Bob Dylan, It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
13/19

Bob Dylan, Just Like a Woman, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
14/19

Bob Dylan, Gotta Serve Somebody, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
15/19

Bob Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
16/19

Bob Dylan, Mr. Tambourine Man, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
17/19

Bob Dylan, Tangled Up in Blue, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
18/19

Bob Dylan, Love Minus Zero/No Limit, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

facebook dialog
Pinterest
Courtesy of Halcyon Gallery
19/19

Bob Dylan, Maggie’s Farm, from the collection “Mondo Scripto,” 2018. On view at Halcyon Gallery, in London, through November 2018.

Facebook
Twitter
Email
WhatsApp

Keywords

Bob DylanEye Candy

Subscribe to
W Magazine

Subscribe

Follow
Us

Stay connected.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Tumblr
  • Google+
Contact usAccessibility HelpSitemapSubscription ServicesCareersCondé Nast StoreReprints and PermissionsW Magazine Media Kit
Conde Nast
  • Allure
  • Ars Technica
  • Backchannel
  • Bon Appétit
  • Brides
  • Condé Nast Traveler
  • Epicurious
  • Glamour
  • Golf Digest
  • Golf World
  • GQ
  • GQ Style
  • Pitchfork
  • Self
  • Style
  • Teen Vogue
  • The New Yorker
  • The Scene
  • Vanity Fair
  • Vogue
  • W
  • Wired

© 2019 Condé Nast. All rights reserved

Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 5/25/18) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18).

W Magazine may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers.Your California Privacy Rights

The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast.

Ad Choices