Bob Dylan Nobel Prize & Johnny Cash in The New Yorker

[RiverNotch]

Ignorance is bliss.

Does explain your current state of mind, doesn't it?  

Moving back to the topic, and away from fake hippie prophets, it is interesting to note that Dylan was awarded the Nobel for 'new poetic expressions', whatever that means. 
Todd, the Nobel is for poetry as well as prose, surely. A number of poets have won the Nobel.
But not songwriting, i.e if songs are to be considered, it would be the lyrics alone (not that Dylan's songs were great in the music department either...)

you know, afaik much of ancient greek poetry (the dramas and lyric poetry especially, but perhaps also the epics), and ginsberg once thought (once, since now he's passed) blake's songs of innocence and of experience were literal songs, first (not to mention all of the poems and epics that survive for thr most part only in oral tradition, which is usually sung or cantillated, ie spoke-sung). only relatively recently is this trend of dividing songs and poetry -- all those Psalms and ballads would not even be read by most of their audience! -- and even then, it's more a symbol of either cultural elitism or misapplied commercialization than anything else. ie, you seem to be playing into the lie, dude.