“He Never Lets Up”: The One Songwriter Bob Dylan Said He Was in “Awe” of Is Surprisingly Opposite to Dylan

Bob Dylan has built his decades-long career in the intellectual outskirts of the mainstream musical world, consistently shaking things up by writing songs that fly in the face of standard conventions of a particular decade—yet, the one songwriter he says he is in “awe” of has proven time and time again that he thrives on the flipside of Dylan’s coin. Whereas Dylan is heady and alternative, this folk revival icon’s musical hero is palatable and popular.

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For whatever it’s worth, Dylan’s hero seems to hold the “Blowin’ in the Wind” singer in the same high regard. So, it stands to reason that both songwriters envy what the other one has that they don’t.

Bob Dylan Said He’s Only in Awe of One Singer-Songwriter

Bob Dylan pulls inspiration from a wide variety of sources, from musicians to poets to literature to current events. These influences are often unique and eccentric, as displayed in songs like “Waitin’ For You”. But in a 2007 interview with Rolling Stone, Dylan revealed his biggest songwriting influence to be someone who not only thrives in the mainstream but practically helped establish it in the 1960s: the former Beatle and Wings founder, Paul McCartney.

“I’m in awe of McCartney,” Dylan said. “He’s about the only one that I am in awe of. He can do it all. And he’s never let up. He’s got the gift for melody, he’s got the rhythm, he can play any instrument. He can scream and shout as good as anybody. And he can sing a ballad as good as anybody. His melodies are effortless. That’s what you have to be in awe of. He’s just so damn effortless. I just wish he’d quit,” Dylan joked. “Everything that comes out of his mouth is just framed in melody.”

Those are certainly high words of praise coming from one of the most esteemed songwriters of all time. Unsurprisingly, McCartney has similar feelings—perhaps even more grandiose ones—about his folkie counterpart.

Paul McCartney Thought This Singer-Songwriter Helped Him Find the Meaning of Life

Bob Dylan is famously the musician responsible for introducing The Beatles to marijuana, a decision that would come to affect much of the Fab Four’s later years, particularly as marijuana gave way to psychedelics like LSD. But even before Dylan was toking up with The Beatles, the rock ‘n’ rollers from Liverpool were well aware of Dylan’s prominence in global pop culture. In fact, Paul McCartney would later go so far as to say Dylan was his “hero” in his earliest days of playing music.

So, when the two finally met that fateful night in a New York City hotel room, McCartney must have felt like all of his dreams were coming true and life was finally falling into place. “I could feel myself climbing a spiral walkway as I was talking to Dylan,” he later said. “I felt like I was figuring it all out. The meaning of life. I was going, ‘I’ve got it!’ and wrote down the key to it all on this piece of paper.”

The next morning, McCartney looked at his paper again, and it just said, “There are seven levels.” The musician quipped, “There you go. The meaning of life.”

While we’re not sure what the seven levels might mean (and frankly, we don’t think McCartney is, either), it’s fascinating to see two starkly different and wildly influential musicians observing one another with admiration, reverence, and yes, even awe.

Photo by Fin Costello/Redferns