Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and American Song

Exposing the depth of two major artists' philosophies, creative visions, stylistic tendencies, and contributions to their craft, this unprecedented comparative analysis synthesizes biographical material, critical interpretation, and selected exemplars of the writers' work. Smith reinterprets their work in a new and fascinating light, presenting Dylan as a songwriter of enigmatic wordplay and Springsteen as the melodramatic narrator of a specific community's life struggles.

Both songwriters h...