Cultural depictions of Dylan Thomas
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Dylan Marlais Thomas, (1914 – 1953) was a Welsh poet and writer who has — along with his work — been remembered and referred to in various media.
[edit] In literature
- The poem "Thou Shalt Not Kill" by American poet Kenneth Rexroth bears the subtitle "A Memorial for Dylan Thomas".
[edit] In music
- Bob Dylan's 1963 song When the Ship Comes In contains the phrase, "the chains of the sea," which matches the last line of Thomas's Fern Hill: "I sang in my chains like the sea".
- In Simon & Garfunkel's 1966 song, A Simple Desultory Philippic (Or How I Was Robert McNamara'd Into Submission), Art Garfunkel jokingly states, "He's so unhip, that when you say Dylan, he thinks you're talking about Dylan Thomas, Whoever he was."
- A song by The Rambones, a rock band based in Wales, offers a tribute to Thomas in the final line, as they sing, "I choose to go gentle, but I promise/It's with no offense to Dylan Thomas."
- Pittsburgh area band The Gathering Field referred to him in a song called "Dylan Thomas Days" on their self-titled album.
[edit] Bob Dylan's name
It has been suggested that Bob Dylan, who was born Robert Allen Zimmerman, adopted the name "Dylan" from Dylan Thomas. He had often denied this. In his 2004 biography, Chronicles Vol.1, however, Dylan admits that Dylan Thomas was relevant to his choice of alias, but only because he liked the spelling better, changing the surnom de plume of "Dillon" to "Dylan".
Bob Dylan is also billed as 'Robert Milkwood Thomas' (referring to Thomas' Under Milk Wood) on Steve Goodman's "Somebody Else's Troubles" where he plays piano and harmonises on the title track.
