“The Philosophy of the Modern Song”: Dylan apologizes for fake signatures

In a rare public statement, former folk bard and Nobel Prize winner for literature Bob Dylan apologized for expensive, allegedly autographed books. The signatures inside were machine-made.

“That is not me!” – Bob Dylan affirmed in 1964 in one of his early folk songs. But in the current affair about allegedly hand-signed books, which weren’t really, the 81-year-old takes all the blame – albeit only after days of hesitation. His Facebook apology to bona fide buyers was read on all news channels in the US.

He had had severe dizzy spells since 2019 and was unable to sign anything by hand, it said. Therefore, it was suggested to him to use a mechanical signing machine. A mistake for which he would like to apologize.

Also paintings affected?

Incidentally, there have also been similar allegations about paintings by Dylan. But here the master assures that he actually signed each and every one of his works of art by hand. Only the copies of his current book “The Philosophy of Modern Songs” were affected, for which one had to shell out a proud 600 dollars because of the alleged signature.

In the bestseller, the Nobel Prize winner for literature comments on 66 songs from music history that mean something to him personally. Including “Strangers in the Night” by Frank Sinatra.

Fans came up with it themselves

It remains unclear who actually failed to point out to the bona fide buyers that the signatures are machine-generated. How embarassing! The fans themselves noticed that the autographs looked a little too much alike.

Dylan’s publisher, Simon & Schuster, has also backed down and is refunding the hefty purchase price for the autographed editions. In any case, in the Dylan universe, these are peanuts: Most recently, 42 of the bard’s love letters from high school – probably actually written by himself – were auctioned for a whopping $ 700,000.

Discontent among the Dylanists

Dylan’s regrets met with occasional lasting displeasure among fans: one wrote on Facebook that the apology was certainly written by a “PR fritz” and was about as authentic as the signatures themselves. But the majority of Dylanists remain in a forgiving mood.

Dylan must now sign many copies, speculated the CNN presenter Poppy Harlow. Well, countered their co-anchor Don Lemon: He would take a Dylan autograph wherever he could get it and no matter how it came about!