Just about anyone can do an impression of Bob Dylan. Whiny, nasally, gruff, whatever it is, you can throw it out as a party trick to the musically inclined guests. But to sing in that style as the likes of Dylan or Timothée Chalamet did, that is the next step so few are capable of making. Fewer still would need to take such a step, but on Dylan Hears a Who, someone does. While we cannot determine who the voice behind this impersonation is, we can rule out Dylan, Chalamet and anyone to portray him on screen, and those who were dead before this recording was released. Anyone else is fair game. It could be any one of us who created Dylan Hears a Who, a nice mock-up and impersonation which trumps the generative artificial intelligence slop being used to crack out underwhelming covers.
That is the true beauty of Dylan Hears a Who. It’s someone with a unique skill, albeit a niche one, putting it to the right use. The overlap between Dylan and Dr. Seuss is limited, though not impossible. Dylan Hears a Who is a light and brief break from the harder skills of the bootlegs ripped from stage shows over the last six decades. Unfortunately, not all of Dylan Hears a Who is readily available. It’s on the cusp of becoming lost media. Such is life on the internet superhighway. There is a fickle nature to everything uploaded, posted, and shared. It could be lost tomorrow or ten years from now. An anonymous man has covered Dr. Seuss songs in the style of Bob Dylan. So well that it is hard not to think this is Dylan, laying down a folk tune to the likes of The Cat in the Hat and Green Eggs and Ham. Worst of all is how well his voice suits Seuss’ simple rhyming structure, that style which brought on a new generation of readers.
Even the instrumentals used on Oh, the Thinks You Can Think! are impressive. Sincere but hilarious all the same. Everything sounds interesting with Dylan’s vocal drawl, that is what is proven here. Pay a little less attention to the lyrics, and it might as well be a scrapped Dylan song. Get it on The Bootleg Series. Whoever is behind this work is incredibly impressive as a vocalist and instrumentalist. We may never know who was behind it, because the digging required to put a name to the project takes either blind luck or man-hours which those in full-time employment cannot spare. Whatever the case, there’s an enjoyable project to be found, if you can find it, with Dylan Hears a Who.
Sincerity is what drives it. Just like Stewart Lee performing a song at the end of his Stewart Lee vs. The Man-Wulf in the various styles of Dylan, imitation is flattery. There is love for the vocal changes on Dylan Hears a Who, the folk range, which would bring out new and exciting inflexions which audiences and artists had not thought of. Managing to keep that in for a mock-up cover of a Dr. Seuss story is staggering. It’s proof enough that the uniqueness of Dylan’s vocals, and the ability we have as listeners to entertain others with horrific impressions, still lingers. Some will go years without listening to Dylan and still manage to cough up an impression. None as good as the one heard on Dylan Hears a Who, granted, but surprisingly accurate all the same.
